Green Building News

Consumers and building industry professionals already have their antennae up when it comes to green marketing, but the reality is that even green designations by environmentally conscious, third-party-sanctioned civic entities can inspire controversy. And if a green rating is conferred on an unusually big house by the planning department in Berkeley, California, the debate can be especially vigorous.

Back in November, the Department of Energy announced that it had $104 million in stimulus funds to spend on clean energy and energy efficiency research, with some of that money already committed to projects in three areas – carbon fiber materials development, battery technology research, and building systems development.

Near-net-zero-energy performance in a new home is unusual enough in most communities to attract free publicity. A recent example: a 2,507-sq.-ft. home in southeast Abilene, Texas, that is constructed with superior exterior wall insulation, airtightness, and HVAC, careful solar orientation and well designed roof overhangs, and a 20-panel solar array.

One way to grease the path for the Obama administration’s Homestar home-retrofit legislative proposal will be to show that current stimulus programs are yielding their intended results, or are at least about to.

For a lot of homeowners, the complexities of energy efficiency upgrades can be as daunting as their cost, so it’s no surprise many builders and remodelers long ago became adept at demystifying and managing the entire process for their clients, from audit to final finish work and testing.

Now, that full-service strategy is being embraced by building-products giant Masco Corporation, whose Masco Home Services division this week launched an energy efficiency home-improvement program, called WellHome, in Austin, Dallas, Orlando, Phoenix, Tucson, and Ann Arbor, and in Nashua, New Hampshire.

Even though the federally expanded Weatherization Assistance Program has struggled to gain its bureaucratic footing, the logic behind the program and others designed to encourage further energy efficiency retrofits is, in the current economic climate, too compelling for the Obama administration to ignore.

Click here to see a video showing construction details of the Whistler Passivhaus.

Green builders and energy efficiency technicians on the West Coast – and those who may soon have a scheduled stop there – might consider attending the Green Building and Passive House Forum, scheduled for March 22 and 23 at Austria House and the Squamish Lil’Wat Cultural Centre, both in Whistler, British Columbia.

Given the scale of nationwide energy efficiency initiatives like those in the U.S. and, as recent news reports remind us, Australia, there are bound to be mistakes that precipitate both practical responses and political theater.

Click here to see a video showing construction details of the Whistler Passivhaus.

Green construction at the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Vancouver has attracted a fair amount of attention during the past few weeks. It might not compete with the rush of adrenalin and awe that accompanies snowboarder stunts in the halfpipe, but it has helped raise the profile of energy efficient housing among the games’ visitors and those of us who can admire it from afar.

Can owner-builders save money by acting as their own general contractor? According to one New Hampshire builder, Alan Rossetto, the answer is a resounding “Yes” — as long at the owners are willing to contribute sweat equity.