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NAHB Headquarters Garners Energy Star Designation
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The National Housing Center |
| The National Housing Center, the headquarters building of NAHB, has earned a 2006 ENERGY STAR® designation for its focus on conserving natural resources while providing a comfortable and healthy environment for employees and visitors.
Located five blocks from the White House, the Housing Center now ranks in the top 25% of commercial buildings for energy performance, as recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In 2006, the building has far exceeded the minimum 75 rating for recognition in the Energy Star program, achieving an 86 out of 100.
“So many of our members build homes with appliances and heating and cooling systems that meet the ENERGY STAR guidelines. I’m delighted that NAHB’s own headquarters has again achieved this important designation,” said NAHB Executive Vice President and CEO Jerry Howard. The association also successfully applied for the designation in 2004.
A plaque recognizing the ENERGY STAR achievement will be posted near the building’s entrance.
NAHB was able to integrate energy-efficient features when it embarked upon a major project several years ago to renovate the 1972 building and expand it from five to nine floors. Since the building’s completion in 2002, building engineers have continued to fine-tune the details.
Transwestern Commercial Services, the Housing Center’s property managers, installed timing devices on many of the building’s lighting, cooling and heating systems — a common energy-saver in homes, but more difficult to regulate in a large public building. There are now sensor lights in the underground parking garage, a new system to regulate the building’s fan coil units, and a means of monitoring adjustments to the constant volume air system to smooth out office temperatures.
The building also meets the ENERGY STAR requirements for all indoor environment criteria, including the control of indoor air pollutants, adequate ventilation and illumination, and appropriate thermal conditions.
“The ENERGY STAR designation is another example of our continued efforts in the green building movement,” Howard said. “We all need to look for ways to save energy, and even if the means to achieve it in residential and commercial construction may differ, our ENERGY STAR designation is still an important milestone and a model for all of us.”
For more information, e-mail Calli Schmidt at NAHB, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8132.
 Save the Date for National Green Building Conference
Mark your calendar for the 2007 National Green Building Conference, which will be held March 25-27 in St. Louis, and find out why a growing number of home builders are "Greening for the American Dream" by makiing cost-effective business decisions that also help the environment.
The conference will include educational sessions on construction, natural resource conservation, recycling, financing, marketing and more. Highlighting the conference will be a tour of green building projects in the St. Louis area.
For more information, visit www.nahb.org/greenbuilding.
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