The Archives
Search past articles about ConSol and its programs.
|
|
A Win-Win Program: Improved California Green Builder Program Will Benefit Builders and Buyers Alike
Appear in: California Builder - January/February 2005
What exactly is a green builder, anyway? A recent Web search turned up no less than 25 different references to states and communities that have their own “green builder” programs. In fact, nearly every state and many communities have enacted some type of green builder program, often unique to their area.
This plethora of programs causes a number of problems from a homebuilder’s perspective. Many of these green programs mandate various requirements with no significant measurement systems in place. Frequently, outside groups with radically different agendas drive local governments to mandate green programs, urging cities and counties to adopt complicated ordinances that sometimes make no sense. And building green in one jurisdiction can involve many different things than building green in another.
And some programs simply don’t make sense, making it difficult for homebuilders to understand the need for certain directives when they see no tangible, measurable data or benefits. For example, in some communities, homebuilders must participate in certain point-driven programs in order to obtain city building permission during the entitlement process.
This kind of program causes some builders to install solar and tankless water heaters in the same home, just to generate enough points to meet the program’s criteria, even though it’s completely duplicative and a waste of the homebuyer’s money. But if builders and consumers can see credible research that proves that adhering to certain guidelines actually helps the environment and is financially sensible, such programs are much easier to embrace and have a greater chance of succeeding.
The Green Solution
The California Green Builder program (CGB) – a voluntary program that was developed by the homebuilding industry to benefit builders and buyers alike – has been revamped and relaunched as the solution to the green building problem. Homes that meet the CGB criteria have measurable environmental savings, are cost-effective for the buyer, and have uniform standards in every jurisdiction. It’s a true win-win program.
CGB homes feature the following environmental benefits:
• They use 15 percent less energy than homes built to the State’s exacting Title 24 requirements.
• By using less energy, the homes also reduce air emissions.
• Through water-conservation systems and landscaping design, the homes use less water than typical 1980s homes.
• And in the construction process, builders pledge to recycle at least half their construction waste, helping cities and counties meet tough state requirements.
Protocols have been established for each requirement and have been posted on the CGB Web site, www.cagreenbuilder.org.
Robert Rivinius, CBIA’s Chief Executive Officer, says the CGB program is the best green builder program because it’s consistent, measurable – and voluntary.
“There are other green building programs in existence or under development, but California Green Builder was designed by the industry to be a voluntary – not mandatory – program with realistic requirements and specifications that consumers want and builders can provide,” Rivinius says.
“CBIA believes that voluntary programs such as CGB allow builders to provide cost-effective, innovative benefits to new-home buyers through an industry-developed concept, as opposed to government telling us what to do and how to do it.”
The Building Industry Institute, the research and training arm of CBIA, first started developing CGB in 1999. The program was originally an outgrowth of BII’s Community Energy Efficiency Program, another voluntary program designed by local governments, homebuilders, utilities, and the California Energy Commission to encourage residential building practices that conserve energy and resources, while also improving the economy and government service.
BII quickly realized that the program needed improvements.
“In the early days of the CGB program, builders got turned off to the process,” says Nancy Kirshner-Rodriguez, director of community and government relations for ConSol, the Stockton-based energy consulting firm that has helped develop the program through a BII contract. “We’ve put a great deal of effort into analyzing the components of the CGB program and have made it much more user-friendly.”
Competing priorities from different jurisdictions, long, complicated forms to complete, and few discernible advantages to signing up for the program were some of the issues raised by homebuilders that have since been resolved.
Aside from the public relations advantages of offering consumers energy-efficient homes while minimizing the impact on the environment, Kirshner-Rodriguez says there are many benefits to builders who embrace the CGB program. First of all, CGB participants have the opportunity to take a more proactive stance in partnering with local jurisdictions in determining and controlling how new homes are built.
In addition, builders may receive fee deferrals and enhance their opportunity to build or achieve higher densities. The CGB program also offers political recognition from elected officials, along with marketing support, sponsorship support, certificates, and achievement plaques.
“This is a great opportunity for homebuilders to be perceived as socially responsible stewards of the environment,” according to Kirshner-Rodriguez.
Additionally, the CGB program allows builders to quantify energy and resource savings, giving them a powerful new selling tool. Builders can also document how their homes improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and present that information to local air quality districts and other governing bodies to help them meet local mandates – another significant benefit of the program.
CGB Requirements
The BII has established the following requirements as minimum standards to qualify as a California Green Builder.
