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Pulte, MHI Building Green to NAHB Model Guidelines
Two production home builders have announced plans to construct communities with homes certified by local green building programs based on the NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines.
The news is another important step for the NAHB National Green Building Program, which will be unveiled at the International Builders’ Show in February, said NAHB Green Building Subcommitee chair Ray Tonjes, a custom builder in Austin, Texas.
The Southern Nevada Green Building Partnership and Pulte Homes announced last week that Pulte has signed as the first production home builder to participate in the program, which was established to help builders design and construct more environmentally sensitive homes in metropolitan Las Vegas.
MHI, a builder member of the Home Builders Association of Greater Dallas, will begin constructing more than 800 green homes for its three brands — Pioneer, Plantation and Coventry Homes — in the Dallas-Fort Worth region that will fit the HBA's Green Built North Texas program's construction guidelines.
The Green Building Partnership — a program of the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association and the Green Building Initiative of Portland, Ore. — is based on the NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines.
The partnership administers third-party inspection and verification that registered homes are constructed to the program’s green building requirements.
Pulte plans to launch its participation with the design and construction of its Villa Trieste at West Park community, which will feature 185 homes when completed. Villa Trieste will have three-story home designs from about 2,400 to more than 2,800 square feet, with prices starting in the $400,000s.
The Southern Nevada Water Authority has also designated Villa Trieste as a Water Smart Home Community because of its outstanding water conservation and water efficiency features.
NAHB supports the voluntary Water Smart program, which is a federal Environmental Protection Agency initiative.
"Pulte prides itself on having set the standard for environmentally-sensitive and technologically-advanced home building in Las Vegas for many years,” said Nat Hodgson, vice president of construction for Pulte Homes' Las Vegas Division. “It is exciting to continue in this tradition by being the first production builder to join the Southern Nevada Green Building Partnership, and in doing so, add additional validation to our claim of being Southern Nevada's greenest national home builder."
The company built and sold 4,519 new homes in 2006, according to Home Builders Research of Las Vegas.
"As one of the most successful and prominent home building companies in the nation, the participation of Pulte Homes in the Southern Nevada Green Building Partnership raises the bar for this program," said Irene Porter, SNHBA executive director. "Pulte's involvement will certainly establish a protocol for designing and building green production homes in our community. Pulte customers who purchase green homes will be assured that their new home was built to verifiable and certified green standards."
MHI is one of the first volume builders in the Green Built North Texas Program and will brand its green homes with the Eco Smart label. Eco Smart homes built by the Pioneer Homes division of MHI are priced from the $110,000s, designs by Plantation Homes are priced from the $150,000s and homes by Coventry Homes start in the $280,000s.
The HBA's Green Built North Texas program is a partnership of North Texas home builders, industry supporters and sponsors committed to resource-efficient home construction. The program consists of 38 construction guidelines that address strategies for six categories of construction, including job site management, water efficiency, indoor air quality, material usage and home owner education.
For more information, e-mail Calli Schmidt at NAHB, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8132.
 Sign Up for Regular Updates on NAHB’s National Green Building Program
Get regular updates about NAHB’s National Green Building Program and learn more about ongoing educational opportunities by visiting the green building program Web site at www.nahb.org/greenbuildingprogram.
Also, subscribe to the NAHB Green Building Update e-newsletter by filling out the online signup form.
For more information, or to subscribe, e-mail Calli Schmidt at NAHB, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8132.
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