CHiP Home Program welcomes Essex Homes, SE and Sovereign Homes

We are pleased to announce that Essex Homes, SE and Sovereign Homes have both committed to certifying all of their new construction in the Certified High Performance (CHiP) Home Program. Both companies have already received certifications in multiple homes in December 2012, and will continue throughout 2013 and beyond. See the list of CHiP Homes here.

Both companies already have comprehensive green building programs in place (e-Built for Essex Homes, and hauSmart(TM) for Sovereign Homes), but both have added the third-party certification based on the National Green Building Standard(TM) to give their customers further confidence in their construction techniques.

"This extra step taken by Essex Homes and Sovereign Homes demonstrates how important green building is becoming in our market and in new home construction around the country," said 2013 Green Building Council Chairman Mark Bostic. "To see large companies such as these make the effort to have every house third-party certified shows the importance of certification and a shift in the homebuilding paradigm."

Other companies that have certified new homes in the program are GreenSense Homes, Hallmark Homes International/Inspired Communities, and Paradime Construction, Inc. The CHiP Home Program is a program of the Green Building Council of Greater Columbia and is based on the National Green Building Standard(TM), an ANSI approved building standard. The program is designed for small, medium, and large-scale builders to achieve third-party certification of high-performance home construction in the most streamlined and cost-effective way possible. Click here for more information on the CHiP Home Program.

SCE&G ENERGY STAR New Homes Program

Since April of 2011, SCE&G has been rewarding builders in our electric service territory with rebates for every ENERGY STAR home built and submitted through the program. For those of you who have participated in the past, we are proud to continue supporting you in your efforts. For those of you who have not had the opportunity to take advantage of these rebates, I encourage you to consider joining us in our efforts to promote the construction of ENERGY STAR certified homes in our territory. In preparation for the upcoming 2013 program, we will be hosting Enrollment Meetings in Lexington, Beaufort, and Charleston during the second full week of November. During this meeting we will discuss the following topics:

1. ENERGY STAR Certified Homes
2. SC Adopts 2009 IECC
3. Builder Benefits and Incentives
4. Homeowner Benefits and Value
5. SCE&G Rebate Program and Enrollment

In addition, we will be providing information on how you can receive additional incentives for the installation of non-electric resistance water heaters. We encourage all Builders and HERS Raters, including current participants, to attend one of these meetings. Space is limited so please RSVP by November 9th using the hyperlinks below. Please let us know your company name and the names of those individuals who will be attending. Refreshments will be provided.

Lexington, SC
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
9:00 AM – 11:00 AM
SCE&G Lake Murray Training Center
1888 North Lake Drive
Lexington, SC 29072

RSVP to Bradly McCoy at bradley.mccoy@icfi.com or call (803)794-4959

Electric Yard Equipment Discount for New Homebuyers

To promote the use of environmentally-friendly equipment, the Home Builders Association of Greater Columbia in partnership with S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control are providing HBA members and their new homeowners the opportunity to purchase electric powered lawn and garden equipment at a discounted price (provided by the vendors).

Clean air is important for healthy neighborhoods and communities. This pilot project offers you an opportunity to help make your community a healthier and quieter place to live, work and play. Many people do not realize that gas-powered lawn equipment is the leading source of air pollution from non-road sources.

New home buyers are encouraged to ask their builder how to receive this discount, or contact Bin Wilcenski at the HBA of Greater Columbia at (803) 256-6238 or bin@columbiabuilders.com.

Energy Efficiency Effort Goes National

The State newspaper ran an article today about a program that was tested here in SC that helps people get small USDA loans to make energy-saving improvements to their homes. This program was a success and is going national.

See the full article here.

New CE Class for SC Real Estate Agents and Appraisers

We are pleased to introduce a brand new class for SC Real Estate Agents and Appraisers: Understanding High Performance Homes. This class is approved for 7 Continuing Education Credits for SC Real Estate Agents (elective credits) and Appraisers. The first offering is June 21, 2012 at Greenville Tech in Greenville, SC. We will also offer the class in Lexington, SC on June 26 and in Charleston, SC on June 28. All three classes are sponsored by the SC Energy Office.

