A “sneak peak” into the upcoming Green Built Texas Existing Homes Program
As some of you have probably read in my last article about the Texas Green Building Summit, Phil Crone, Director of Green Building Programs for the HBA of Dallas announced the ALL NEW GBT-EH certification program at the show. This is exiting news for homeowners and remodelers alike, since it is one of the first green building certification programs for existing homes in the nation. Since I'm a member of the board of Green Built Texas, I can share some insights into the details of the program – please note that the certification components are not finalized yet, so this is just a simple overview of the program.
The new program will be referred to as Green Built Texas for Existing Homes (GBT-EH), and will combine the construction knowledge of remodeler members of the Home Builders Association of Greater Dallas and the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) with industry professionals, such as home energy raters, who can provide quality control and third party verification. A Stringent third-party verification will ensure that consumers' homes have achieved the requirements of the GBT-EH protocol. Here's how it works: A third party Texas HERO certified energy rater will perform an "In-Test", establishing the baseline for the rating – which means energy efficiency is "measured" in the existing structure before any work is performed.
Based on this intial "audit" the energy rater or your trusted and certified green building contractor will make recommendations on how to improve the energy efficiency, water efficiency and indoor air quality of your home. After the work is performed, an "Out-Test" is performed by the energy rater. The results of these tests are measured and scored as a HERS Index. The GBT-EH certifications will be awarded based on the improvement of the initial HERS index – and will most likely be scored as follows:
- BRONZE Rating: 20% improvement in HERS Index
- SILVER Rating: 30% improvement in HERS Index
- GOLD Rating: 40% improvement in HERS Index
In addition to that, a home can receive "Merit Badges" based on Indoor Air quality and Water Efficiency improvements.
As I said before, I'm super excited about this program as this gives us another tool in verifying good green building practices and the resulting better energy efficiency of our existing homes stock in this country. Remember…. Anybody can say they can do it…. But can they back up their work with numbers and a certification?
BTW – you can also find this article on the website of EGC Custom Homes.
Written by:
Marc Kleinmann
EGC Custom Homes
http://DallasGreenBuilding.com
m.kleinmann@EGCDallas.com
