HOST: Tell me about Green Building Initiative. I mean I'm a builder. I'm don't -- I'm trying to go green. Tell me, how can you help me?
REP: Well, there's a lot of ways that we can help, but let me tell you a little bit about the organization first. (HOST: Okay.) We are a 501c3 who was started primarily for education and research (HOST: Okay.) to which we are doing that end. And I would say our main focus is to help builders build better in the green envelope, both on the commercial and the residential side.
HOST: And just help us understand a little bit about green because it can be confusing.
REP: I think there's just a dearth of information when it comes to building green, and everyone is having that issue and that problem. So, hence, that is why the Green Building Initiative decided to take the approach to start educating builders. We've done this in a number of ways if you'd like me to go into some of those.
HOST: Go ahead and tell me. I mean how do I get information on you guys and is -- do you have a website, and do you set up classes for builders to attend?
REP: And yes to all of the above. (HOST: [LAUGHS]) certainly our website is www.thegbi.org. We do training. As I said, our whole purpose it to help educate builders. (HOST: Right.) And we do that in a myriad of ways. If you were to visit our website right now, one of the things that you would find on there is a new program that we joint-ventured with the University of North Carolina. (HOST: Okay.) It's called Desire, and it's incentive-based. So, I'm a builder. I want to go to my state. I want to know what tax credits, what incentives are available to me (HOST: Very nice.) both from the federal, the state, and the local agencies. And you could find all of that information on our site. And it all focuses on green incentives.
HOST: Do you have online courses, as well as -- I guess what you would call the regular classes where (REP: Well, we have two -- ) you have to go sit down in?
REP: Well, and this is certainly the age of technology, and the way that we're approaching the marketplace, we're doing it both through dynamic and static education. On the static side, if you were to go to our website, we have a portion there just for residential, and it's called (HOST: Okay.) Best Green Building Practices, and it takes you through one-and-a-half-minute vignettes of what some of those practices are. (HOST: Okay.) On the dynamic side that is moving all the time, we're offering web seminars for the first time. And our web seminars are going to focus on the LCA Cycle, Lifecycle Analysis Tool, and we actually commissioned that tool and gave it free to the marketplace. You can also access that from our website. Our second class is on reliability of building green (HOST: Okay.)--the concerns that builders have to have to do that. And the third one is, Now that I say I'm green, how do I market myself as green?
HOST: And that's very important as we're all trying--in a little bit of a slow market--trying to set ourselves apart from the pack a little bit -- (REP: Differentiate.) Okay. And are you working with our -- ? Can I get some local homebuilders' associations' information or are you working with the local NAHB?
REP: One of the things that the GBI has done over the past three years is move into twenty-seven different marketplaces (HOST: Uh-huh.) on the local level. We have brought education, marketing, and research to those areas for the local chapter to start educating their own builders. And probably one of the biggest pieces that we've done is that we've helped them build an assessment tool so that when a home is built, that local chapter can go out and assess whether or not the home meets their particular green standards. (HOST: Okay.) To date, I can tell you that there have been two-hundred assessments done, and we have about twenty-eight-thousand more in the works for the building. So the builder walks away from that knowing that they have completed a green project.
HOST: Okay. And let me ask you the big question. (REP: Sure.) I'm a builder. I haven't been building green. I walk in off the street. What's your advice? I want to go green. Tell me how to do it -- how I do it? What's your best advice?
REP: The best advice -- As I said, we're working with twenty-seven local chapters. (HOST: Okay. At the local NAHB?) I would say go to your local homebuilder. See if they have a Green Building Program. If they do, great. Then, you can find that information there. I would always advise you to now look at the new NAHB Guidelines and see the criterion that's listed in those. (HOST: The ones that are covering it.) Yes. Because that's important. But the best piece of advice that I can give you is I would look at your building envelope. Make sure it's tight. You want to make sure that cold air stays cold, warm air stays warm. (HOST: Exactly.) There's not leakage of that. And so looking at the building envelope would be the biggest thing I would tell you to do.
HOST: Well, that's great information, and I feel like now I have a place to start learning to build green. Thank you so much.
REP: You're welcome.
[NONINTERVIEW DIALOGUE AND FOOTAGE]
HOST: We're talking about education and research. Now you told me a little bit about education. What about the research end?
REP: Well, we're commissioning a report right now that is the return on investment for building green. (HOST: Ah, very important.) And that's just on the residential side of the house. And I think what's really important about this is not only is it a tool for the builder to determine whether or not they want to build green, but they can take that piece of information and give it to the consumer and hopefully drive the marketplace -- (HOST: That's -- yeah.) -- and the consumer that way.
HOST: Cause the consumer's saying, I'm paying a little extra for the home because -- (REP: Right.) -- there's a green aspect. (REP: How's it gonna be made up in the long run?) Exactly. And what do you see as the future of green?
REP: I see that green is not going away. We really look for it to become mandated from the federal side, and green's going to be around for a long time. I think that's evident from the MLS listings in several different cities and states that are actually giving green criteria to start the search for your home.
HOST: I've noticed that, too. It's very important. Thanks for all the info.
REP: Yes. [END]
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