Kitchen & Bath Sustainable

Green Certification Reported Up Sharply

New York — The number of home builders, remodelers and other members of the real estate and construction industry who hold the Certified Green Professional (CGP) educational designation now tops 4,000, the National Association of Home Builders announced.
The milestone, according to the Washington, DC-based NAHB, “is the latest sign that NAHB green building education and training initiatives continue to find an enthusiastic audience”.
The NAHB Research Center, which administers the National Green Building Certification program for new homes, developments and remodeling projects, is also reporting “solid growth,” according to the NAHB. More than 350 homes have been certified and there are 4,500 projects in the certification pipeline, the association reported.
“When the housing market rebounds, it will be accompanied by increased demand for green and energy-efficient new homes and remodeling projects,” the association observed.
CGPs must successfully complete three days of classroom training, have two years of industry experience, and commit to continuing education requirements.
The coursework is now being enhanced to reflect the requirements of building to the National Green Building Standard, the consensus standard for green homes, developments and remodeling projects approved by the American National Standards Institute in January.
In addition, NAHB said it is creating advanced training for CGPs that will result in a new designation for building practitioners: the Master Green Builder Remodeler.

DuPont has announced that a variety of products from its portfolio have been awarded the National Association of Home Builders’ Approved Product Seal.  This is big news for the company, as its DuPont Surfaces division is the first in that product category to receive the third-party certification.

Read the full release after the jump. 

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Were you aware that May is remodeling month?

It’s OK if you missed most of it–let’s borrow of a phrase from the Earth Day folks and say “Every month is remodeling month!”  Here’s to the remodelers, who turn the fixer-uppers into the dream homes of tomorrow, who take a coffin-like galley builder’s kitchen and bust out the walls to make it the fabulous open-plan hot spot of the house.

Remodeling can be spun green, too, especially with this year’s tax incentives to encourage folks (your clients) to increase their home’s energy efficiency.  With more people than ever deciding to stay put (leading to the rise of the Staycation and other silly marketing spins on the word “Stay”) , the government’s push for remodeling comes at a very good time.

Steve Gray Renovations, a smart building company based in Indianapolis, has some ideas about how you and your business can capitalize on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and market these developments effectively to your benefit. (N.B. — There are some other reasons to visit his site–Steve Gray is a master of promotion and marketing; the company’s Web site alone shows that much off immediately. KBDN covered Gray’s business model in an Industry Profile last year, that you can read here.)  The page is geared toward consumers; his clients know about it from a monthly eNewsletter Gray sends out to direct them to new content on his site.  Check it out here.

It’s that kind of Monday: the jobs report is bad, the NAHB and NAR are reporting that everything everywhere is down, so let’s cheer ourselves up with some good news about some great green products.

Snaidero Greens Up, Christopher Peacock Cabinetry Gets Smart and Merillat and Quality Think About Tomorrow…

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Whew, in the flurry of post-Greenbuild activity, I neglected to let you know that the NAHB is now accepting applications for the 2009 National Green Building Awards!

Apologies! Click “read the rest” to read the whole press release.

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