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Riverside Provides Incentives to California Green Builders
The City of Riverside last month became the first community in California to provide incentives to builders who utilize the voluntary California Green Builder program as a way to meet the city’s “Clean and Green” requirements, the California Building Industry Association (CBIA) reported recently.
Recognized by a number of communities, including Palm Springs, Palm Desert and Cathedral City, the California Green Builder program (CGB) was developed by CBIA’s technical and research affiliate, the Building Industry Institute (BII), to provide a measurable, environmentally friendly and cost-effective green building program primarily for production home builders.
Riverside's decision is another indication of the success of voluntary, market-driven green building programs, said NAHB President Brian Catlade.
The program provides a number of environmental benefits:
- CGB homes are 15% to 20% more energy-efficient than the state’s Title 24 energy efficiency standards, the toughest in the nation.
- They save at least 20,000 gallons of water a year compared to a typical house.
- Participating builders divert at least half of their construction waste from landfills, helping local jurisdictions meet their state waste diversion mandates.
- Wood used in CGB homes is harvested from sustainable forest operations.
- A CGB home cuts in half the amount of carbon dioxide generated during the lifetime of a typical California home.
“Owners of California Green Builder homes benefit from lower electric and water bills, and the homes provide a very comfortable living environment because of the engineered heating and air conditioning system and such features as instant hot water,” said Robert Rivinius, president and CEO of CBIA and BII.
And cities benefit by adopting an established program that saves energy and water, helps them meet their recycling mandates, and since compliance is guaranteed by independent third-party inspectors, city building officials don’t have to spend extra resources inspecting each home for compliance,” Rivinius said.
“There’s clearly a growing interest in building ‘green,’ and CGB builders provide environmentally friendly homes that don’t add tens of thousands of dollars to the cost of the home, as can be the case with homes built to meet some rigidly designed alternative programs,” he said.
In addition, there are often incentives to builders, such as tax and utility rebates and expedited processing, which can save thousands of dollars. The City of Riverside has agreed to provide expedited processing to CGB for plan checking and inspections and is the first city in the state to tie incentives directly to CGB homes.
Without incentives or rebates, building to CGB standards can cost home buyers up to $6,000 per home, which is why Rivinius stressed the need for communities to adopt voluntary green building programs instead of imposing even more costly mandates in the state with the lowest housing affordability in the nation.
To date, more than 1,100 CGB homes have been built and there are nearly 4,000 more homes in the pipeline, with several other major builders considering joining. More than 1,400 homes have been added to the program so far this year alone.
Homes are currently available in the Sacramento area, Stockton, San Jose, Bakersfield, the Santa Clarita Valley, Victorville, San Diego and San Luis Obispo.
For more information about the program and links to participating builders, click here (www.cagreenbuilder.com).
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