Click on the date of the class you are interested in for more information and to register:
- Greenville, SC on Thursday, June 21
Hosted by the HBA of Greenville and Greenville Tech
- Lexington, SC on Tuesday, June 26
Hosted by the HBA of Greater Columbia and SCE&G
- Charleston, SC on Thursday June 28
Hosted by the Charleston HBA and Berkeley Electric Cooperative

You can also register on-line at columbiabuilders.com - select the class you wish to take on the calendar and register from there.

Local Company Awarded Builder Advocate of the Year in the 2012 NAHB Green Building Awards

Eleven builders, remodelers and other home building industry professionals were honored as winners of the National Green Building Awards by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The awards were presented during the 14th annual National Green Building Conference held in Nashville, Tenn.

“These awards recognize the best and most innovative builders and remodelers in green building”, said NAHB Chairman Barry Rutenberg, a home builder from Gainesville, Fla. “The demand for green building is growing in leaps and bounds, and these winners set a great example of what can be accomplished in terms of sustainable and energy efficient building practices.”

The awards were presented during the Muddy Boots Mixer, a special networking and awards event, and one of the highlights of the three-day conference, which featured educational programs, an exhibition of green products and a tour of local green homes.

Two awards were given to individuals or organizations for their efforts in green building advocacy:

The Mungo Companies of Irmo, S.C. for Builder Advocate of the Year
G STREET of Scottsdale, Ariz., as Remodeler Advocate of the Year

The Mungo Companies are members of the HBA of Greater Columbia, the Green Building Council of Greater Columbia, the Columbia Remodelers council and the Columbia Sales & Marketing Council. They have made a commitment to build all of their new homes, over 800 per year, with high efficiency and performance standards.

Click here to see the complete list of award winners.

National Green Building Standard(TM) Update Process

Note: Our Certified High Performance (CHiP) Home Program is currently based on the NGBS(TM) 2008 version. We plan to move to the 2012 version some time after the final version is approved.

The second draft of the 2012 National Green Building Standard(TM) is open for public comment now through June 11, 2012. Follow the link below to see the current draft, review comments already made and actions taken, and to make your own comments.

http://www.nahbrc.com/technical/standards/ngbs2012.aspx

First South Carolina Silver Certified Green Apartment Community Unveiled in Columbia

By: Marcia Purday, APR

Columbia is home to South Carolina’s only Silver Certified green living apartment community, Arcadia’s Edge, which is also one of the first in the nation to achieve Silver Certification for the National Green Building Standards by the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB).

“Arcadia’s Edge promotes sustainable, green building practices to support the quality of life our tenants want while providing energy savings,” said Matt Mundy, an Arcadia’s Edge development associate. “There is a growing demand for greener apartment homes, so we built the Edge to achieve a national, independent certification; a true, green initiative.”

Green building incorporates environmental considerations and resource efficiency into steps of the building and development process to promote environmental and economic sustainability. It is a practical response to a variety of issues such as energy efficiency, water and resource management, indoor environmental quality, and site planning.

Environmental protection at The Edge

“To help protect the site and its environment, we took measures to preserve and enhance Roper Pond and the wetlands,” said Mundy. “Wetland Carpets and Floating Wetlands were planted along the pond banks to help control erosion, provide natural pollutant filtration, absorb excess nutrients, and reduce the growth of algae. BaySavers, a newer water treatment technology, were installed to separate debris and trap pollutants in storm water before entering waterways to further protect water quality.”

See the whole article at MidlandsBiz.com

Green Code Moratorium Defeated

The Home Builders Association in coordination with the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce’s Business Friendly Task Force successfully lobbied against a “temporary moratorium” on the use of Richland County’s current Green Code Standards. The proposed moratorium initially offered by Councilwoman Val Hutchinson was soundly defeated at last night’s Zoning Public Hearing of Richland County Council.

