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 Welcome to Green Built Texas
A Home Builders
Association Initiative
 Demilec
Joins Green Built Texas as 2010 Title Partner
National leader in spray foam insulation, Demilec, has joined Green Built Texas
as a Title Partner. Their investment in the program significantly enhances Green
Built Texas's ability to provide services to its participating builder members.
Additional partnership opportunities are available for
interested product and service suppliers. More information can be found by
clicking here or
contacting the HBA at 972-931-4840.
Nearly 1,200 Attend Texas
Green Building Summit
For the second year in a row,
industry professionals flocked to the Texas Green Building Summit, which has
quickly become the state’s premiere green building event. Building on last
year’s event, the HBA and the USGBC-North Texas Chapter worked to expand this
event into a full-day educational opportunity. Their efforts paid off.
The day began with a welcome by HBA
President Liz Newman who was followed by Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert who spoke
about his experience with commercial green building while he was in the private
sector and the city’s own green building commitment.
Attendees were then able to choose
between five different education tracks that covered new and existing
residential and commercial construction. Session topics included the legal
aspects of green building, sustainable strategies for property management, and
an introduction to the new Green Built Texas remodeling program. One of the more
entertaining seminars was a panel discussion with nationally-renowned architect
Peter Pfeiffer and award-winning green builder Chris Miles who provided
insightful banter on building high-performance homes.
“Along with coordinating a small army
of volunteers, one of the challenges of this event was putting together an
education agenda that appealed to the variety of people we had here,” said Green
Built Texas Co-Chairman Adam Auensen of Tonti Properties. “I heard from a lot of
satisfied customers today so I know we are starting our year with a ton of
momentum.”
Green Built Texas looks to keep up
the momentum with several more marquis events throughout the year including
Green Speed Networking, a Green Remodeling Summit and several GreenVine
lectures. Membership and partnership opportunities for the program can be found
at GreenBuiltTexas.com/JoinGBT.
The Green Supremacy
Could
Federal laws invalidate local green building regulations?
By: Phil
Crone, Director of Green Building Programs
A U.S.
District Court in New Mexico thinks they could. In AHRI v. City of
Albuquerque the court granted a preliminary injunction stopping the city
from enforcing its green building ordinance and sending them back to the drawing
board. Now it may only be a matter of time before this case makes its way to
Texas and perhaps across the country.
The
reason why is that the city was attempting to require HVAC equipment that is
more efficient than the minimum standards set by the Department of Energy. Thus,
the plaintiffs (HVAC contractors, suppliers and manufacturers) are alleging that
the ordinance is preempted by federal law; specifically, the Energy Policy and
Conservation Act of 1992. (read
more)
Texas is Tops in ENERGY STARŪ Homes
(Dallas, Texas – November 10, 2009) Houston and
Dallas-Fort Worth are leading the nation in ENERGY STAR qualified homes, the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today. The enormously
successful program achieved a major milestone recently with one million ENERGY
STAR qualified homes constructed in the United States since the program began
labeling new homes. Americans have saved $1.2 billion on their energy bills and
reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 22 billion pounds. This year alone,
families in ENERGY STAR qualified homes will save more than $270 million on
their utility bills, while avoiding greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those
from about 370,00 vehicles.
Houston has the most ENERGY STAR qualified homes
with 144,000 constructed since EPA began the program in 1995, and the
Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is second with 103,000. Other Texas areas in the
top 20 national markets are San Antonio with 19,000 homes (No. 8) and Austin
with 13,000 homes built (No. 14).
“By making smart energy choices, thousands of
Texans are saving millions each year,” said EPA Acting Regional Administrator
Lawrence E. Starfield. “By taking a few common sense steps to conserve home
energy use, we can get the most out of our energy dollars and save on utility
bills.”
To earn the ENERGY STAR label, a home must meet
strict energy efficiency guidelines set by EPA. Those guidelines can be met
through established, reliable building techniques available to most American
homeowners. Those include effective insulation systems, high-performance
windows, tight construction and ducts, efficient heating and cooling equipment,
and high-efficiency lighting and appliances. In addition, a HERS rater conducts
onsite testing and inspections to verify that the home’s performance meets
ENERGY STAR requirements.
There are more than 6,500 builders across the
nation building homes that earn the ENERGY STAR label and qualified homes can be
found in every state in the country.
More information about the features and benefits of ENERGY
STAR qualified homes and participating builders is available at
http://www.energystar.gov/onemillionhomes
More about activities in EPA Region 6:
http://www.epa.gov/region6
EPA audio file is available at
http://www.epa.gov/region6/6xa/podcast/nov2009.html
Participating Builder Members
Participating Supporter Members
Click here for full
story
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