My husband’s brother and sister-in-law know I am into green building, so a thoughtful gift came my way last Christmas: Building Green by Clarke Snell & Tim Callahan.  I engulfed the 600+ page resource within a couple of weeks.  It was a wonderful read, focusing on step-by-step examples of earth plaster, straw bale, cordwood, cob, and living roofs.

Here are a few other great green building picks:

Green Building Products by Alex Wilson and Mark Piepkorn – resource for green building materials in your home.  It has an index of products and suppliers that will help you achieve a healthier home, inside and out.

Green Remodeling: Changing the World One Room at a Time by David R. Johnston and Kim Master – a comprehensive guide that will help you make simple green remodeling changes in your home.  Authors are a top remodeler and a green remodeling consultant.

Natural House Book by David Pearson – a recommendation of my favorite green architects: AMD Architecture.  It provides homeowners with a practical guide to saving money and energy with some of the latest green homebuilding practices.  Included is an updated list of resources for your green building needs.

Green By Design by Angela Dean – invites you to make healthy choices in your home building/remodeling, such as straw bale construction and natural flooring.  A reference for green materials as well as a guide to avoiding the possible pitfalls that can be avoided.

Not So Big Remodeling: A Better House for the Way you Really Live by Sarah Susanka  – another one of my favorite architects/authors…her series is amazing.  This book focuses on remodeling in small ways to achieve large, positive impacts within the home.  It will help homeowners discover what they really want and need in their home renovation.

What are your favorite Green building books and resources?

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Beginning in April 2010, federal law will require that contractors be trained to protect children and pregnant women from dangerous levels of lead. Signed in March of this 2008, the EPA’s “Lead: Renovation, Repair and Painting Program” is the most important new effort to combat childhood lead poisoning in the last decade says the EPA.

The law will require contractors and maintenance professionals to be certified, and their employees trained. In addition, they must follow protective lead-safe work practice standards when renovation, repair or painting activities will disturb more than six square feet of lead-based paint in a room or when 20 square feet of lead-based paint is disturbed on the exterior.

Contractors will be required to post warning signs, restrict occupants from work areas, prevent dust and debris from spreading, conduct a thorough cleanup and verify that the cleanup was effective.
Two-thirds of homes and half of the schools and day care centers built before 1960 have some lead-based paint. These new requirements focus on those built before 1978, the year lead-based paint was banned, where children under the age of six are present or where an expectant mother resides.

Exposure to lead-contaminated dust is the most common way children get lead poisoning, which can cause serious behavior and learning problems in children and health problems in adults says the EPA.
By requiring certification, we will be able to identify those contractors who are trained in lead-safe work practices.  It is likely all of this will add cost to our remodels as well.

For educational materials and brochures, please visit www.epa.gov/lead, or call the National Lead Information Center at 800-424-LEAD (5323).

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What is orange, green, and good for a residential home remodel or improvement project? GetWithGreen thinks one answer is the ever growing inventory of Eco Option products located around the corner at your local Home Depot.

This past week Ron Jarvis senior vice president of environmental innovation with The Home Depot and GetWithGreen.com, sat down to talk about the Eco Options program, and retail trends in green home product market.

Ron’s home improvement career spans 23 years, starting early on with Lowe’s, followed by 13 years at America’s largest home improvement retailer, The Home Depot. For the last eight years Ron has been tracking energy products for the retail giant, and now leads the company’s Eco Options program, among other environmental initiatives, reduced energy consumption by stores, reduced waste and increased recycles as well as increased sustainability into all business functions.

Eco Options is Home Depot’s product labeling program that allows customers to easily identify products that have less of an impact on the environment. The 3,000+ products are located throughout the orange shelves of the retailer. Early on, the Company decided to place green home products next to their lesser eco-friendly counterparts, rather than go for a “green aisle” approach. The Depot believed that consumers should be able to compare products, and also wanted to make it easy for homeowners to find green home products.

Today these products range from indoor construction materials such as insulation, moldings and green paints, to outdoor organic fertilizers. Ron tells us that adoption of green home products is accelerating as television, advertising and other media continue to keep ‘green’ red hot in front of homeowners. Ron estimates growth to be around 10% over the next 12 months even in a negative growth economy and like a presidential candidate knocking on rural doors, Ron often walks the aisles of THD sharing his green home product knowledge. (He claims that he has never met a customer that he couldn’t convert to CFLs J.)

