Green building is booming. Energy Star homes and LEED-certified building projects are gaining a greater foothold in communities across the country.

But the movement might stall before it truly gets off the ground unless developers, elected officials and the surety industry can find some common ground.

The problem lies with performance bonds. These are essential risk-mitigation tools that are a part of most building projects nationwide. In short, these bonds guarantee that a contractor completes the job as specified by the contract and all applicable code.

Surety bonds protect project owners and taxpayer dollars in the unlikely event that a contractor defaults, does shoddy work or somehow fails to live up to its duties. Before they issue a performance bond, surety underwriters scour a contractor’s financial standing, background and their likelihood of success. They also closely examine the prospective contract, looking for specific, tangible goals the contractor is obliged to meet. And that’s where the green building issue is becoming a major sticking point. Hitting green building requirements isn’t an easy task. National certifying organizations like the U.S. Green Building Council have to verify that a building has achieved documented levels of efficiency and other green building milestones.

But that puts surety companies in an untenable position. What happens, for example, if the contractor reduces the building’s carbon dioxide emissions by 24 percent but the contract mandates 25 percent? Surety companies have no interest in being on the hook financially in a case like that. Instead, most sureties refuse to bond a contractor when a contract demands specific energy efficiencies or requires an outside party to certify progress.

“It’s not always the party that has to post the bond that’s responsible for that element of LEED certification,” Bob Duke, director of underwriting and assistant counsel for the District-based Surety and Fidelity Association, told the Washington Business Journal. “Maybe the party posting the bond doesn’t have control of the total obligation.” Clarity may be coming in the next few months. Officials in Washington, D.C., are working toward a solution to the issue. The District of Columbia enacted a strict Green Building regulation in 2006 for some private and public building projects. Unsurprisingly, the new regulations call for a performance bond that provides guarantees for green efficiencies and standards. Surety officials are less than pleased with the legislation, which takes effect in 2012. A group of stakeholders from the surety and building industries and the D.C. political scene are currently working on an updated interpretation that provides greater protection for those all parties.

The rest of the country is watching, and waiting, to see how the issue gets resolved. The future of green building could hinge on the developments.

This article was written as a guest post by Chris Birk with SuretyBonds.com

I recently completed a large custom door project where the designer specified many selections from 3form glass company. As I started to research the product further, I found out that they use post consumer recycled products in their glass/ design products, and also exemplify what it means to be a responsible manufacturing and production facility. Not to mention, designers and architects love their designs that are truly unique and you will not see anywhere else.

3form continues to innovate and expand its offerings of aesthetically refined low impact products. Their mission is to design beautiful materials that demand less from the natural world and are kind to people. Never satisfied, they are continually developing ways to further reduce the impact of their products and the way in which they produce them.

They produce materials that: 

• Contain high levels of recycled content (Varia Eco-Resin & 100 percent)
• SCS rapid renewable and sustainability harvested materials
• GREENGUARD Indoor Air Quality certified (Varia, Chroma, Alabaster.
  

3form has long demonstrated a progressive stance on minimizing their environmental footprint. As the breadth of sustainable initiatives increased, they sought an individual to coordinate and lead their overall environmental efforts.

Erika joined 3form in the summer of 2007 as the Sustainability Coordinator. She leads 3form in achieving their Path to Zero goals, a set of aggressive and concrete initiatives to minimize the environmental impact of 3form product and processes. Erika also expands and deepens the culture of activism and stewardship among the several hundred 3form employees. She has also led efforts to establish an Environmental Management System, reduce energy use, commit to publicly reporting all greenhouse gas emissions, and spearhead a number of community volunteer and outreach efforts.

Erika is a LEED Accredited Professional and holds an honors degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Brown University, along with a Masters Degree in Environmental Policy and Communication from the University of Utah.

