Over the holidays, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson hosted Populus Sustainable Design Consulting at its Philadelphia offices.  David Neiger, Principal at Populus, taught an Energy Design seminar for Bohlin Cywinski Jackson architects regarding high-performance home design, building science and residential energy modeling.

David Neiger of Populus with Christopher Renn and Joyce Raybuck of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

Bohlin Cywinski Jackson is a national architecture firm that was founded in 1965 and has offices in Wilkes-Barre, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Seattle and San Francisco.  The firm is known for exceptional design and has received more than 410 regional, national and international awards for design.  The firm’s work is published regularly in professional journals worldwide.

Populus Sustainable Design Consulting offers a variety of workshops and seminars for architects regarding high-performance home design and how residential energy modeling can be used as a tool during the design process to improve energy performance.  Interested in learning more about Energy Design seminars for architects?  Contact Populus Sustainable Design Consulting at 303-325-7650.

Populus is a full service sustainable design consulting firm that focuses on high performance, net-zero and near-net-zero custom residential and multi-family projects.  Populus guides architects and builders through the requirements of mandatory green building codes and optional green home certification programs, providing HERS rating, LEED for Homes Green Rater services and municipal energy code consulting.  In addition, Populus offers an Energy Code Workshop for architects and municipalities, as well as LEED for Homes training.  Visit Populus at www.populussustainabledesign.com.

Looking for a USGBC LEED for Homes Study Guide?  They’re now available to pre-order from USGBC, visit the site here.

The USGBC’s LEED for Homes Study Guide is a perfect compliment to taking Populus Sustainable Design Consulting’s LEED for Homes Intensive Training.  We have an upcoming class scheduled in Boulder, Colorado for evenings in January 2010 – now’s the time to register!  Whether you’re looking for a comprehensive class on residential building science, green building or energy efficiency – this class has it all.

Want to learn more about building green, high-performance homes?  David Neiger of Populus Sustainable Design Consulting will be presenting at the USGBC Colorado Chapter’s Monday night REI series in February regarding high-performance homes.  For more information and how to RSVP, see the information below from USGBC Colorado regarding this upcoming event:

Please join USGBC CO Chapter for the first Monday event of 2010!!

Monday February 1, 2010

6-8pm at REI

Presenting

HOW TO BUILD AN EFFICIENT & HIGH PERFORMING HOUSE

(aka GREEN, LEED, ENERGY STAR or just BEST PRACTICES!)

This session will focus on what it takes to build a LEED certified home. Whether you are interested in building a LEED certified or ENERGY STAR qualified home or just want to understand how to build an ultra efficient home this session is for you.

Our speakers will talk about different degrees of building “green,” how to get subcontractors on board, how much more it really costs, what kind of time commitment is involved and whether it is any more difficult to build than the standard home we’ve all become accustomed to building.

Speakers are LEED gold homebuilder Sean Smith of Sean Smith & Company and David Neiger of Populus Sustainable Design Consulting.

Sean Smith, Denver builder since 2000, made his start in the renovations and additions market.  After moving to new construction, Sean discovered a lack of attention to energy efficiency in the marketplace and decided to make it his forte.  He specializes in custom homes and spec projects that are high performing. Having built two LEED for Homes Gold Certified projects in Denver, Sean has another project pending final certification. Sean’s focus has shifted to optimizing energy performance through sound cost/benefit analysis, and by stressing the need for quality control at the ground level on construction sites.  Sean’s projects have also been certified under the Department of Energy’s Builder’s Challenge, and the EPA’s ENERGY STAR programs.

David Neiger is a Principal at Populus Sustainable Design Consulting, an energy performance and green building consulting firm based in Boulder, Colorado.  David holds an architecture degree from Pennsylvania State University, as well as certification as a RESNET Certified Home Energy Rater, RESNET Green Rater, BPI Certified Building Analyst, LEED AP and a LEED for Homes AP.

David has consulted on well over a hundred single and multi-family projects along the Colorado Front Range and has extensive experience managing LEED projects and working with architects and builders to achieve net-zero and above-code home performance.  As a recognized expert regarding home energy performance, David has presented to a variety of audiences and has trained municipalities, architects and builders nationally regarding green building and above-code energy performance.  David has served as a Subject Matter Expert to the USGBC in connection with its LEED for Homes program and currently acts as a Technical Advisor on the City of Boulder’s Climate Action Plan Strategy Residential Technical Team.

RESERVATIONS TO ATTEND CAN BE MADE at

http://www.usgbccolorado.org/metro/events-calendar.html

To assure a seat, please register online in advance

CAPACITY ATTENDANCE IS EXPECTED, SO RESERVE EARLY

Populus is a full service sustainable design consulting firm that focuses on high performance, net-zero and near-net-zero custom residential and multi-family projects.  Populus guides architects and builders through the requirements of mandatory green building codes and optional green home certification programs, providing HERS rating, LEED for Homes Green Rater services and municipal energy code consulting.  In addition, Populus offers an Energy Code Workshop for architects and municipalities, as well as LEED for Homes training.  Visit Populus at www.popboulder.com.

Just a reminder to all of our architects and builders that Populus Sustainable Design Consulting will be teaching its Energy Design Workshop in Denver tomorrow.  The workshop is sponsored by the City and County of Denver, the Governor’s Energy Office and the Environmental Protection Agency.   Populus’ Energy Design Workshop will familiarize participants with the HERS energy modeling process required for the ENERGY STAR for New Homes program and give architects and builders hands-on experience learning how to achieve above-code home energy performance within a budget.

Currently there are over sixty people registered for Populus’ workshop, but please contact Jack Sinclair at the City of Denver if you are interested in attending:  Jack.Sinclair@denvergov.org.  You can find more information about the workshop here.

