With nearly 600 in attendance at the Green Building Conference, recently held in Denver, CO, it's easy to see that environmental issues are among the most pressing concerns for new homebuilders, according to information furnished by the NAHB Research Center's web site. The number of attendees was easily double that of last year, showing a growing interest in how "green" building can become the rule, and not just the exception to it, for the future.

Steve Thomas, the host from "This Old House" of public television fame, admits that green building techniques are just good construction practices. As the keynote speaker at the conference's opening general session for this second annual event, Thomas gave examples including different types of engineered wood and wood products. Although he does not see timber disappearing as a building product within the next ten years, he brought up other examples of what are now considered to be green building materials, such as ICFs (Insulated Concrete Forms), a building method he has previously used.

The point here is what is now being classified as green, says Thomas, warning that the term is being tossed around and is becoming a household word. He also implies that if this became even more commonplace, the green movement may become more talk than substance, and may lose its impact. Other examples cited that are now considered green are radiant heat, and ground source heat pumps. Although these types of products tend to be more expensive, used appropriately they can be extremely effective.

Other speakers at the conference included Allegra Haynes, president on the Denver City Council, Roger Reinhart of the Denver Homebuilders Association, and Gary Garczynski, V.P./treasurer of the NAHB, along with Bill Kreager and Jim Irvine, of Mithum Partners, Inc. All agreed that the term "green building" can cover a wide range of topics, such as land planning techniques for both traditional suburban new home construction areas and in-fill and brownfield sites that may have been designated as contaminated by local, state, or federal agencies.

Allegra Haynes said that green building is a "moving target" that is impacted by changing property values and public opinion. It can run the gamut from lot-splitting to redeveloping huge in-fill sites such as old airports or military bases. Roger Reinhart mentioned that green building has been undergoing an evolvement over the past ten to fifteen years just laying down groundwork for what will come, and that we are still defining green. Garczynski emphasized the balance of man and nature that green building strives to achieve, and all agreed that flexibility and education are the two key components that can create the stage for better growth and land development to adapt to greener ways of life.

The first panel discussion at the conference discussed the rigidity of local jurisdictions in allowing new design flexibility and how to effect change at local levels, and that developers, builders and architects must become instrumental in educating local officials, starting as early in the process as possible. Communication properly accomplished can result in more open-minded attitudes towards change at these levels to reach a consensus.

One of the more interesting points brought out during these discussions was the need for the building industry to teach the general public that "high" and "density" used together are not dirty words. Part of this education is showing people how higher density housing can be comfortable, well-designed and practical as well, with adequate open spaces provided and garages accessed through alleyways or tucked under second stories, but always with the concept of neighborhood friendliness in mind.

Representatives from Fannie Mae, the Federal National Mortgage Association, was also on hand to discuss their environmental partnership with the NAHB, featuring reduced costs for financing green housing projects. Adaptable to different demographic areas of the country, the programs in the partnership have the flexibility to deal with the most pressing environmental needs of a given area, such as water shortages in one area and traffic issues in another. In addition to breaks offered for green building projects, Fannie Mae, the largest source of mortgage funds in the nation, also gives homebuyers in some areas incentives when their new home is built with energy efficient methods that exceed the Model Energy Code requirements. These methods can employ water saving and resource conservation measures, according to the Research Center's review of conference highlights. Another product offered is the Location Efficient Mortgage (LEM), which recognizes buyers who purchase homes in densely populated areas. These buyers can utilize public transportation, not only saving on fuel and its inherent emissions, but also the money spent on upkeep and use of a car, which can be applied towards a mortgage payment. Programs such as these can also be used as incentives to revitalize inner-urban areas.

All of the speakers at the conference acknowledged the difficulties of propelling the green movement from its early years, but also agreed that green building programs can lead to higher profit margins and fewer callbacks for builders. Benefits to consumers are many, however, the best of which include lower energy bills. And most of us would agree that saving money is always a good start in any trend that benefits us in the future.

Published: April 26, 2000

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A veteran of the real estate and homebuilding industries since 1986, Dena Kouremetis first joined Realty Times as a new homes writer in 1998. Since then, she has authored four books, written consumer columns on new homes issues for websites and newspapers all across the country, contributed to builder trade magazines, appeared as a guest expert on several radio shows and even created a ten-chapter podcast for LendingTree.com’s homebuilder website, iNest.com, now available on iTunes, entitled Uncharted Waters; Navigating the Purchase of a New Production Home. Kouremetis recently joined her local Folsom, CA Coldwell Banker office as a broker associate while continuing to write for the real estate industry. For the past three years, she has been training real estate agents for both the resale and new homes industries, putting her experience, research expertise and gift of expression to work to help others entering the business.