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U.S. Green Building Council Announces Winners of First-ever Green Homebuilder’s Day Awards Celebrating Outstanding Innovation and Techniques in Booming Industry
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) closed-out its first-ever Green Homebuilder’s Day at the 2008 Greenbuild International Conference & Expo in Boston, Mass. with an awards ceremony and reception that recognized excellence in residential green building. Green Homebuilder’s Day Awards celebrated homebuilders and projects that best executed innovation in technology, construction and design while reinforcing the value of responsible and sustainable homebuilding techniques.
The builders and projects were nominated by local LEED for Homes Providers in seven various categories, including Outstanding Multi-Family Project; Innovation Project; Outstanding Custom Project; Production Builder; Outstanding Affordable Project; Pilot Builder; and Outstanding Program Contribution. Winners were determined by USGBC staff, based-upon merits presented in the nominations.
“This year, we’ve seen tremendous growth within the residential green building sector, as green homes become much more of a household name than ever before,” said Nate Kredich, Vice President of Residential Market Development, USGBC. “The winners of the first annual awards have helped propel green home building into the mainstream and deserve to be recognized for their outstanding work.”
The award for the Outstanding Multi-Family Project recognizes an exceptional multi-family LEED for Homes project which has contributed to both green home building in its community, and the LEED for Homes program overall. Avesta Housing’s Pearl Place Development in Portland, Maine is this year’s recipient. Pearl Place provides 60 affordable housing rental units in downtown Portland and is the first mid-rise project in the country to be certified.
The Innovative Project Recognition Award recognizes a LEED for Homes project for innovation in design, process, approach, and/or technology. This year’s winner is Bazzani Associates for their project at 4057 Ronalds Road in Dorr, Michigan and its innovative water efficiency efforts.
The award for the Outstanding Custom Project recognizes a project and its builder for an exceptional Custom Single Family project which showcases how a custom home can utilize the LEED for Homes rating system to the greatest extent. The winner of the award is The Sustainable House, by Live Green, Live Smart, built in Minnetonka, Minnesota, for their work transforming an existing1940’s era single family home into a model of sustainability.
The Outstanding Production Builder Award recognizes a builder for outstanding certified production homes. Artistic Homes in New Mexico is the recipient of the Production Builder Award this year. The builder is committed to certifying 100 percent of its projects through LEED for Homes, and has already certified 89 projects to date.
The Outstanding Affordable Project Award recognizes a project and its builder for an affordable project that has contributed to green home building and the affordable housing community. The recipient of this year’s award is the Gish Apartments, built by First Community Housing in San Jose, California. Gish Apartments is a 35-unit, transit-oriented family apartment complex, with 13 of the units set aside for residents with developmental disabilities. Residents have access to a computer learning center and are provided with services tailored to support low income families, such as financial literacy training, computer literacy and after-school programs.
The Pilot Builder Award recognizes a builder whose achievements during the LEED for Homes Pilot program contributed greatly to the development of the program itself. Taggart Construction of Freeport, Maine is this year’s recipient and is the first LEED for Homes project certified in the country. Additionally, Taggart Construction President Peter Taggart has been instrumental in promoting the LEED for Homes program, not only as a builder but also as a local advocate.
The Outstanding Program Contribution Award recognizes the dedication of builders on the local and national scale alike, to pursue a more sustainable future for the residential building sector. Habitat for Humanity International was recognized this year for their commitment to the LEED for Homes program, and along with their affiliates, Habitat has brought more than 40 affordable LEED certified homes to families nationwide. As of today, over 80 Habitat homes are registered for LEED certification.
The first annual Green Homebuilder’s Day was comprised of panel discussions and educational sessions addressing the changing housing market, green affordable housing, ways to address the aging housing stock, the costs of going green, and high-performance renovations. For more information, please visit www.greenbuildexpo.org/Program/green_homebuilders.html.
About USGBC
The U.S. Green Building Council is a nonprofit membership organization with a vision of
asustainable built environment within a generation. Its membership includes corporations,
builders, universities, government agencies, and other nonprofit organizations. Since USGBC’s
founding in 1993, the Council has grown to more than 18,000 member companies and
organizations, a comprehensive family of LEED® green building certification systems, an
expansive educational offering, the industry’s popular Greenbuild International Conference and
Expo (www.greenbuildexpo.org), and a network of 79 local chapters, affiliates, and organizing
groups. For more information, visit www.usgbc.org.
About Greenbuild
The U.S. Green Building Council’s Greenbuild International Conference & Expo convenes the
industry’s largest gathering of representatives from all sectors of the green building movement.
Three days of extensive educational programming, workshops, a vast exhibition floor and
ample networking events provide unrivaled opportunities to learn about the latest technological
innovations, explore new products, and exchange ideas with other professionals. Greenbuild
2009 will be held on Nov. 11-13, 2009, in Phoenix, Arizona. This past year’s conference in
Boston drew over 28,000 attendees and featured more than 800 exhibit booths. Visit
www.greenbuildexpo.org for more information. To view last year’s Greenbuild show, go to
www.greenbuild365.org.
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