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.

Want to learn more about the requirements for the EPA’s Indoor airPLUS program?  Both the City of Boulder’s Green Points program and the USGBC’s LEED for Homes program give credit for Indoor airPLUS certification.  Populus Sustainable Design Consulting is an EPA Indoor airPLUS Partner and can provide third-party verification for EPA Indoor airPLUS certification.

The EPA is hosting a free webinar which will teach you more about building to satisfy the requirements of the program:

Join EPA for a free webinar Dec 3, 2009, from 2-3 p.m. EST.

In this training session, attendees will learn about EPA’s new Indoor air PLUS program, which helps builders design homes with indoor air quality in mind. Attendees also will learn the value proposition for improved indoor air quality in new home construction and view the various marketing and technical resources available to program partners.

Who should attend? Anyone involved in the construction of new homes or who has an interest in indoor air quality, including homebuilders, real estate agents, home energy raters, manufacturers, architects, consultants, subcontractors, government officials and health-based organizations.

Register early: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/624265424

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.

Join us for a free one hour workshop on designing high-performance green homes in Denver, followed by a wine and cheese networking reception.  Event will include a LEED for Homes plaque dedication by Deb Kleinman, Executive Director of the USGBC Colorado Chapter.

When: Thursday, October 22nd 6pm-8pm

Where: 233 South Washington Street, Denver, Colorado (LEED for Homes™ Gold, ENERGY STAR, Indoor Air Package and Builders Challenge Certified home)

Free Workshop Includes:

• Green features tour and building details discussion of a LEED for Homes Gold Certified Wash Park home by general contractor Sean Smith of Sean Smith & Company, LLC
• Behind-the-scenes explanation of how architects can use the Home Energy Rating System (“HERS”) as a tool to design high-performance homes by David Neiger of Populus Sustainable Design Consulting
• Overview of available green home certification programs and the benefits to architects and homeowners of certification, including: LEED for Homes (USGBC), Builders Challenge (DOE), ENERGY STAR (EPA), and Indoor airPLUS (EPA).

Continuing Education for Architects: Under the State of Colorado’s rules for continuing education for state licensure renewal, this program meets the requirements for 1.0 HSW professional development unit (HSW).

RSVP by October 18^th at http://event.pingg.com/GreenHomesDenver or to laura@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 LEED for Homes training.  Visit Populus at www.popboulder.com.

Ready to go beyond carbon neutral?  Register now for the BGBG’s September 23rd Building On-Site Seminar at Jim Logan’s beyond-net-zero, carbon neutral “Logan Wiggins House 3.”

Logan Wiggins House 3 goes beyond net-zero in its bid to achieve LEED for Homes Platinum certification.

The home, designed by Jim Logan Architects and built by Hughes Construction, is pursuing LEED Platinum certification in the USGBC’s LEED for Homes Rating System.  With its super high performance energy features, it looks as though this project may end up being the highest scoring LEED Platinum project in the country to date. 

Populus Sustainable Design Consulting provided HERS energy modeling and rating services, as well as LEED for Homes Green Rater services on the project. 

This beyond-net-zero home utilizes an Earthlinked Technologies refrigerant-based ground-source heat pump with a forced-air delivery system.

Namaste Solar, also a Boulder-based company, provided the grid-tied PV System for the home, while Aircraft installed the Earthlinked Technologies ground source heat pump.  The home also incorporates Serious Materials’ (formerly Alpen) triple pane double Heat Mirror windows.

Interested in learning more about the green features of this beyond net-zero, carbon neutral home?  Join us for the BGBG’s Building On-Site Seminar or visit the home during the Center for ReSource Conservation’s Tour of Solar and Green Homes on Saturday, September 26th.

See Inside a Lifebreath Heat Recovery Ventilator ("HRV")

Populus is the exclusive sponsor of the Logan Wiggins House 3 on the CRC’s tour and will be on-site during the day to answer your questions regarding the green, high-performance features of the home.

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.