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
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
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.
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.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
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.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
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!
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!
Monday, January 23, 2012
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.
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.
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