CBIA Announces Green Builder Program
Partners With MWD to Promote Increased Water Conservation
November 4, 2005
Contact
John Frith - Public Affairs Director
(916) 803-3005 (cell)/jfrith@cbia.org
Or
Deana Vladic - Communications Specialist
(916) 443-7933, ext. 346 (ofc)/dvladic@cbia.org
(Note to editors: An on-line press kit that provides more detail about the environmental benefits of the program and a list of the new-home communities featuring California Green Builder homes is available in the Newsroom section of the CBIA Web site.More information on the program is also available on the California Green Builder Web site, http://www.cagreenbuilder.com/.)
LONG BEACH - Many homebuyers are interested in buying an environmentally friendly home. And many homebuilders have wanted to build "green" as well - but in a way that made sense and could be shown to benefit the environment.
Thanks to the new California Green Builder program, more than 1,000 homes are now being built that use less energy, less water and fewer trees, among other measurable environmental benefits, said Robert Rivinius, President and CEO of the California Building Industry Association. And thousands more are on the drawing boards.
"There are many 'green builder' programs around the nation. Many are incredibly complex and difficult to measure. Some can't be measured at all. But the California Green Builder program is different," Rivinius said today at a press conference announcing the new program, as well as a partnership with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to further enhance water conservation in new homes.
Rivinius said the voluntary program features reasonable, cost-effective, and understandable standards that allow the environmental benefits to be calculated and verified.
"In addition, the California Green Builder Program is one of only four programs in the country that feature third-party testing to ensure each new home complies with tough program requirements - and most importantly, it's the only program that's actually resulting in thousands of green homes being built," he said.
To date, more than 1,300 homes in California have been built that comply with the program's standards - and 5,000 more are in various stages of planning and development.
The California Green Builder program focuses on five major areas:
Energy efficiency: Homes are 15 percent more efficient than California's toughest-in-the-nation energy standards - and as much as 30 percent more efficient than homes built in most other states.
Water conservation: Landscaping is designed to use as little water as possible, and in many cases advanced water-efficient plumbing designs are included in the homes.
Wood conservation: Much of the lumber used in California Green Builder homes is grown in sustainable forests. In addition, builders use engineered wood products as efficiently as possible, saving two, three or even more trees per home.
Advanced ventilation: California Green Builders use advanced heating, ventilating and air conditioning designs to ensure proper ventilation and filtration. In addition, paints, carpets and other products are selected that give off few or no volatile organic compounds.
Construction waste diversion: Builders divert at least 50 percent of the job-site waste from local landfills - sometimes as much as 80 percent!
"And now, the program is even more environmentally friendly because we have partnered with the Metropolitan Water District to incorporate many of the MWD's California Friendly water conservation requirements into the program," Rivinius said.
"By doing so, CGB homes will save at least 20,000 gallons of water per year compared to a conventional home built at the same time in the same community. A Green Builder in MWD's service territory can elect to participate in the entire California Friendly program and save substantially more water."
The water savings are substantial - California Green Builder homes will save enough water each year to fill a medium-sized backyard swimming pool. And for each seven CGB homes, enough water will be saved to supply an eighth home for a year.
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The California Building Industry Association is a statewide trade association representing more than 6,200 businesses - homebuilders, remodelers, subcontractors, architects, engineers, designers, and other industry professionals. A recent study determined that homebuilding generates approximately $60 billion a year to the California economy and creates an estimated 526,000 jobs statewide.