Energy efficiency: Homes must meet California Energy Star efficiency levels and the homebuilder must incorporate BII quality-construction protocols into their scopes of work and use third-party inspections for energy features. These standards exceed California’s Title 24 by 15 percent. Requirements include using additional insulation, highly efficient heating and cooling systems, and high-performance windows.
Air quality: Building to California Energy Star efficiency levels also reduces air emissions from power plants. In fact, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that at least 5,000 pounds of greenhouse gases per house per year are not produced for each new CGB home that is built. Because the homes need less energy, less energy has to be generated, reducing the amount of emissions from power plants. Furthermore, the house continues to save energy and improve air quality during its lifetime, in comparison to a house that wasn’t built green.
Waste recycling: If a homebuilder recycles, reuses, or otherwise diverts 50 percent of his job-site waste from being sent to a landfill, he has reached the minimum recycling standard for CGB. Where recycling and diversion are not available, the homebuilder must agree to adopt the BII Waste Recycling Guidelines and work with local jurisdictions to overcome local market barriers. Among the steps builders can take is to use engineered wood products to minimize on-site construction waste and to recycle cement, wood, drywall, and cardboard.
This part of the program is especially important because State law requires each county and city to divert half their total waste from landfills, and construction and demolition waste makes up between 20 percent and 30 percent of the state’s solid waste, according to the California Integrated Waste Management Board, the State’s primary recycling agency.
Water conservation: CGB homes must use 25 percent less water than typical 1980s homes. To reach this goal, a number of recommendations are suggested, including low-flow showerheads, faucets, and toilets; less lawn and more shrubs (since most new-home purchases only include front-yard landscaping, only front-yard water reduction is addressed in these guidelines); and drip irrigation systems. Homebuilders are also encouraged to plant only drought-tolerant plant species.
The CGB program also includes the requirement that all lumber be supplied from managed forests. (A managed forest harvests timber at a rate that can be permanently sustained, while leaving the ecological functions intact, enhanced, or restored.) Certified timber that comes from forests overseen by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative or by the Forest Stewardship Council qualifies under the CGB program. Additionally, the program suggests using computer-controlled saws that make accurate compound cuts to engineered wood. Because the cutting and fitting of the wood is done in a controlled environment away from the jobsite, cutoffs and short lengths can be utilized with maximum efficiency.
“It is estimated that each engineered-wood floor-joist system saves one tree, and each engineered-wood truss system saves two trees from otherwise being harvested,” according to Doug Dryer, regional sales manager for ConSol. “Additionally, the use of engineered wood components allows for easy passage of ducts, plumbing, and electrical wires in the system.”
The Program At Work
Castle & Cooke California, a long-established homebuilder in Bakersfield, is in the process of building 450 homes in three subdivisions under the CGB program.
“Castle & Cooke is a master-plan developer in California and we want to do right by the land use,” states Pat Henneberry, director of construction for the company. “Building green is at the core of this company. If our homes can be aesthetically pleasing and have the least amount of impact on the environment, then we’ve delivered a valuable product to the buyer.”
The exterior landscape system of the Castle & Cooke homes includes drip irrigation, which saves considerable amounts of water over the long term. The company has also improved its landscaping methods, such as changing the ratio of lawn to shrubs from 90 percent lawn, 10 percent shrubs to 75 percent lawn, 25 percent shrubs. The interior of the homes adhere to the Green Builder guidelines by using the recommended low-flow showerheads, faucets, and toilets.
Castle & Cooke has also committed to reducing construction waste by 50 percent from previous, similar homebuilding projects. Steps include reducing, reusing, or recycling all cut-off wood that is produced on-site, as well as gypsum and drywall. These efforts can be significant, since a sheet of drywall costs $8 to purchase and $4 to dispose of. Castle & Cooke has contracted with a waste hauler to sort and recycle these construction products.
Although it can cost a bit more, homebuilders such as Castle & Cooke believe it is worthwhile to embrace green builder protocols for environmental reasons and because it makes sense for business.
Builders who have produced green homes report that homebuyers have a higher degree of satisfaction when they purchase a green home, feeling that they have done something good for the environment. They also realize after moving into their new home that reduced utility bills represent long-term savings, as well as good resale value, and find their homes require less maintenance.
And how many Californians think building green is a good idea? In a 2004 statewide poll commissioned by CBIA, public perception of the homebuilding industry would be significantly higher if they were more aware of the CGB program. In fact, almost 86 percent of those surveyed would have a more favorable opinion of the industry if they knew builders voluntarily participated in the program.
So now that you know what a California Green Builder is, the next question is this: How can becoming a CGB help your business – both environmentally and financially?
By: Shery Hoellwarth and Michele Demetras
|
Share with a friend
|
