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

Phil Crone
Director of Green Building Programs
HBA Staff

Stimulus, spendulous, porkulous…whatever you want to call it, the recently-passed package includes well over $100 billion in energy efficiency or renewable energy initiatives. Also, I’m still not quite sure what a “green collar” job is. I suppose I have one, but I don’t see President Obama paying my law school loans off anytime soon. The best definition I was able to find for “green collar” job comes from Wikipedia: “green-collar worker is a worker who is employed in the environmental sectors of the economy, or in the agricultural sector. Environmental green-collar workers satisfy the demand for green development. Generally, they implement environmentally conscious design, policy, and technology to improve conservation and sustainability.” » Read more: (March 2009) The Newest ‘Green Collar’ Job: Residential Builder

Phil Crone
Director of Green Building Programs
HBA Staff

Enrollment in the HBA’s Green Built North Texas program is now available for 2009. Last year, thanks to your commitment and the program’s new home verification and registration process, GBNT became one of the nation’s most dynamic and successful green building programs. These efforts earned the program National Green Building Program of the Year honors from NAHB in May, 2008, and brought it to an international stage at the Greenbuild Conference in Boston, where more than 25,000 from around the world attended.  » Read more: (January 2009) Become a Part of Green Built North Texas in 2009

-December 2008-

It Was a Very Good Year
Phil Crone
Director of Green Building Programs
HBA Staff

In a year fraught with historical economic challenges, I know this is one many of us will be happy to forget. But before the calendar turns over, let us reflect on some of the extraordinary things we’ve accomplished. Specifically with green building, as our progress with Green Built North Texas demonstrates how quickly we as an industry are able to diversify, respond to and even preempt market forces.  » Read more: Archieved Green Vine Columns (2008)