Additionally, 3form does extensive human-factor testing and commits substantial resources to improve and create new products that enhance the quality of human life, including: 

• Flammability / toxicity testing for safe interiors usage
• Insulation Performance for thermally efficient buildings
• Safety Impact testing for safety and security applications
• Air Quality testing for clean air and building quality
• Design with concern for end of life: reusability, recyclability and safety

Exceeding industry expectations, 3form has set distinctly aggressive goals for minimizing the impact of not only their products, but of their processes. Collectively they refer to them as our Path to Zero.

• Waste – We will stop sending manufacturing waste to landfill.
• Energy – We will be carbon neutral by 2017.
• Product – We will continue to increase the recycled content in our products.

3-form products and solutions help you earn LEED* credits in five categories. They are proud to be a member of the USGBC and their materials are ideal for LEED certified commercial buildings. They also provide detailed information on how 3form products and processes can help you achieve LEED certification in your next green project, so check them out!

photo credit: Terren in Virginia

Who can keep track of all the acronyms out there? Many products bear labels not well know to consumers. Here is a cheat sheet to the most common abbreviations when searching for green building products:

CARB | California Air Resources Board | Maintains healthy air quality, protecting the public from exposure to toxic air contaminants and providing innovative approaches for complying with air pollution rules and regulations. California is the only state with such a regulatory agency since it was created before the Clean Air Act. It generally leads the nation in improving legislation regarding air quality.

COC | Chain of Custody | Chronological documentation of custody and transfer of a product from extraction to consumer. This is often used to maintain the environmental certification granted to the manufacturer showing compliance with a public policy or standard. Distributors must be audited and maintain standards to market the certification reached by the original manufacturer.

EPA | Environmental Protection Agency | Federal agency charge in protecting human health and the environment by writing and enforcing regulations passed in Congress. In 1992, they launched the Energy Star program fostering energy efficiency.

EPP | Environmentally Preferable Product | Goods that have a lesser or reduced effect on human health and the environment when compared with competing goods. Raw materials acquisition, production, manufacturing, distribution, operation, maintenance, disposal, performance, durability, and safety are considered.

FSC | Forest Stewardship Council | International non-profit established in 1993 to promote responsible management of the world’s forests. Its members work to ensure the permanent existence of forest areas through responsible forest management and conservation. It focus is on the consumer to empower their demand for responsible forestry.

GBI | Green Building Initiative | Non-profit organization devoted to encouraging the building industry to adopt efficient, healthy, sustainable practices. Focused on evolving from the feel good rationale to performance-based approach. Its user-friendly principles lead to the creation of Green Globes, a rating system similar to LEED.

IAQ | Indoor Air Quality | Quality of air within and around buildings relating to health and comfort of occupants. Air quality can be infiltrated by gases, microbial contaminants, or particulates that can adversely affect health of ventilation and should be vented form the building.  Dynamic control of air changes, filters, mold management, and pressurization dilute the presence of toxins such as radon, mold, carbon monoxide, VOC, asbestos, carbon dioxide and others atmospheric pollutants.

LCA | Life Cycle Analysis | Also known as cradle to grave evaluation of the environmental impact of a product or service. A holistic assessment from raw material to disposal considering eco-pollutants, habitat destruction, land use, and depletion of natural resources. Practitioners utilize software to calculate a more accurate impact over the life of a product or service.

LEED | Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design | Environmentally sustainable rating system developed by the USGBC in 2000. Industry leaders formed public committees to address sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor air quality, and innovation and design. Four levels of certification are determined by third-party verification.  It is the most recognized rating system for sustainability.

NAF | No Added Formaldehyde | Formaldehyde is a compound commonly used as a drying agent in adhesives for composite wood, plumbing fixtures, windows, carpeting, and paint which can be toxic, allergenic and/or carcinogenic. The word “added” is due to the fact that small levels of formaldehyde occur naturally in some products.

SCS | Scientific Certification System | Third-party global environmental auditing, testing and standardizing organization. International standards were developed to strive for the highest level of environmental improvements, social accountability, and product performance.