So what are homeowners buying when it comes to green home products at Home Depot? Ron says we are snatching up ENERGY STAR appliances, Freshaire paint, CFLs, ceiling fans and programmable thermostats. In fact the Freshaire line of paint was one of their most successful launches ever selling more than we had anticipated across all markets. This zero-voc paint in eco-friendly packaging is being used from baby’s room volume to hospital volumes because it does not carry the toxic fumes of other paints.

But are the Eco Options products really green, or this just ‘green washing’? “That is the hardest part of our job,” Ron says. He employs a small team that vets all potential green home products. They check certifications, documentation, look at peer reviews, and always err on the conservative side to protect the Eco Options brand reputation.

And how do our favorite green home products get in line to be tested? Like a job applicant researching a potential employer, we are told manufacturers who want shelf space for their green home products typically pick a local market of 10-15 stores, study the stores in that market for how their product might sell, noting competitive prices, shelf location, and more. Once the research is complete, these manufacturers are set for a discussion with Ron’s team. “Manufacturer’s have got to do the in-store detail,” Ron says. The Eco Options team helps smaller companies with innovative green home products with distribution, so it’s not just the big boys that you see on the shelf.

During our conversation, I had one bone to pick with Ron, and it was the fact that the Eco Options products remain almost invisible on The Home Depot website! GetWithGreen.com brought this up last year as we generated our list of top eco-friendly home products and retailers. As of right now, the only way to find the Eco Options product online is by following a microscopic link at the very bottom of The Home Depot home page!!

Ron acknowledged our frustration in finding green home products in their online store. This being said, he wouldn’t tell me when this would change, but did say a plan was on the table to start labeling Eco Options products in all product searches on the site – thus placing the eco-friendlier options next to the lesser friendly. For now, one could argue the Company has taken a ‘green aisle’ approach online, when they voted against it for their in-store strategy – puzzling. (If you would like Home Depot to make Eco-Options green home products more visible, then click this link and tell them so!)

Upcoming products to soon hit the Depot shelves include a wider selection of high-efficiency toilets (HETS), faucets, window shades, organics and innovative building materials. Ron believes that, consistent education to the homeowners around these products and others will dispel outdated thinking that green eco-friendly home products have to cost 3x as much, and don’t work as well. GetWithGreen agrees, as this was and remains our founding mission.

By making green home product options as visible as possible, then homeowners can make easy and better decisions for our environment. “Our impact can be felt here on earth, and everything we can do, we should.” Ron says.

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Not too long ago I received a gift massage, from my husband, to our local wellness center: Balance.  I was immediately smitten by the look of their reception counter.  When I learned that it was created from Kirei Board, I was even more impressed.

Much like plywood, kirei is a composite material, though it is made from the reclaimed stocks of sorghum plant.  Sorghum are a species of grass that are widely used.  Some species of sorghum grasses are used to feed livestock.  Others are used in alcoholic beverages and bio fuel.  Many gluten-free eaters will recognize it as flour safe for their consumption.  Certain species of sorghum are considered a staple in Africa, South Asia, and Central America, as they are the fifth largest cereal crop grown throughout the world.

Sorghum is a drought tolerant plant and grown all over the world.  Instead of burning the stalks or disposing them in waterways and landfills, a new interior finishing material is created.  You’ll also be pleased to know that the Kirei is combined with non-formaldehyde adhesive.

The natural patterns and geometry are simply beautiful in various interior design projects such as furniture, flooring, cabinetry, table tops, wall covering and paneling.  Affordably found starting at around $7 a square foot.

Suppliers of Kirei board:

Kirei USA - find a dealer throughout the US, nearest you.

Straws Sticks & Bricks – showrooms in NE & MO, with additional product lines available in 6 other locations, including CO, and will ship nationwide.

Bettencourt – in Brooklyn, NY

Ecohaus – corporate center in Seattle, but will ship throughout the US.

Green Building Supply – in Iowa, and will ship from Iowa or California, which ever is closest.

(This photo was taken at Balance Massage & Wellness Center, located just outside of Park City, UT. The Owner, Marty, made ‘green’ choices when renovating the old home.  Balance is a wonderful example of green remodeling.)