Hutchinson had offered a motion which had received first reading on April 3rd "that would establish a temporary moratorium on the use of the Green Code Standards…in order to give staff time to address potential inconsistencies and ambiguities that may be found with that Section, and to advertise for a Public Hearing in conjunction with the Zoning Public Hearing on April 24, and that once the Public Hearing is advertised, to apply the Pending Ordinance Doctrine…"

The Land Development Council of the Home Builders Association opposed this action by County Council for the following reasons:
- A moratorium is an excessive measure and is not necessary to amend the Green Code Standards. Any proposed amendment should be forwarded to the Development Roundtable and the Planning Commission for a recommendation, which is current procedure and required by state law.
- The use of the Pending Ordinance Doctrine is an abuse of the process and allows for a dangerous precedent for any future business development in the County. The development community needs to know what the rules are and not be subject to changes due to the personal agenda of any one individual member of County Council.

To her credit, Hutchinson offered the motion at the Hearing to deny second reading of the moratorium and directed the Development Roundtable to offer recommendations “to address potential inconsistencies and ambiguities that may be found with that Section “back to the Planning Commission and Council no later than July 10th. Hutchinson’s motion was adopted unanimously.

Paradime Construction, Inc. Completes First Home In Certified High Performance Home Program

The Green Building Council of Greater Columbia is pleased to announce the first certification of a house in the new Certified High Performance (CHiP) Home program. The builder is Paradime Construction, Inc., a Home Builders Association (HBA) and Green Building Council member company. The house, located in Columbia, SC, reached the Bronze Level in the program.

“We are pleased to offer this certification program in Columbia,” said Green Building Council Chairman, Peter D. Williams. “It is a low-cost solution to build or remodel to a national standard, and assures the buyer that they have invested in a high performance home.”

The CHiP Home program is administered by the Green Building Council of Greater Columbia, which is a council of the HBA of Greater Columbia. Homes in the program are third-party verified to ensure that they meet the criteria as outlined in the ANSI-approved 2008 National Green Building Standard™ (Icc 700-2008). The Standard takes many aspects of the structure into account including energy, water and resource efficiency, lot design and preparation, and indoor air quality. Minimum levels of compliance must be met in each area for a home to be worthy of a certification.

For more information on the CHiP Home program, please visit the Green Building Council of Greater Columbia’s website at www.columbiagreenbuilders.com or call (803) 256-6238. For more information on Paradime Construction, Inc. and this home, visit their website at www.colahome.com or call (803) 600-4237.

Building a Certified High Performance (CHiP) Home - Part 2

In Part 1 of this article we covered some basics of building/remodeling a home to a green certification program. We looked at making the commitment to build green, why certification is important and things to consider when choosing a green program.

Once you've done all of this, you need to know what it takes to actually build/remodel in a program. Well, here you go:

4. So how do you build/remodel in a program? When you build or remodel to a program, there’s a couple of things you have to do:

a. Hire a rater to work on each home – You have to have a third party rater to model the home before it is built and to test your home using the blower door test and other scientific calculations during and after construction. The rater will also work with your HVAC Contractor to get the system matched with the higher performance features you are installing. This is the same no matter which program you build to. Again, there are plenty of raters around. Find one that you like, and that can give you the best price and/or service.

b. Have the house verified to that program – When you build to a program, the certifying body need to be sure that you’re doing what the program says or they can’t certify the home. In many cases, the rater you hired to test your house is also the program verifier. However, the rater and verifier can be different people. When you’re shopping for a rater, ask if they can also verify in the program you want to build to… it will save you time and money if they can. In the CHiP Home Program, any verifier approved by NAHB or the USGBC LEED for Homes program is qualifed to be your verifier.

