Home buyers will see green at the Parade of Homes this year.
A surge in the construction of environmentally sensitive building–whether that’s preserving topsoil or using newspaper-based insulation–has the Home Builders Association of Metro Denver planning to feature nothing but “green” homes in this year’s Parade, which showcases the best in architecture, design and home decor. The event is in Parker, Colo., this year beginning Saturday.
The “Built Green” program was created by the home builders association, 43 area home builders and state officials in response to demand by consumers, said Tom Hoyt, founder of McStain Enterprises Inc. in Boulder. The home builders have a campaign to build 1,000 such homes this year.
“We really believe that consumers value that opportunity to basically be environmentally responsible buyers,” said Hoyt, whose company is one of only a few major home builders to build exclusively “green” homes. “We’re excited to see our industry making the commitment now to being better environmental citizens.”
In the “Built Green” program, homes must conform to a set of criteria in such areas as energy and water efficiency, air quality and environmentally sensitive building materials. Builders must meet 38 of 100 requirements for a home to be considered environmentally correct under the program.
Although the regulations are voluntary, they are supported by the Colorado Governor’s Office of Energy Conservation, which has contributed $500,000 to marketing and education for the next three years.
The state wants to tell more home buyers that they can ask about environmental practices of builders and possibly find a home that will help the environment and save them money, said Wade Buchanan, who heads the state office.
It’s like getting people to think about checking mileage when buying a car, he said.
“If there’s an easy way to know what it is they’re getting, then they’ll ask for it,” Buchanan said.
“There are ways to grow that are dumb, that lock us into using ever more amounts of energy,” he added. “And there are ways to grow that are smart that make us an energy-efficient economy and make the effects on the environment less than they would otherwise be.”