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It’s not easy finding green help these days, but it is getting easier.  Not only are more architecture schools and environmental programs out there focusing on green building, but, finding these graduates as well as seasoned architects with the eco-friendly passion is becoming more realistic.

When my husband and I graduated from architecture school with degrees in Landscape Architecture, we had learned enough to know the importance of highering an eco-friendly architect to assist us in our home building and remodeling adventures that are beyond our own design skills.  We have settled in the Wasatch Mountains between  Park City, Utah (home of the Sundance Film Festival, and some of the ‘best snow on earth’) and the Sundance Resort (Robert Redford‘s playground).   A beautiful and serene place to work, learn, play, and lay our heads each night, though not the most saturated ‘green’ building area.

Where to begin your search (associates, family, friends)

I asked questions of people that I knew, but didn’t find a great green wealth of information this way.  My contacts, friends and family at the time, were not in the ‘green’ circle.  If your circle is more reliably green, this is a wonderful place to begin your search.  Ask about their green projects.  Did they do it themselves, or did they hire an architect or builder to do the work?  Were they satisfied, and what would they recommend?

Research via the internet to find local green building resources

Despite my fruitless beginning, I was determined.  So I began by researching on the Internet.  After using Google to search ‘green building, architect, utah,’  I was led to some architect’s websites as well as my current resource for green building, The Green Building Center, in Salt Lake City.  The site showcased their products, green building info, photos, workshops, and a particularly helpful friends page, that gives links to other green building professionals, certification, and organizations.

Using my green architect list recommended by the Green Building Center, I began examining their online portfolios.  Another learning lesson from Architecture school: its all about the portfolio! Just from looking at their projects, I could see which architect would be willing to design my preferred style and had a similar green vision.  The architects I researched were ‘green’ to varying degrees.  I found the firm that matched my husband and I’s green scale in building.

Who you know - Ask friends and family with green architects about their experience
Use the www- Research online to find local green resources.  They are a wealth of knowlege as they work with your local green architects, and have heard stories and opinions from their clients.
Portfolio – Make sure that you see projects/styles that agree with your taste
Vision – Does the architect’s green scale match yours?
Accreditation – Are they licensed?  Where did they study, and how long have they been designing with green in mind?
Press - What are others saying about their work?
Literature – Have they written anything?  That is another great way to understand their philosophies and how to utilize their talents.
Eco-friendly Magazines – Discover projects you admire and architects that may be near you.  Some excellent green magazines: Natural Home, Grist,  Environmental Design & Construction, E-Magazine,
Visit your local library – Look for green building books that give an overview of projects and list green architects that may be in your area.
Contact an architect you admire – If you find an architect whose green vision matches yours, but they are not in your area, look at their site for references.  One of my favorite green architects is the famous Mid-western architect, Sarah Susanka.  On her amazing The Not So Big House website, she has an extensive green architect registry.  If you still come out short after searching their site, contact the architect directly.  Chances are, they will be able to think of someone in your area with whom they are familliar.
1. Books on selecting an architect- Two of Sarah’s recomendations:  Designing Your Perfect Houseby William J. Hirsch Jr., AIA and How To Work With An Architectby Gerald Lee Morosco, AIA.
Pricing – Building and remodeling a home is expensive.  Choose an architect that is willing and able to give you product and service pricing during the design process.  Make sure there are no unwanted surprises with the architect you’ve selected.

Internet resources to help you find your green architect:

Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility- Group of proffessionals who support several environmental causes, including green building.

Sustainable Sources – A worldwide directory of green building professionals.  The site also has wonderful green building info, such as an international strawbale registry, articles, book recomendations and bookstore, discussion board, additional green building sites and groups, and a green real estate locator.

American Institute of Architects (AIA) Comittee on the Environment- Group within the National chapter of Architects that focus on eco-friendly architecture.  Resources for clients listed on the site.

LEED Architects- Architects that have passed an exam demonstrating their knowledge and sensitivity of enviornmental design.

Best of luck to you.  Fill us in on your experience and suggestions in finding your green architect.

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With all of the recent gloom and doom mortgage news in America, I was surprised to hear soft murmurs about a dim light on the horizon.  Green mortgages, or energy efficient mortgages.

