THE GREEN PARADE:
INTRODUCTION TO GREEN BUILDING CERTIFICATION
By Andrew Miller

When you are looking for a new car, he mile-per-gallon rating on the sticker is an important consideration – you want to spend less at the gas station and because you care about how burning fossil fuels negatively affects the earth.

Built Green™ Colorado (www.builtgreen.org) is a nonprofit organization that gives new homebuyers a similar way to determine the impacts a new home will make on your energy bills and on the planet. Created in 1995, Built Green™ Colorado is the largest green building program in the nation, with more than 100 builder members, 45 sponsor members and eight industry leaders. The program also provides a range of technical support and training opportunities as well as follow-up support.

The purpose of this voluntary program is to encourage homebuilders to use technologies, products and practices and provide benefits to the homebuyer:
• Better energy efficiency, leading to comfort, savings and less pollution
• Healthier indoor air
• Reduced water usage, leading to savings and less strain on rivers and lakes
• Preserved natural resources, leaving more for future generations to enjoy
• Durable materials that last longer, leading to savings and more leisure time for the homeowner

Built Green™ Colorado works with builder members to examine 186 listed home components, awarding points for saving energy and building practices which contribute toward healthier indoor and community environments. When a home achieves at least 75 points, it is designated as a Built Green™ Home.

The Built Green™ review begins with the home’s design. Size matters, and smaller is greener. Passive solar heat design earns up to 10 points if the house faces south and has properly sized window areas for heating. More points are awarded for active solar, both hot water heating and power-generated (by any method – water, wind, geothermal, photovoltaic, etc.).

Built Green™ also focuses on the methods used to separate the inside of the home from Grand County’s winters. Points are awarded for foam-insulated foundations, blown-in fiberglass or foam-insulated walls, or foam panel walls and roofs. Windows and doors are examined for efficiency. A blower door test can pin down exactly how tight the home is. (A blower device is attached to an entry door to suck air out of the home, creating a vacuum that pulls outside air in through energy leaks found by placing a “smoke stick” instrument nearby. The path of the cold smoke shows where outside air is moving into the home.)

Minimizing materials used in framing earns points for preserving timber resources, as is using local materials. Lumber can earn points if certified as being sustainably harvested. Because engineered lumber is a more efficient use of timber resources, these building components earn points.

A tight house can be a deadly house if formaldehyde-based glues are used in engineered lumber, or if ventilation is not planned to prevent mold. Points are awarded for heat recovery, whole-house ventilation systems and non-toxic building components.

Home systems are the final area examined, with points awarded for high efficiency and environmentally friendly appliances, furnaces, boilers and wood heating devices. Points are also given for lighting systems, including solar tube skylights, Energy Star-rated appliances and compact fluorescent bulbs.

A Built Green™ review will allow you to rest comfortably and pay lower utility bills for decades, and this makes sense for you, and for the planet.

READ MORE STORIES ON THE GREEN PARADE IN:
• Introduction to Green Building Certification
• Building Dramatically More Comfortable Homes: Green movement nothing new to Seth Sadler
• This Small House: Smaller homes take their place among the elite
• Green Asthetics and Efficiency in the Ideal Mountain Cabin