Populus is a full service sustainable design consulting firm that focuses on high performance, net-zero and near-net-zero custom residential and multi-family projects.  Populus guides architects and builders through the requirements of mandatory green building codes and optional green home certification programs, providing HERS rating, LEED for Homes Green Rater services and municipal energy code consulting.  In addition, Populus offers an Energy Code Workshop for architects and municipalities, as well as LEED for Homes training.  Visit Populus at www.popboulder.com.

We are pleased to announce that Populus Sustainable Design Consulting will be teaching an ENERGY STAR for New Homes Energy Design Workshop in Denver on December 7th.  The Energy Design Workshop is sponsored by the City and County of Denver, the Governor’s Energy Office (GEO) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and will highlight How to Achieve Above-Code Home Energy Performance within a Budget.  For more information, including how to RSVP for this free workshop, please download the Energy Design Workshop Brochure.

Populus is a full service sustainable design consulting firm that focuses on high performance, net-zero and near-net-zero custom residential and multi-family projects.  Populus guides architects and builders through the requirements of mandatory green building codes and optional green home certification programs, providing HERS rating, LEED for Homes Green Rater services and municipal energy code consulting.  In addition, Populus offers an Energy Code Workshop for architects and municipalities, as well as LEED for Homes training.  Visit Populus at www.popboulder.com.

David Neiger and Laura Hutchings of Populus Sustainable Design Consulting recently returned from Idaho and New Mexico, where Populus provided training to various municipalities regarding performance-based energy codes.

Blaine County, Idaho

In Idaho, Populus hosted a hands-on Energy Design Workshop sponsored by the City of Hailey, Blaine County and the local AIA Chapter.  The Energy Design Workshop gave builders and architects the opportunity to work in small groups with local home energy raters to achieve varying levels of above-code home energy performance.  The Workshop began with a presentation by David Neiger, which included a behind-the-scenes look at how home energy modeling works to create a miles per gallon rating for a home.  Following David’s presentation, the architects and builders broke into smaller groups, each targeting a different level of above-code energy performance from a HERS 70 to a HERS 35.  Each group began with the same code-built model and were given a menu of energy efficiency upgrades with associated costs.  At the end of the exercise, each group shared lessons learned, energy upgrades chosen and the percentage cost increase associated with reaching each HERS score.

Following the Energy Code Workshop, Populus presented regarding performance-based energy codes to the Hailey City Council and Blaine County Board of County Commissioners.  After returning from Idaho, the Populus team voyaged to New Mexico where Populus trained staff and officials from Los Alamos County and the Los Alamos Department of Public Utilities regarding green building programs and performance-based energy codes.

You can learn more about the training and services that Populus offers for municipalities and building industry professionals here.

Populus is a full service sustainable design consulting firm that focuses on high performance, net-zero and near-net-zero custom residential and multi-family projects.  Populus guides architects and builders through the requirements of mandatory green building codes and optional green home certification programs, providing HERS rating, LEED for Homes Green Rater services and LEED for Homes training.  Visit Populus at www.popboulder.com.

Today, Populus concluded its third LEED for Homes Intensive Training Class in Boulder, Colorado.  The class is geared toward green building professionals (especially architects and builders) interested in learning more about the USGBC’s LEED for Homes program, those interested in learning green building and building science principles (especially as it relates to durability issues, indoor air quality and energy efficiency), real estate professionals who seek to understand and market green homes, as well as product manufacturers and salespeople who want to better understand how their products interact with green building certification programs.  While the class is an intensive introduction to green building and building science principles, it is also designed for those interested in studying for GBCI’s (the “Green Building Certification Institute”)  LEED for Homes AP (or “Accredited Professional”) exam or Green Associate exams.

David Neiger Teaches Indoor Air Quality and Building Science Principles at Populus' LEED for Homes Class

Populus’ next LEED for Homes Intensive Training Class is scheduled for October 1st and 2nd in Santa Fe, New Mexico at the Marvin Design Gallery by SolarGlass.

Populus is in the process of scheduling our next class in Colorado and will be releasing more details in the near future.  If you live in Boulder or Denver, or elsewhere in Colorado, and have an interest in our LEED for Homes Intensive Training Class, please email Laura Hutchings at Populus (laura@popboulder.com) and we will add you to our interest list and notify you when the next class is scheduled.

For organizations who are interested in scheduling a green building LEED for Homes educational event at their offices, please contact Populus at 303-325-7650.  We offer our intensive training nation-wide and will work with you to tailor our green building educational program to meet the goals of your organization.  Oftentimes this option will be more affordable than sending numerous individual attendees to our LEED for Homes Intensive Training.

Populus has experience training corporate sales teams, municipalities, real estate professionals, architects and builders regarding green building and building science principles, indoor air quality, energy efficiency (including an in-depth explanation of the Home Energy Rating System (aka “HERS Rating”)), and green building materials.  Populus seeks to empower the green building industry with the information required to create healthy, high-performance (whether its ENERGY STAR or Net Zero) green homes.

Populus also has experience consulting with municipalities nationwide regarding performance-based energy codes.  We can tailor our training and consulting services to effectively educate municipalities, code officials and industry stakeholders about the implementation of progressive energy efficiency codes.

If you’re interested in learning how Populus can provide green building education and in-depth coverage of the LEED for Homes program or RESNET’s Home Energy Rating System, contact Laura Hutchings at laura@popboulder.com to find out more.

Populus is a full service sustainable design consulting firm that focuses on high performance, net-zero and near-net-zero custom residential and multi-family projects.  Populus guides architects and builders through the requirements of mandatory green building codes and optional green home certification programs, providing HERS rating, LEED for Homes Green Rater services and LEED for Homes training.  Visit Populus at www.popboulder.com.