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Even Boulder finds it isn't easy
going green
from The Wall Street
Journal
This spring,
city contractors will fan out across this
well-to-do college town to unscrew light bulbs
in thousands of homes and replace them with more
energy-efficient models, at taxpayer expense.
City officials never dreamed they'd have to play
nanny when they set out in 2006 to make Boulder
a role model in the fight against global
warming. The cause seemed like a natural fit in
a place where residents tend to be politically
liberal and passionate about the great outdoors.
More
Water efficiency to play bigger
role in home building
from Professional
Builder
Even with the
sluggish housing market and a more
budget-conscious consumer base, home-building
professionals expect to see increased investment
in water-conservation measures in home-building
and remodeling projects through 2011, according
to an exclusive survey of builders, land
developers and residential architects by
Professional Builder magazine. More
How green is my home? LEED, NAHB,
Energy Star to decide
from USA Today
In the
sweepstakes of green building, dozens of
programs now vie to rate homes for water and
energy efficiency. My green home project seeks
top scores from several. This year, I'll apply
for certification from the government's Energy
Star program, the National Association of Home
Builders, Atlanta-based Earthcraft and Falls
Church, Va., the self-dubbed "little city" where
we're building. The city has its own rating
system. I'll also seek approval from the LEED
(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)
for Homes program, offered by the private
Washington-based U.S. Green Building Council. More
Could poorly performing projects
kill green building?
from Seattle Daily
Journal of Commerce
The green
building marketplace originally began as a small
movement in the architecture and environment
communities, but it is now widely accepted
within all areas of the building community.
Green building is now being looked at not only
as a way to improve our built environment, but
also to help jump-start our economy. You can't
listen to politician talk about the economy
without hearing about "green jobs." This has led
to an explosion of interest in green building,
and sustainability in general. More
Are you insured for lead?
from Replacement
Contractor Online
Imagine that
your company is suddenly hit with a civil suit.
The suit is filed under the Consumer Protection
Act for violating Environmental Protection
Agency safe lead-paint-removal regulations. It
alleges that unsafe work practices by those in
your employ left a child severely
learning-impaired. The client seeks punitive
damages and medical costs totaling $1 million.
Unlikely? Don't bet on it. More
USGBC says no such thing as "LEED
Decertification"
from Eco Home
Magazine
The Washington,
D.C.-based U.S. Green Building Council refutes
an article that ran in the San Francisco
Business Journal last month stating that
under LEED 2009, the latest version of LEED,
USGBC now has the power to "decertify" an
existing LEED-certified development. The
article, "Risk of LEED Decertification Looms
Large for Real Estate," stated that "... a
little known provision in LEED 2009, which
allows LEED certifications to be challenged and
removed at any time after they have been
certified, presents a threat to all existing and
future LEED 2009-certified projects." More
Barack Obama's $5 billion green
home plan to boost economy gets off to a slow
start
from The Guardian
Barack Obama's
$5 billion program to help fuel America's
economic recovery by making more than half a
million homes energy efficient has got off to a
painfully slow start and was 98 percent short of
its goal last year, according to an official
report. The program, part of last year's $787
billion economic recovery plan, was supposed to
create around 87,000 jobs by insulating lofts
and sealing draughty windows in 593,000 homes by
2012. More
Going green with help from Uncle
Sam
from Forbes
If you're
greening your home and your life, pretty much
everything but the kitchen sink can get you a
tax break these days. Here's some stuff you can
now buy with help from Uncle Sam: an
energy-efficient Whirlpool or Sears Kenmore
fridge, special Hunter Douglas honeycomb window
blinds, central air, a General Motors Volt
plug-in car (when it comes out), a General
Electric tankless water heater, even a Trek
bicycle. Benefits range from $50 for the fridge
to $7,500 for the Volt to potentially tens of
thousands for installing a solar photovoltaic
system to provide electricity to your home. More
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