Builder - February 2009 - (Page 44) GREEN HOUSE Big D Directory ultra-low-flow showerheads, Creekstone’s single- savings resonate most with prospects. “We’ve raised family model features an educational center in its the bar in this community,” he says. “Green has garage that educates potential buyers on the com- allowed us to deliver on consumer needs better than pany’s commitment to green building. “They enter the competition.”—R.B. the educational center first, before walking the model,” says Shepherd. Once inside the home, buyers can then experience the features firsthand. Already, Creekstone has generated enviable sales traffic, averaging about 25 visits a week, and recently started four spec homes to boost its marketing efforts. Shepherd says the homes’ indoor air quality features (“no newhouse smell”), air and moisture mitigation, MODEL OF EFFICIENCY: The garage of the project’s single-family model home and expectation of en- (which earned a Gold rating under the NAHB’s green program) features a showroom that ergy and maintenance explains the builder’s commitment to sustainable practices and housing performance. F or a mere $30 per house (and just $15 after the first 200 homes), builder members of the HBA of Greater Dallas with homes certified under the chapter’s independently verified Green Built North Texas (GBNT) program can post their projects online for consumers and others to search. “This provides us and our builders with the opportunity to build awareness of a legitimate, third-party program and of green-built homes among home buyers,” says GBNT program manager Phil Crone. Within six weeks of its launch in August, the searchable directory, kept on the HBA’s Web site, boasted more than 800 homes either completed (and certified) or under construction, with another 400 or so in the pipeline. The chapter will also post homes certified by the National Green Building Standard, once it is available, and the LEED for Homes rating system, and is affiliating with the NAHB to incorporate the national association’s green building program into its own. To get a glimpse, go to www. greenbuiltnorthtexas. com/findgbnthome.htm. GREEN FINANCING Signs of Change Do homeownership credits for solar energy signal the start of green mortgage lending? G reen mortgages, in which lenders presumably offer better mortgage loan rates or terms for homes that reduce resource use and related operating costs, are still on the drawing board as a way to attract and qualify potential buyers. But a few carrots are being sprinkled around to indicate that, as green building becomes more defined and commonplace, such programs may follow green building practices into the mainstream. This summer, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage offered a newconstruction solar home program that allows builders in California to transfer a rebate offered by the California Energy Commission’s New Solar Home Partnership directly to buyers at closing, which they can use for the down payment or as a permanent interestrate buy-down to lower their monthly mortgage payments. The offer applies to conforming and non-conforming loans for new single-family homes, including condominiums, that will be used as the buyer’s primary residence. The rebate amount depends on the size of the solar system installed. Meanwhile, Mortgagegreen, a green real estate finance company in Larkspur, Calif., is now offering what CEO Tomek Rondio calls the “first national green residential mortgage underwriting standard” for rating and funding sustainable construction. Available nationwide, the new standard includes a green building value rating system that Rondio envisions being adopted by the mortgage lending industry. Mortgage loan experts are cautious, however. “Without the support or input of national underwriters or a consensus on how to put a value on green building, it’s going to be difficult for other lenders and banks to support this program,” says Bill Renner, the NAHB’s director of single-family finance, who has been tracking both green mortgages and their precursor, energy-efficient mortgages, which have been around since the late 1970s without much fanfare to date. “At least they’re thinking about green.”—R.B. mike hickey TO READ MORE STORIES ON GREEN BUILDING, GO TO W W W.BUILDER ONLINE.COM/GREEN. GOT GREEN PROJECTS, PRODUCTS, OR DESIGNS? E-MAIL DENISE DERSIN AT: ddersin@hanleywood.com 44 ■ B U I LD E R f ebrua ry 2 0 0 9 W W W.BUILDERONLINE.COM http://www.greenbuiltnorthtexas.com/findgbnthome.htm http://www.greenbuiltnorthtexas.com/findgbnthome.htm http://WWW.BUILDERONLINE.COM/GREEN http://WWW.BUILDERONLINE.COM/GREEN http://WWW.BUILDERONLINE.COM
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