SFI | Sustainable Forestry Initiative | Non-profit organization responsible or maintaining, overseeing, and improving a sustainable forestry third-party certification program. It promotes responsible forest management through fiber sourcing, water quality, biodiversity and regeneration on certified and non-certified lands. It is viewed a controversial by many conservationists due to its clear cutting acceptance and questionable funding.

USGBC | US Green Building Council | Non-profit trade organization, founded in 1993, that promotes sustainable, profitable and healthy buildings founded in 1993. It works closely through local chapers to educate and guide federal, state, and local governments as well as the building industry and the public.

VOC | Volatile Organic Compounds | Natural or synthetic compounds capable of readily vaporizing into harmful carbon, which compromises air quality. Methane and formaldehyde are two common VOCs.  Heavily regulated by the EPA to prevent sick building syndrome, health risks, and negative atmospheric impacts.

HOW MUCH DOES GREEN BUILDING REALLY COST?

All the time, I hear people say— "green building is still too expensive to use on my project". When you actually break it down and explain the cost and environmental savings over the life of the product based on the time they will be in the house/ office etc. they seem to understand. I don't think we as a industry do a good enough job explaining that. I am always interested in the overall benefit of how something performs on my house, and usually it's a win/ win situation. I typically find, that while the green option is more expensive in most cases initially, it usually has a moderate to significant cost benefit long term. Some of the excerpts below were taken from an article written by the NDRC "National Resources Defense Council on the subject".

Green building skeptics sometimes argue that it's difficult or even impossible to build green without paying a big cost premium. But real-world examples show that you can complete a LEED-certified green building project for an average of 2 percent more in upfront costs, and sometimes even below standard market construction costs. Plus, any extra first costs you pay can be recovered through cost benefits over the life of the the product, fewer mechanical issues, and the benefit to the environment. And by making experienced green building professionals a part of your team and learning to control costs, you can escape paying any green premium at all as early as your second green building project.

A 2004 study by Davis Langdon Adamson, a construction cost-planning and management company, found that the first costs of constructing a sustainable building tend to match or only slightly exceed those of comparable non-green buildings. The study, Costing Green: A Comprehensive Cost Database and Budgeting Methodology, measured the square-foot construction costs of 61 buildings seeking certification under the LEED green building rating system against those of buildings of similar type that did not aim for sustainability. Taking into account a range of construction factors including climate, location, market conditions and local standards, the study found that for many of the green projects, pursuing LEED certification had little or no budgetary impact. 

The study's findings also underline that incorporating and integrating green features into a project early is critical to the success of any green building project. "It is the choices made during design which will ultimately determine whether a building can be sustainable, not the budget set," the report concluded. 

In addition, in order to accurately evaluate the impact of green building on your budget, it's important to look beyond first costs. Increasingly, architects and procurement specialists are using "life-cycle assessments" (LCA) to evaluate and quantify the economic and environmental costs and benefits of materials and products over their lives. LCA analysis methods are becoming more standardized and tools such as LCie are emerging to provide comparable product-level evaluations.

So, when planning your next project make sure you look at all factors that are in play, do a life cycle calculation, and use that in your next meeting with a potential home owner/ buyer. If you have your ducks in a row, you can use this as a sales tool, and think of how that might separate you from your competitors.

Photo Credit: Oakley Originals

Photo credit: Resinart

ResinArt has manufactured flexible mouldings for over 40 years, becoming the largest manufacturer and industry leader in quality and delivery. ResinArt recently introduced a newly formulated product that is LEED compliant and meets qualifications for green building certification programs. Listed below are a few new reasons to specify BMC’s DuraFlex by ResinArt.

• Zero VOC emissions – certified to meet or exceed US EPA standards
• 100% Mercury free – compliant with US EPA initiative QPPT-2005-0013
• Formulated to work with environmentally friendly water-based paints and stains
• Available in 100′s of stock and custom trim profiles

For more information you can read up on LEED compliance, specifications, and finish recommendations.  BMC West and ResinArt are happy to provide another superior product for the evolving building industry.