Looking for an introduction to municipal green building programs or energy efficiency codes?  In October of 2009, David Neiger of Populus Sustainable Design Consulting traveled to Idaho to present to the Hailey City Council and the Blaine County Board of County Commissioners regarding above-code energy programs and green building codes. The presentation is a great introduction for elected officials and municipalities to the world of green building.

Watch the full presentation on the Environmental Resource Center’s website: Creating a Green Building Program.

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.

On Monday night, David Neiger of Populus Sustainable Design Consulting presented regarding high performance green homes to a sold out crowd at USGBC Colorado’s monthly Monday evening series at REI Denver.  The topic of the evening was “How to Build an Energy Efficient, Green Home.”

Neiger and Smith answer questions regarding green homes after Monday night's presentation.

Sean Smith of Sean Smith & Company presented alongside Neiger, sharing lessons learned as a LEED Gold homebuilder. In addition to discussing the the challenges and opportunities of building green homes, Smith presented data regarding the increased costs of high-performance systems.  A case study for a recent project demonstrated how a home can be built to achieve a level of energy performance that is 35% more efficient than code in a cost neutral manner (over the 30 year term of a mortgage).  When Smith added modest fuel price escalation  to the equation, the energy efficiency upgrades became cash positive, offering a healthy return on investment.

David Neiger, who has consulted on high performance green homes nationally, gave the crowd a “behind-the-scenes” look at residential energy modeling, describing how home energy performance can be measured to create a “miles per gallon” rating for a house.  In addition, he discussed the various green home building programs available to architects and builders, including USGBC’s LEED for Homes program, the EPA’s ENERGY STAR and Indoor airPLUS programs and the DOE’s Builders Challenge certification.  While these programs can offer market differentiation, they also offer tremendous value to a project team looking to employ best practices for managing durability, indoor air quality and moisture concerns, while optimizing home energy performance.

Populus presents to USGBC Colorado's first sold-out REI Monthly Monday seminar

If you’d like to learn more about LEED for Homes, David Neiger will be teaching a LEED for Homes Intensive Training over three Monday evenings in March 2010 in Boulder, Colorado.  Learn more on the Populus website.  Interested in pursuing a green certification for a project or having energy analysis performed on a proposed project?  Give Populus a call at 303-325-7650 or contact Populus by email at info@popboulder.com.

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.

Xcel Energy has clarified the program requirements for the ENERGY STAR for New Homes program.  Currently, the eligibility requirements for this rebate program are as follows:

• Residential unit (home) must be actively serviced by Xcel Energy natural gas in the State of Colorado
• At least one individual residential gas meter per unit/home must be installed and metered directly by Xcel Energy
• Structure must receive a qualified HERS rating, by an approved rater (Populus Sustainable Design Consulting is an approved rater in the program) and be submitted/approved by a RESNET HERS Provider in good standing (Populus handles this part for our clients)
• Homes that are connected to, and/or adjoin “conditioned common space” are not allowed (example: apartment buildings with interior hallways, foyers, and/or elevator shafts are not eligible)

In addition, Residential Science Resources, the company that administers the rebate program on behalf of Xcel Energy, has announced some upcoming changes to the Xcel ENERGY STAR for New Homes program, which are coming in 2010 (a specific date has not been announced):

• All participating homebuilders will be required to become an active ENERGY STAR partner (this is free of charge) as well as complete an online survey and release of data form.  The purpose of these requirements are to help Xcel Energy increase the marketing of ENERGY STAR homes throughout the state.
• Providing all homes participating in the program with no cost ENERGY STAR yard signs throughout the home’s construction.  Xcel Energy will provide signs at no cost to participating homebuilders adn arrange for installation and removal for each sign based on the construction dates provided by the HERS Raters (please provide Populus with construction dates to take advantage of this part of the program).
• $1,000 rebate per home that has a Whole House Evaporative Cooler installed as part of the ENERGY STAR New Homes Program.

If you have any questions about the Xcel Energy ENERGY STAR for New Homes Program, or would like to register projects through Populus Sustainable Design Consulting, please contact us at 303-325-7650 and we can answer your questions.

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.