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Springfield Builders Launch Voluntary Green Program
The Home Builders Association of Greater Springfield, Mo. is the latest HBA to launch a residential green building certification program for its members. And to drive home the extent of its commitment, the association is launching the program in time for the dedication of its new headquarters, which has been built green.
The new building “will work out really well as the launching point for our green building initiative,” said the association’s executive officer, Matt Morrow.
The Springfield certification program is based on NAHB’s Model Green Home Building Guidelines, which are now being reworked in a cooperative effort with the International Code Council to become the first-ever residential green building standard. The program is the 16th state or local program to be based on the national model.
Springfield builders are relying on the expertise and experience of the St. Louis and Eastern Missouri green building program, which was launched two years ago and now has more than 100 homes going through its green certification process.
And for Springfield home builders, it’s the right time to go green, Morrow said. Association leaders made the commitment to a green building program after completing their latest strategic plan in September.
“For us, the reason is we want to own this issue,” Morrow said. “It’s an important one that’s going to affect our industry for years to come, and we want to get our marker down early.”
By launching its own program, the association can help define green building for the community and make sure it encompasses issues of importance to the industry, specifically affordability, Morrow said. “Launching this program shows that we are responsible, and it allows us to paint an accurate, positive image for our members in the community. It all comes down to how the whole home building industry embraces its opportunity to lead.”
The association has a willing partner in its local utility company, City Utilities of Springfield, as well, he said. The HBA supported efforts to build a new power plant with more capacity — running a campaign that won approval by a 59% to 41% margin. City Utilities supports green building because increasing home energy efficiency will help extend the useful life of the new plant when it’s built.
Morrow credits builder Sam Bradley for his green leadership. “It happened that we had outgrown our last building and sold it in October, and that of course coincided with the new strategic plan at that time,” Morrow said.
“Sam was selected to be the contractor for our office project and he recommended using our building as a demonstration project of sorts — to use green building techniques and products with a practical residential application, even though it’s a commercial building. Sam has excellent vision. He pitched it to our board and they jumped all over it.”
Bradley himself said that the project has been a cooperative effort. “We bought a condo shell, a wood structure with a composition roof and brick exterior pretty much equal to the homes being built in our area, so we wanted to do things that can easily be translated into residential building,” he said.
That meant specifying low-VOC paints, carpets made of recycled materials, water-conserving toilets, water heaters with timers, a sealed attic to provide conditioned space for the ductwork and similar green, resource- and energy-efficient features, he said.
“It just dawned on me that if we could incorporate green building practices in our offices, it would be an awesome thing,” Bradley said.
The association’s leadership is already having an impact on an initiative to mandate green building that was being promoted by the local chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council. Now, the HBA has “a seat at the table” in discussing those green building mandates, “and if you don’t have a seat at the table, you’re probably the meal.” Bradley said.
USGBC’s LEED certification is too expensive and if mandated would drive up the cost of housing, Bradley said. “We could have received their certification easily, and even at the discounted rate it was going to run us between $13,000 and $15,000 to do that,” Bradley said. “We have better things to do with our money, so we passed on that.”
For more information on NAHB’s green building resources, e-mail Calli Schmidt, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8132.
 Free NAHB Environmental Stewardship Brochure Available
“Stewardship: The NAHB Environmental Issues Committee at Work” is a new, free brochure available from NAHB that outlines the environmental issues the committee — working with NAHB’s environmental, regulatory and legal staff — has faced and what the committee did to help preserve needed environmental balance.
The committee’s work is central to the NAHB mission as federal, state and local agencies enact myriad rules and regulations that erode housing affordability while providing dubious benefit.
By developing, implementing and completing research strategies, NAHB has created and reinforced its role of advising and directing regulators’ activities and pursuing reform.
Bulk copies of the brochure are available free to environmental committees and others interested in learning more about the home building industry's environmental stewardship efforts.
Click here to view the brochure. To order free copies, e-mail Delecia Jenkins at NAHB, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8163.
 Download Green Building Intelligence Today From BuilderBooks.com
“Residential Green Building SmartMarket Report,” which addresses the growing trends and opportunities in green home building, is available and can be quickly downloaded through BuilderBooks.com’s Digital Delivery service.
Available through Digital Delivery only, the report provides the results of market research conducted by McGraw-Hill Construction and NAHB about green building in home construction.
To download this publication from BuilderBooks.com, click here.
 Attend the 2007 National Green Building Conference
Attend the 2007 National Green Building Conference in St. Louis on March 25-27.
The conference includes educational sessions on construction, the environment, conservation, energy, recycling, finance and marketing — with real world applications.
In addition, there will be a green building/technology tour of green building projects in the St. Louis area.
Onsite registration is available.
Click here for conference information, or visit www.nahb.org/greenbuilding on the NAHB Web site to learn more about green building.
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