Builder - November 2008 - (Page 46)

GREEN HOUSE 2009 Green Building Awards. New and remodeled homes and entire developments started after June 2007 and substantially completed by December 2008 are eligible. Other categories include green advocates, marketing programs, local governments, and HBAsponsored building programs. Submissions via e-mail or CD only (to save paper) are due by Jan. 31, 2009, with the awards presented at the 11th annual National Green Building Conference in Dallas next May. For more information and to download an entry form, go to www.nahb.org/green buildingawards. Sorghum Solution N ever heard of sorghum? It’s a cereal crop that grows rapidly and in arid climates. ChloroFill, a manufacturer of environmentally responsible building materials, is augment the footprint as family and lifestyle needs evaluated the sustainability (including embodied enchange—and perhaps once a buyer places the home ergy) of the home’s structural components, and archion an actual lot after the show is over. “We describe tect Amy Sims vetted the ﬁnishes to comply with the this house in terms of what it delivers,” says Jason builder’s commitment to sustainability—including a Smith, a senior associate with KieranTimberlake, a product’s durability and affordability. “We want to Philadelphia-based design architect who has collab- show builders that green can be proﬁtable for them,” orated on several modular prototypes including the she says. “There can be a signiﬁcant upcharge to build LivingHome with Santa Monica, Calif., builder Liv- green, but there doesn’t have to be.” ingHomes. “It’s [ﬁnancially] accessible hous“We wanted to show builders ing with high-quality design and a high level that green can be proﬁtable for of sustainability.” The often-conﬂicting set of goals, says them.”—Amy Sims, project Smith, requires a delicate balance and hard- architect, LivingHomes nosed dedication. “We didn’t want to dumb it The spec list of products and materials includes down or tart it up,” he says, to push any one of those goals ahead of the others. Rather, the goal is to de- engineered lumber within the modules’ structure; liver a viable, comprehensive concept to the housing engineered decking; certiﬁed-wood siding and other industry. “The ambition of these projects is to create wood ﬁnishes; a comprehensive moisture managea repeatable system with variances that make them ment system; high-performance windows, appliintriguing and interesting.” ances, lighting, and HVAC equipment (including The home’s green value, though, doesn’t stop at its solar); and recycled-content and low-emitting ﬁ ndesign or structural systems. A full slate of sustain- ishes. “Everything has gone through some level of able products, materials, and ﬁnishes—most of them scrutiny to be selected and used,” says Sims. The sponsored or donated by leading industry manufac- house also is designed and ﬁ nished to exceed Caliturers—demonstrates not only the breadth of the fornia’s tough Title 24 standards for energy use. Though LivingHomes will follow both the market but also its mainstream marketability. Builder editorial director Boyce Thompson says, NAHB’s green building guidelines and the LEED “Builders who are dead-serious about providing sus- for Homes rating system checklist, the show home tainable housing need even more information and will not gain any green designations until it is moved options,” which the LivingHome show home prom- to an actual building site, where it can be fully and ises to deliver. Building industry professionals can independently evaluated, rated, and certiﬁed. For more information including bios of the projtour it during the exhibit hours at IBS ’09 and follow its progress at BuilderOnline.com and in the pages of ect team, photos and video of the home’s production Builder through the April 2009 issue. process, and a list of sponsors to date, go to http:// During design and production, LivingHomes builderlivinghome.com.—R.B. CERTIFIED GREEN The Pace of Progress Participation in the National Green Building Program has far exceeded expectations. T manufacturing ﬁberboard made from sorghum stalks as an alternative to traditional construction panel products. The material’s high cellulose content makes it lightweight, pliable, and strong enough for subﬂooring, door ▶ cores, and cabinet he National Green Building Program, a multifaceted information, education, and home certiﬁcation tool launched in February as part of the NAHB’s big splash into the green arena at IBS 2008, is attracting builders and other industry professionals at an impressive pace. Through the ﬁ rst eight months of the program, more than 1,250 NAHB members and others earned the association’s new Certiﬁed Green Professional (CGP) designation (www.nahb.org/cgpinfo). Concurrently, more than 2,500 projects were registered on the program’s Web site (www.nahbgreen.org), indicating that they are in some stage of being scored against the association’s green building rating system. In addition, an average of 100 people a month take and pass the test to be accredited veriﬁers to inspect and certify homes against the rating system. The association also counts about 200 state and local chapters—up from 40 in 2007—that are offering some level of green building services to their members. “The interest and participation in the program and services has far exceeded our goals to date,” says Emily English, the program’s manager at the NAHB. English and her staff, however, are not resting on their laurels. She anticipates another spike in interest once the National Green Building Standard (NGBS, (see page 48) derived from the NAHB’s Model photo: courtesy ChloroFill 46 ■ B U I LD E R nov e m ber 2008 W W W.BUILDERONLINE.COM http://www.nahb.org/greenbuildingawards http://WWW.BUILDERONLINE.COM http://www.builderlivinghome.com http://www.builderlivinghome.com http://www.nahbgreen.org http://www.nahb.org/cgpinfo http://www.nahbgreen.org http://WWW.BUILDERONLINE.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Builder - November 2008

Builder - November 2008 Contents Editor’s Notes B-Mail Book It Missing Links Inside Story Top Shelf Green House Business Update Sales Strategies Industry Insight Products Tech Tools National Best Seiders' Economy Sifting Through the Ruins Cottage Industry Upside Down Ad Index Last Word

Builder - November 2008

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