by Phil Crone, Director of Government Affairs and Green Building Programs

A few weeks ago, I wrote that the North Texas Municipal Water District is considering a move to Stage 4 water restrictions (their highest contemplated level). Such a move would have a significant impact on the 1 million customers that get their water from cities that the District serves.

In furtherance of Stage 4 restrictions, a city may prohibit the irrigation of new landscaping using treated water, prohibit permitting of private pools, and initiate a rate surcharge for water use that exceeds normal rates according to the District’s Model Drought Contingency Plan. The plan, which was finalized in 2008, contains model ordinances for cities to adopt. Cities served by the District include Allen, Frisco, Garland, McKinney, Mesquite, Plano, Richardson, Rockwall and Wylie. » Read more: Drought May Still Mussel up Water Restrictions

Hey y’all, watch this: I can flush all the toilets in my house by turning on my range hood! I don’t think any of you have built a house that tight yet. If I can accomplish that feat, then consider this my claim for the exclusive YouTube rights.

Most houses have all sorts of exhaust appliances (bathroom fans, clothes dryers, wood stove, power vented water heater, etc.), but kitchen range hoods are typically the most powerful, pulling between 100 to 1200 cfm of air out of the house. As Isaac Newton told us in elementary school, for every action there must be an equal and opposite reaction. As such, every time air is removed from the house, an equal amount of air must enter. » Read more: Making Up is Hard to Do

By: Phil Crone, Director of Government Affairs and Green Building Programs
November Issue of the Home Builder newspaper

A couple years ago, while I was wondering if I would ever finish law school, I was also working at the HBA as we were dealing with the City of Dallas’s proposal for a green building ordinance. At that time work and school shared little in common except for their collective deprivation sleep, healthy eating habits, and personal time. I still wonder how I made it through.

Anyways, the point of the story is that right before the ordinance was ready to pass, it occurred to me that all this federalism stuff I was learning in Constitutional law may actually be applicable to the regulation of green building. Specifically, in cases where the federal government set standards for something, I wondered if a local government could impose more stringent standards above and beyond the federal minimum.

With this in mind, I sent a letter to then council member Mitchell Rasansky in April 2008 conveying our concerns that the City of Dallas could not legally mandate that shower head and faucet fixture flow rates be more stringent than the rates called for by the federal government. It seemed like a question worth asking, but I knew there would not be an answer until somebody tried it out in court. Well, the answer may have come last month in the AHRI v. City of Albuquerque case. » Read more: Fallout from AHRI v. City of Albuquerque: Will it be Illegal for a City to Mandate ENERGY STAR and LEED for Homes?

By: Phil Crone
HBA of Greater Dallas Director of Government Affairs and Green Building Programs

What if the codes required your home to achieve a HERS Index of 50 or below? If you are not building to this level now, could you be in five or six years? You may not have a choice.

A couple weeks ago I was listening to Sam Rashkin, the EPA’s National Director of ENERGY STAR for Homes, speak at the NAHB National Green Building Conference in Raleigh, NC. As Mr. Rashkin ran through a litany of changes that the program would soon undergo such as Grade 1 insulations ratings (no batts), extremely stringent HVAC design layouts and testing, a new water management checklist, and an overall goal to increase a home’s performance by another 15 percent, I began to wonder how many builders would continue with ENERGY STAR once these measures became effective next year. Even some of the more advanced green builders would have trouble getting to this level given the current state of the economy and the rampant disregard for the value of efficiency and sustainability in the appraisal process. » Read more: International Code Council will Define Future of Green, Housing Industry

By: Phil Crone
HBA of Greater Dallas
Green Vine News Column, February, 2010

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. » Read more: (March 2010) The Green Supremacy: Could Federal laws invalidate local green building regulations?

By: Phil Crone
HBA of Greater Dallas
Green Vine News Column, December 2009

What can my association do for me? That question is asked a lot these days as the HBA’s role as an advocate and an educator takes on the utmost importance in these uncertain times. For two days in November, Green Built Texas’s Project Zero event provided a definitive answer.

The first day began at the Lewisville Convention C » Read more: (Dec. 2009) Green Built Texas Project Zero: An Example of What Your Association Can Do For You

By: Phil Crone
HBA of Greater Dallas
Green Vine News Column, October 2009Green Built Texas is looking to end the year on a high note similar to the one we started on. Recall back in January, more than 700 industry professionals attended the Texas Green Home Seminar. The event was successful enough that it will now become an annual tradition. » Read more: (Oct. 2009) Project Zero is a Deal You Can’t Pass Up

By: Phil Crone
HBA of Greater Dallas
Green Vine News Column, May 2009

This month’s column is sort of a carry-over from last month, but the gravity of this issue has led me to pick up where I left off. Thus far, most of the demand for resource-efficient or green homes has been market-driven and a product of consumers wanting to save money. This demand is what spurred the creation of green building programs such as Green Built Texas that came about to find a way to get the maximum amount of home performance for the least practicable cost. » Read more: (May 2009) Congress Deals Out ACES as its Environmental Trump Card

Phil Crone
Director of Green Building Programs
HBA Staff

Nowadays, few things really come as a surprise to me. Indeed these days when someone asks me what’s coming next in the field of green building, I no longer look to products magazines and cost benefit analysis. Instead one of the places to look, heaven-forbid, is to the EPA. The first issue I’ll discuss is more global, but will eventually have a major effect on every sector of the economy, including ours. The next issue hits closer to home. Regarding each, my hope is that the HBA can serve as a resource not only to inform you of what’s coming, but also to provide you with the tools you need to enable your business to weather this changing regulatory climate.

EPA: Greenhouse Gases Threaten Public Health and Welfare » Read more: (April 2009) An EPA Double Play