June 2010
REGREEN Program
C O N T E N T S
Homes: Greening the MLS, By Glen Girard, USGBC CO Communications Chair
Project Highlight: Housing Resources Office Building Achieves LEED Certification- First Existing Building to Achieve Certification in Grand Junction, By Elaine Matthews, Ryan, Sawyer & Associates
REGREEN: Workshop October 28-29, taught by Annette Stelmack and Pete Yost
Membership: Recap of Our 2010 Annual Membership Event, By Barb Josey, USGBC CO Membership Chair
Colorado Building Green is the official newsletter of the U.S. Green Building Council – Colorado Chapter, and is published bi-monthly. If you are interested in submiting a story, ideas or other information for publication, please contact the editor at sarah@usgbccolorado.org
Ultimate Renovators Resource - REGREEN Program
By Annette K. Stelmack, Inspirit LLC
Homeowners are embracing sustainability in record numbers, as both a lifestyle choice and a desire for healthy homes. Various studies have shown that we spend nearly 90% of our time indoors – sleeping, eating, working, playing, relaxing – where pollutant levels can be two to five times higher than outdoors. Sources of indoor pollutants range from pesticides to cleaning products; fire retardants on your furniture and fabrics to the adhesives in your cabinets; toiletry and body products to bedding products.
In 2008, the Energy Programs Consortium estimated that homes in the United States consumed 22% of the nation’s energy and caused 20% of the green house gas emissions. Approximately 82%* of the current housing stock will still be in use in 10 years confirming the need to green our existing housing stock to achieve carbon reduction and environmental goals according to the USGBC.
The American Society of Interior Designers’ Foundation and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) collaborated to create the Ultimate Home Renovators Resource: REGREEN. The magnificence of this program is that you start where you want to. If you are looking to remodel your bathroom, finishing your basement or considering an addition, the REGREEEN Residential Remodeling Guidelines is ‘the’ resource to guide your green renovation. REGREEN offers tangible, real solutions demonstrating the value of sustainability – healthier homes, energy efficiency, reduced operating costs, healthy indoor air quality, and reduced impact on the environment – just to name a few. The primary audience of the guidelines are building professionals – interior designers, architects, and contractors. The guidelines also offer approachable content and layout making the document an undeniable resource for savvy homeowners and do-it-yourselfers alike. REGREEN features numerous resources including:
- Library of green remodeling strategies (nearly 200) organized by environmental topics and cross-referenced to related strategies plus details, images, references and resources.
- Green product checklist provides you with features for a sustainable product and the manufacturer who produces it, allowing you to ask informed questions before specifying a product and making a purchase.
- Green products directory of qualified websites provides you with reliable sites to research sustainable products.
Today we can choose to renovate using sustainable strategies, environmentally friendly products and work with contractors and trade professionals with extensive green remodeling expertise. Rather than asking ‘how much more will my green renovation cost’ we need to take into consideration the money saved from energy and water saving strategies within a high performance home. Supply equals demand – ask for eco-friendly products and services to positively affect the marketplace.
The guidelines are organized by project type – kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, living/working, finished basement, home performance, major addition, gut rehab, deep energy retrofit and outdoor living – here is where you start for your next green project: