NBN Online for the week of March 21, 2005

Awards Focus on Leading Edge of Green Building

Leading-edge green building development projects and advocates were among the winners of the 2005 National Green Building Awards, which were presented last week in Atlanta during NAHB’s seventh annual National Green Building Conference.

“Green building is a way of life for these award winners,” said Ray Tonjes, chairman of NAHB’s Green Building Subcommittee and a home builder from Austin, Texas. “Their commitment to green building isn’t just good for the environment, it is also a model for other builders, architects and programs to follow.”

This year’s award winners were:

• Green Project of the Year: Custom. Cannon Beach Cottage, a 2,268-square-foot custom home built on the northern Oregon coast, took this year’s prize for the best use of green building techniques in the construction of a custom home. Rich Elstrom Construction used an integrated design team to build a house that can produce more energy than it consumes and has a minimal impact on the environment. The low-maintenance coastal home was designed to last for generations.
  
  
• Green Project of the Year: Production. Veridian Homes, based in Madison, Wis., won this year’s award as the production building company that best showcases green design and construction. The company is Wisconsin’s largest home builder, and for every 10 homes it builds, it saves enough energy to light one additional home. Each of the 558 homes the company built in 2004 earned the state’s Energy Star and Green Built Home certification.
  
  
• Green Project of the Year: Affordable Multifamily. Perkins Eastman Architects won the award for its work in helping the Felician Sisters make their residence in suburban Pittsburgh more livable for their aging members and improve a school sharing the building. The design team proposed a complete overhaul of the building using environmentally responsible techniques and materials, while preserving the character of the original structure.
  
  
• Green Project of the Year: Luxury Multifamily. The award was presented to Eco Housing Corporation and Poretsky Building Group in Bethesda, Md. The company involved future residents in the design of the Eastern Village cohousing condominiums, which were converted from a four-story, U-shaped concrete-frame office building. The new residences maintain the same U-shape design, but added green features including a front façade with a sunshade and a “living” roof with plants to control rainwater runoff and provide thermal protection.
  
  
• Green Project of the Year: Remodeling. A historic home remodeled by RS Lawrence Construction in suburban Dallas is this year’s winner in the remodeling category. The home was built in 1915 by noted Texan architect Hal Thomson. The remodeling project called for renovating and modernizing the main part of the original structure, while preserving its character. Among the many green features used in the project, were wood recycled from demolished portions of the house, insulated glass and Icynene foam insulation.
  
  
• Outstanding Green Marketing Award. Committed to green building for years, this year’s marketing winner, WCI Communities, used green techniques in all of the homes in its Venetian Golf and River Club in Bonita Springs, Fla., and submitted them for certification by the Florida Green Building Coalition's Green Home Standards. WCI promoted this community using a green building education center, Web site, trained sales staff and public presentations on the need for sustainable and green building.
  
  
• Green Program of the Year. Home builders associations, governments and other institutions with green building programs are eligible to receive this award. California Green Builder, a sub-group of the California Building Industry Association, received the award for being user-friendly, quantifiable and one of the fastest growing programs in the country. The program started two years ago, and was overhauled a few months later after builders found participation in it difficult. The redesign focused on energy efficiency and maintaining waste, water and air quality. Two large production builders have agreed to build their 1,000+ annual units to program standards.
  
  
• Green Advocate of the Year: Group/Organization. This category honors a group whose efforts have resulted in significant changes to the field of resource-efficient new home construction. This year’s winner, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building America program, is a private-public partnership that develops energy solutions for new and existing homes through systems engineering approaches to home design and construction. Private sector partners contribute construction materials and labor costs for Building America’s research homes and communities. The program’s approach has been used in the design of 26,245 houses in 34 states.
  
  
• Green Advocate of the Year: Builder. Pam Sessions, the award winner in this category, is co-owner and president of Hedgewood Properties in Atlanta. Building more than 250 homes annually, Hedgewood adheres to smart growth planning and development concepts, while making use of green building techniques. Sessions builds communities that offer livable neighborhoods and a distinct sense of place.
  
  
• Green Advocate of the Year: Individual. Mark Kelly won this year’s award for his efforts to make sustainable design a fundamental aspect of residential development. As founder of Building Science Engineering in Harvard, Mass., Kelly has been the lead sustainability consultant on many award-winning projects, and had primary responsibility for developing the “Energy Crafted Home Design and Construction Manual,” which is recognized as one of the best resources for energy-efficient builders.
  
  
• Green Advocate of the Year: Remodeling. This year’s winner is Carl Seville, vice president of SawHorse in Atlanta, and one of the area’s leading green building proponents. In 2001, Seville lobbied Southface Energy Institute to expand EarthCraft House training to include renovations and chaired the committee that made it happen. Seville speaks regularly on green building, and for 20 years has taught the concepts of energy-efficient building. His company has received six awards for green renovation projects, including four from Environmental Design + Construction magazine.

For more information, e-mail Marie Yarroll, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8132.

“Profit from Building Green: Award Winning Tips to Build Energy Efficient Homes,” available through BuilderBooks.com, provides specific examples and tried-and-true techniques to create successful green building practices from choosing green building products through marketing energy-efficient houses. To view or purchase this publication online, click here, or call 800-223-2665.