My journey to find the mythical green mortgage was not an easy one.  My fingers ached from repeated online searches and from dialing far too many phone numbers.  Truthfully, today it is tough to know which banks are in business, which banks have merged with each other and which banks have decided to suspend their mortgage programs.  My personal mortgage has been sold countless times over the past three years and even paying the bill can be tricky because it is tough to know just what company I should be writing the check out to each month.

First, I began my journey by contacting mortgage brokerage firms.  Larger banking corporations filter their products down through brokers, so generally mortgage brokers are the last to receive a new product.  Still, they are able to provide competitive products from a number of banks.  The mortgage brokers I spoke with had heard of green and energy efficient mortgages, but had yet to see one.

Next, I moved on to small baking chains.  Susan, A Senior Vice President from a small community banking chain told me that, “banks are not producing new products.  We are just trying to tread water.” She then added that “green mortgages may be a great product for homeowners in the future when banks can be more competitive again.”

Finally, I moved on to the big guys.  Bank of America is known within banking circles to be a progressive frontrunner that has big resources.  That reputation seems to be true when exploring green mortgages.

Terry Francisco of Bank of America was happy to talk about his company’s new green mortgage product with me.  The bank is offering $1000 towards closing costs for buyers who outfit their homes with energy star appliances.  Terry likens the $1000 to making-up costs from upgrades to energy efficiency.  “Helps homeowners who blink when they see a higher price tag,” said Terry.

As for just how many homeowners have taken advantage of the $1000 rebate towards closing costs, Terry said, “The mortgage market has been so impacted that it hasn’t reached our expectations.”

When (cross fingers and knock on wood) the market makes a turn for the better, it will be interesting to see how banks will compete for the mortgages of energy efficient home owners.

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California Paints is now offering Elements, a new line of paints that are zero VOC, GreenWise Certified, and follow LEED guidelines.

Considered to last longer than ordinary zero VOC paints, Elements paint, is made with Microban Technology.  California Paints explains that this eco-friendly technology “contains a unique anti-bacterial additive that creates an internal germ-proof barrier within the paint formulation.”  Other anti-bacterial additives release harmful gasses or odors.  Microban protects gasses or odors from leaching into the paint over time.  Several of California Paint Products have Microban technology.  Click here to read more about these products.

California Paints is part of the California Products Corporation, committed to preserving the environment through waste management.  Products are created on site and evaluated by employees that have been trained in environmental issues.  California Paints is conscious of the production, shipping, manufacturing and storing of their products.  They recycle or reuse any waste created during production.

The California Paints website offers useful tools.  Among them are paint calculators, painting tips, and a color blog.  The Scheming Center page lets you explore paint colors, combinations, and even apply them to different virtual projects.  Click here to find a Dealer near you.  You’re sure to find paint that you will love and feel comfortable using.

Additional zero VOC paint companies:

Milk Paint – “The safest paints available,” organic, nonpolluting, and bio-degradable, as well as long lasting, quality paint.  Known for creating period-style furniture and home decorating.  Online purchasing available, as well as through dealers found within the US, Canada, UK, Germany, Ireland, Korea, Japan, Singapore, Netherlands, and Thailand.

American Pride Paints – Green Seal Certified, interior and exterior paint for your home.  Dealers found within the US.  If you are not near a dealer, you can buy online from the nearest dealer.

Green Planet Paints - Minimal additives, renewable, and non-toxic materials hand-crafted within the US.  Instead of petroleum-based acrylics, they use soy-based resins, and mineral pigments, mostly from clay.  Dealers are currently in the US and Canada.

Yolo Colorhouse – A low odor, premium interior and exterior paint.  little Yolo is a separate line designed especially for little ones.  Purchase online or at a dealer within the US and Canada.

Freshaire – Can be bought at the Home Depot, GreenGaurd Indoor Air Quality Certified, zero VOCs in paint and pigment.

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Financing your remodel is more difficult with the state of our economy (speaking from experience), and if you are like me you are looking for all opportunities to secure additional funding to make your remodel what you have always dreamed it would be.  

To help, The Home Depot is offering up a $5,000+ prize and more to homeowners who are remodeling, and getting green at the same time.

