It's Green Day at the International Builders' Show
The association will officially launch the NAHB National Green Building Program and unveil the new Certified Green Professional™ educational designation for home builders, remodelers and other industry professionals.
A green building display will allow participants to try out a new online scoring tool which is an important component of the NAHB National Green Building Program. The scoring tool shows how green building techniques and materials will affect a new home and allows builders and consumers to select the measures and materials that are most cost effective and best meet their needs. Builders can also test the tool at www.nahbgreen.org.
Also on the docket: a full day of green educational seminars on topics from market trends and consumer research to innovative design and new products. Information about the 10th annual NAHB National Green Building Conference will also be available. Noted green architect and educator William McDonough is the featured speaker in the morning, and he will also conduct an in-depth session on "Cradle to Cradle" environmentally and ecologically efficient building practices.
NAHB will also introduce the Certified Green Professional designation, a new professional program to provide home buyers with additional assurance that the builder or remodeler they've chosen is authentically "green."
Among the green products on display at IBS is PINK Fiberglas™ insulation, the market leading residential insulation product. Owens Corning insulation products save many times the energy used to make it in the first year alone. And they continue to help conserve energy year after year without consuming any additional resources. The products Owens Corning sells each year are responsible for the prevention of more than 1 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions. (1) This equals the emissions of 200 million passenger cars or the use of 2 billion barrels of oil. Owens Corning was the first insulation manufacturer to qualify for the GREENGUARD Product Emission Standard for Children and Schools - the only independent testing program for low-emitting products. Owens Corning Fiberglas insulation is made of plentiful sand and recycled glass. Its minimum of 35% recycled content is the highest in the industry. Owens Corning Fiberglas insulation products can also assist in attaining points for LEED® Certification. Go Green! Go PINK!
(1)The US could save up to three million blimps full of CO2 emissions (the average blimp holds approximately 200,000 cubic feet of gas) if all under insulated attics in the US were insulated to the DOE standard. Estimated 60 million under-insulated homes in 2006 based upon a 2003 Harvard School of Public Health study, The Public Health Benefits of Insulation Retrofits in Existing Housing in the United States.
