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FEATURE STORY


Top 10 Green Building Trends for 2011


and research organization that has certified more than 11,000 sustainable homes, recently announced its annual selection of top ten green building trends to watch for over the next 12 months.


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The trends, which range from “affordable green” to lifecycle analysis of materials, were identified by the institute based on discussions with a range of audiences over the latter part of 2010. These sectors included policymakers, builders, developers, architects, real estate brokers, appraisers, lenders and homeowners.


“Despite market conditions, we have seen the market share for high performance homes increase from 18.5 to 23 percent,” said Sean Penrith, executive director. “This is a sure sign that the rate of appeal for these homes is increasing.”


energy-efficient features with higher costs. However, the development of new business models, technologies, and the mainstreaming of high performance materials is bringing high-performance, healthy homes within reach of all homeowners. Leading the charge are affordable housing groups, including Habitat for Humanity and local land trusts, now building and selling LEED® for Homes and ENERGY STAR®-certified homes across the country at price points as low as $100,000*. In the existing homes market, energy upgrades are now available through new programs that include low-cost audits and utility bill- based financing. Through such programs, no up-front payment is required to take advantage of energy upgrades.


1.


Affordable green. Consumers typically associate green and


arth Advantage Institute (www. earthadvantage.org), a leading nonprofit green building resource


purchasing sites like Facebook and Groupon add millions more members, the sharing of home energy consumption data—for rewards—is not far behind. The Earth Aid Web site (www.earthaid.net) lets you track home energy usage and earn rewards for energy savings from local vendors. You can also elect to share the information with others to see who can conserve the most energy. When coupled with other developments including home energy displays, a voluntary home energy scoring system announced by the Department of Energy, and other energy performance scoring programs, a lot more people will be sharing—and comparing— their home energy consumption.


2.


for most energy use and associated carbon emissions, but the prescriptive energy codes used in commercial remodels don’t encourage effective retrofitting. Compliance with energy codes is determined at permit time, using prescriptive or predictive models, and actual post-construction may never even be reviewed. Heating and cooling equipment could be faulty or improperly controlled, with significant energy and financial implications. Under outcome- based energy codes, owners could pursue the retrofit strategy they decide is most effective for their building and its tenants, but they would be required to achieve a pre-negotiated performance target through mandatory annual reporting.


3.


renewable energy will increasingly band together to obtain better pricing


4.


Community purchasing power. Neighborhoods interested in


Outcome-based energy codes. Existing buildings are responsible


Sharing and comparing home energy use. As social and


on materials such as solar panels and on installation costs. For example, the Solarize Portland program was initiated by local neighborhood leaders who wanted to increase the amount of renewable energy generated in Northeast Portland by working together as a community. The program is structured so that the price of solar panel installation decreases for everybody as more neighbors join the effort. Group purchasing creates a 15 to 25 percent savings below current prices. This group discount, in addition to current available tax credits and cash incentives, gives participants a significant cost savings. In Philadelphia, the Retrofit Philly program leverages contests between residential blocks to get neighborhoods involved in energy upgrades.


grid and smart homes. While many residential smart meters have been installed, the customer interfaces that will allow homeowners to track energy use more accurately are not yet in place. In the meantime, manufacturers are increasingly introducing appliances that are “grid-aware.” These appliances are endowed with more sophisticated energy management capabilities and timers, offering homeowners machines that monitor and report their own electricity usage and that increase or decrease that usage by remote command. Many machines have timers and can already be manually programmed to run during off-peak hours. These developments will begin forging the convergence of a smart grid infrastructure and the control applications needed to manage energy savings in our buildings and homes.


5.


“Grid-aware” appliances fuel convergence of smart


14 FEBRUARY 2011 | HOUSTON BUILDER | GREATER HOUSTON BUILDERS ASSOCIATION – BUILDING A BETTER FUTURE


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