AIArchitect, September 26, 2005 - USGBC Launches LEED™ Green Building Rating System for Homes Pilot Demonstration

09/2005

USGBC Launches LEED™ Green Building Rating System for Homes Pilot Demonstration

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in August launched a one-year pilot demonstration of its newest green-building rating system, “LEED for Homes.” The Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) for Homes rating system is a voluntary program to recognize the top 25 percent of green home builders for environmentally sound construction. New homes built to LEED standards will be designed and constructed to use less energy, less water, and fewer materials. The homes will provide improved indoor air quality through better ventilation and filtration systems design and improved controls of pollutant sources.

"The residential market is a new area for LEED and USGBC," said Rick Fedrizzi, USGBC president/CEO. "The homes market is in line with our mission of transforming the built environment on all levels. These LEED homes will help lower operating costs, increase home value, reduce maintenance issues, and improve indoor environmental quality."

The new rating system addresses the needs of the residential market and builds on the existing LEED rating systems that focus on commercial buildings. One of those needs is local support for home builders. In a new approach, the USGBC has created the LEED for Homes “providers,” who will offer support services to builders of LEED homes during the pilot phase.

Providers are local and regional organizations selected to provide technical, marketing, and verification support services to builders. Through a competitive national process, USGBC selected 12 local providers chosen based on their qualifications and experience in supporting builders in the construction of high performance, sustainable homes. During the year-long pilot, only these providers will be eligible to work with the builders in the delivery of LEED for Homes. During the pilot phase, the LEED for Homes providers also will be responsible for selecting appropriate pilot projects and verifying the homes built meet LEED requirements.

Home builders interested in taking part in the LEED for Homes pilot can submit an application online or directly to one of the LEED for Homes providers.

Regional providers
The selected LEED for Homes Providers are:

Arizona (Scottsdale and metro Phoenix): Anthony Floyd, Green Building Program manager, City of Scottsdale Green Building Program, 480-312-4202 or afloyd@scottsdaleaz.gov

California: Mary Westcott, Davis Energy Group, Inc. 530-753-1100, ext. 11, or mwestcot@davisenergy.com

Colorado: Kim Calomino, director, Built Green Colorado, 303-328-2320 or kcalomino@hbadenver.com; Megan E. Edmunds, executive director, E-Star Colorado, 303-297-7380 or medmunds@e-star.com; Kristin Shewfelt, program development officer, E-Star Colorado, 303-297-7499 or kshewfelt@e-star.com

Florida: Eric Martin, senior research engineer, Florida Solar Energy Center/University of Central Florida, 321-638-1450 or martin@fsec.ucf.edu

Georgia (Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia): Laura Uhde, Southface Energy Institute, 404-872-3549, ext. 129 or laura@southface.org

Michigan (central and west Michigan): Michael Holcomb, president, The Alliance for Environmental Sustainability, 616-241-5537 or mholcomb@triton.net

New Jersey (New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania): Rebecca Lynch MaGrann Associates, 856-813-1474, fax 856-813-8744, or greenbuilding@magrann.com

Northeast Team (Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont): Richard Faesy, senior project manager, Vermont Energy Investment Corporation, 802-453-5100, ext.19, or rfaesy@veic.org

Oklahoma (Oklahoma and northern Texas): Jennifer Boyle, marketing coordinator, Guaranteed Watt Saver Systems Inc., 405-946-0206 or jboyle13@cox.net

Oregon (Oregon and southern Washington): Randy Hansell, green building specialist, Earth Advantage, 503-603-1649 or randy.hansell@pgn.com

Pennsylvania (eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware): Liz Robinson, executive director, Energy Coordinating Agency of Philadelphia, 215-988-0929 or lizr@ecasavesenergy.org

Texas (San Antonio): Chip Henderson, president, Contects-Consultants & Architects, 210-824-8758 or chip@contects.com.

For more information, visit the USGBC Web site.

Just Posted: Visit the AIA Affordable Green Guidelines site for a whole host of housing design ideas to consider. The guidelines were created under contract to the U.S. Department Housing and Urban Development.