c. Build the home to the program – Your rater has worked with you to site the home properly, get the glazing correct and all of the other groundwork has been laid out. You’ve gone through the program and you know how to get the points needed for certification. Now…go build that house. Make sure your trade partners know that they’re building to a green program and what that means to them and their job. If the trade partner has never worked on such a house, make sure you or your rater/verifier explains anything they have to do differently to keep this house on track for certification. If one trade misses the mark, it could lose the certification for the whole house. The learning curve here is steep for your first green house or two, but you and your trade partners will get the hang of it.

d. Testing and verification – During construction, your rater/verifier will have to visit the home to do their thing. The verifier will visually inspect the home during the rough-in stage (before everything gets covered up), and keep an eye on the products/materials you’re using. You will have to keep records of all this stuff so you can get the certification, too. Again, the learning curve is steep on your first home or two, but you’ll get it. The verifier throughout construction will check everything the program deems mandatory, and items that you opt to do. Your rater will come in at the end and test the home with the blower door and other tests. This is where you find out the all-important HERS Rating of the home… the lower, the better.

e. Certification – Once all of the data is compiled and the house and accompanying paperwork is complete, you (the builder/remodeler) will send the required paperwork and fees to the certifier (USGBC, NAHB or the HBA of Greater Columbia in this case). They will review this information, deposit the check, and issue the certification for that home. Certification of a house in the CHiP Home Program is only $50. It is at least $150 per house for LEED-H and $200 per house in the NAHB Green program. Plus, we offer discounts to volume builders with a 12-month commitment.

Now you can market this home as being Certified Green in the program you chose (Check any guidelines or restrictions the program may have). Under our program, each home will be listed at www.columbiagreenbuilders.com and be searchable on an interactive map. LEED for Homes and NAHB Green do not offer this with their certifications.

Make sure the MLS Listing for the home shows that the home is certified. There are checkboxes for this in the bottom, right of the Columbia (SC) MLS form.

There you have it. We hope to have taken some of the mystery out of what you as a builder or remodeler has to do in order to build a certified green home. If you're in the Midlands of South Carolina, please contact us to start building to the CHiP Home Program today!

Building a Certified High Performance (CHiP) Home - Part 1

In an effort to help our members build green homes, we are now offering the Certified High Performance (CHiP) Home Program. This program is based on the 2008 National Green Building Standard(TM) and the HBA of Greater Columbia is the certifying body. This series of articles is intended to give builders more information on certifying in general and on our program. More information is at www.columbiagreenbuilders.com.

1. Make the commitment to build green. Regulations and codes are getting tougher every year. The 2006 IECC was adopted for South Carolina a couple of years ago, and we’re about to move to the 2009 IECC. Rest assured that we will one day go to the 2012 IECC and beyond. Deciding to build more energy efficient and High Performance homes now will save you and your trade partners a lot of time and effort when these practices become mandatory.

2. Why Certify? Building to a program – whether it’s the USGBC LEED for Homes, NAHB Green, EarthCraft House or our CHiP Home Program – takes a little extra effort on the part of the builder to accomplish. But having your home certified by a third party gives you credibility and your buyer peace of mind. Any one can say that their house is built a certain way, but with a certification, someone else is saying you built it that way. Liability is also a good reason for certifying your homes in a third party program. Misrepresentation of items in a home is easy to do, and can get you in a lot of trouble. Certifying in a program helps take away any questions as to how the home was built and what it contains. Get ahead of the mandates and start building better homes NOW.

3. Choosing a program. As we just mentioned, there are a lot of third-party green certification programs out there for you to choose from… and that’s a good thing! It means you can shop around and find the one that is best for you. But, to help you out some… when it comes to building to the program, they are all about the same. However, they are different when it comes to the fees charged to have access to the program and on a per-house basis. This is the reason we have developed our own, local program… we want our members to build green and spend the least amount of money doing so. Our program, the Certified High Performance (CHiP) Home Program beats the USGBC and NAHB per home certification fees by more than half.

The next article will lay out the five main points to building/remodeling green in a certification program.