To win this bounty, you’ll need to shoot a short video showing how you are saving money and helping the environment by making your home more energy efficient.  According to THD, your video must focus on home energy issues such as insulation, appliances, and water usage. 

Not only is there (1) Grand Prize winner who will win that $5K (plus additional cash toward insulation services), but there is also a 2nd place ($1,500) and a 3rd place ($500) prize. 

Submissions started on September 25th, and the final day to submit is November 9th.  The Home Depot tells us that winners will be announced no later than November 24, 2008!

Read all details on a Home Depot website on YouTube:  Save Money. Save Energy. Win Big.

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One of the newest trends in home renovation, restoration and building isn?t actually new.  Just an old idea whose time has come back around. 

The salvage and junk yards of our grandparents have become slicker and hipper for the eco conscious and the thrifty alike.  Reclaimed building supply and deconstruction companies now use words like architectural, sustainable, reclaimed and even reincarnation to describe the junkyards of yesteryear.

You can find reclaimed building supply companies in every state and almost every larger city.  Some specialize in period antiques, others in just bathroom fixtures, some carry everything including kitchen sinks.  All it took was a two minute internet search for me to find my nearest reclaimed building supply store.  Who knew one of these gems was hiding in the next town over?

The ReCONNstruction Center of New Britain, Connecticut is different from the rest of the pack.  It is a non-profit group whose mission includes not only salvaging building materials in the name of mother earth, but it also aims to support the local area by providing reasonable prices for the residents and providing a livable wage for it?s employees. 

Driving into the parking lot of the ReCONNstruction Center I spied a neighbor.  Coincidence or a sign of a real tend?  This neighbor has been slowly renovating his 1885 Victorian home with mostly reclaimed fixtures.  My unnamed neighbor allegedly plays hookey from work every couple of weeks to check out what is new in the store.  And it is always changing.

On the day I visited the store, an antique door from the 1700?s ($300) was prominently displayed alongside a new and modern glass sink ($350).   Antique fireplace tiles (25 cents) caught my eye and made me wish for a fireplace of my own.  Full paint cans stacked to the ceiling and priced for pennies almost made me want to repaint the house.  Kerry Ann Kowar, The ReCONNstruction Center?s friendly volunteer coordinator with the displaying skills of one of the Barker?s Beauties in jeans, eloquently described the store?s endless tile samples, bathroom vanities, doorknobs, kitchen cabinets, windows, doors and bins of hardware.

Kerry Ann explained that all of their materials are donated by homeowners, builders and companies going out of business.  Since The ReCONNstruction Center is a non-profit, each donation is completely tax-deductable.

When deciding to make a purchase at a home restoration store, there are a few dangers to consider.  For example, the paint on those beautiful wooden pieces made prior to 1978 can contain lead.  Light fixtures should also to be purchased with caution.  Old wiring may not be up to code and can pose a dangerous fire risk.  Unless you are an electrical whiz, factor in the price of an electrician to bring your new find up to code. 

Whether you are looking to save a few dollars, want to find period fixtures or are looking to save building materials from the landfill, a field trip to your local building materials salvage store is a worthwhile trip.

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Last week the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) announced that more than 1,000 builders, remodelers and other members of the home building industry have earned the Certified Green Professional (CGP) educational designation since it was introduced early this year.

Home owners and home buyers can visit the NAHB Web site state-by-state list at www.nahb.org/builderremodelerdirectory and click on CGP to find a professional with that designation.
 
Certified Green Professionals must complete 24 hours of classroom training including 16 hours of green building instruction; must have two years? industry experience, must sign a code of ethics and must commit to fulfilling continuing education requirements to qualify for the designation.
 
Most classes are available through state and local home building industry associations, NAHB conferences and other events. In fact, 53 ?Green Building for Building Professionals? two-day classes are already scheduled for the next eight months, with more classes added weekly.
 
The educational designation is an important part of the new NAHB National Green Building Program, introduced in February. This voluntary, industry-wide program for residential construction also includes an online home scoring tool at www.nahbgreen.org.
 
?Home owners and home buyers are demanding more green products and features in their homes, and the building industry wants to meet that demand. That?s how this market works,? said Dunn. ?The CGP designation is a sign of professional commitment. These 1,000 are ready, and I can guarantee there are hundreds more just waiting to join their ranks. 

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