FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 25 , 2008
Builders struggle to “Go Green”
West Chester, PA- With the trend toward green building gaining momentum each day many home builders are investigating “going green.” While green building is not a new trend; it has been around for almost two decades, until recently very few residential builders were constructing “sustainable” homes.
One reason green home building has been such a slow progression is the lack of universally accepted guidelines. In January, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), a voluntary national ratings system for developing high performance, sustainable buildings offered by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), developed the pilot program LEED for Homes (LEED-H). Prior to this LEED was used predominantly in the commercial sector.
LEED-H incorporates the same principles of the original LEED program but at a residential level. There are structured guidelines as well as a scoring system based on a points scale. However, many builders have found it difficult to meet the stringent standards of LEED-H. In an effort to encourage more home builders to build more sustainable homes, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) in conjunction with the International Code Council (ICC) developed their own set of green building guidelines, published in 2005.
The NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines provides an alternative to LEED-H and are part of the NAHB’s National Green Building Program launched February 14. The goal of this program is to link the dozens of successful state and local voluntary green building programs with a national online scoring tool for builders and verifiers. The Green Building program also eliminates the need for third party auditors and certification fees, which can be as high as $2,000 per home when using LEED-H, by using documentation and online certification.
According to Nancy Cleveland, a LEED Accredited Professional, the biggest hurdle is showing home builders the benefit of building sustainable homes. “In the commercial sector the builder has begun to see more immediate benefits from a high performance building. Home builders on the other hand are not getting the same return.” Cleveland said “We need to change the mindset of the home builder and show them the cost benefit of green building and the different ways they can incorporate sustainability in their homes.”
One mistake often made buy home builders is not looking at the building as a whole. Green building is based on integrated design therefore looking at the big picture and designing a home using green technologies can save builders costs in other areas. So how do you appeal to the builder? According to Cleveland, “If builders saw a way to build a green certified house and keep their costs reasonable we would see more doing so.”
The Home Builders Association of Chester and Delaware Counties (HBA) is a professional trade organization comprised of more than 450 companies involved in every aspect of the new home construction process. The HBA advocates for public policy initiatives and sustainable building techniques that balance the need for strong economic growth and environmental protection. The HBA dedicated to providing and protecting the American dream of home ownership for current and future generations.
CONTACT:
Kira Barbieri
kirab@builderpa.com
(610) 692-7733
