Register now for Populus’ Energy Design Workshop sponsored by Boulder County.

Want to demystify Home Energy Rating?  This Energy Design Workshop gives architects and builders real world experience working with an energy rater to design buildings that achieve above-code home energy performance within a budget.  The workshop includes an introduction to the Home Energy Rating System (“HERS”), the performance pathway for Boulder County’s BuildSmart code, including a behind-the-scenes look at how home energy modeling works to create a “miles per gallon” rating for a home.

Following the presentation, workshop participants break into smaller groups and work with a home energy rater to upgrade a code-level home to achieve varying levels of above-code home performance. The workshop gives participants the opportunity to analyze the costs and benefits of energy efficiency improvements and demonstrates how home energy modeling can be used as a design tool to design and build more energy efficient homes.

Workshop will be led by David Neiger.  With a degree in architecture and a background in construction, David has provided energy analysis and consulting to architects, builders and developers throughout the West on hundreds of residential projects, including many high-performance, net-zero energy and LEED certified homes.  David is a RESNET Home Energy Rater and Quality Assurance Designee, a LEED for Homes AP and Green Rater and a BPI Building Analyst.

When:              Tuesday, June 15, 2010, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm

Where:             Boulder County Courthouse Annex, Caribou Room, 2045 13^th Street, Boulder, CO

RSVP:              Contact Populus at laura@popboulder.com or 303-325-7650

Cost:                $25

Pay with credit card by phone at 303-325-7650 or mail checks by June 10^th to:

Populus, LLC

1727 15^th Street, Suite 200

Boulder, CO 80302

Continuing Education for Architects: Under the State of Colorado’s rules for continuing education for state licensure renewal, this program meets the requirements for 3.0 HSW professional development units (HSW) – self reporting required.

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.

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.