Home builders tap into green building practices

Springfield area home builders also are getting on board with green building practices.

Among the local companies to practice environmentally friendly home-building techniques is Lloyd Built Homes LLC, which has built five homes that were rated Five Star Plus by the EPA. In January, the company was recognized by the EPA for its efforts to build under the Energy Star Program, which promotes the use of energy-efficient products.

Owner Lloyd Babcock said he first heard of EPA’s Energy Star ratings in 2002 at a homes show.

Though he didn’t give energy-efficient home building much thought at the time, green building came up a few years later when a client requested the air conditioner in his new home be upgraded from a seasonal energy efficiency ratio rating of 10 to 12.

Babcock is not alone in his efforts to boost green home building in the Ozarks.

Matt Morrow, executive officer of the Home Builders Association of Greater Springfield, said the local group launched its Green Building Initiative in fall 2006.

“We have a strategy committee in the process of reviewing the National Association of Home Builders’ green home-building guidelines, and our hope is to adopt it with little or no amendment,” Morrow said.

He noted that the Green Building Initiative will certify new and remodeled homes that meet inspection standards.

“The inspection process compares the finished product with certification standards that identify with different points of the building process,” Morrow added. “This is similar to the process that the National Association of Home Builders uses, and the Energy Star rating system is an important component of this.”

Morrow said the HBA’s goal is to have its Green Building Initiative certification by the end of the year. The certification process will include a third-party partner who will verify that green standards are met.

In the meantime, builders within the HBA’s ranks are working to make their homes environmentally friendly.

Among them is Russel Caldwell of Caldwell Construction, who was the Missouri representative at the NAHB’s executive board meeting this year in Las Vegas. He is now a voting member on the 30-person national subcommittee formed by NAHB to set the standards for its green building program.

NAHB, Caldwell said, is taking a leadership role to serve as the national voice for American home builders who want to take part in green development, design and construction.

“The NAHB will also promote voluntary builder and market-driven solutions for green building in lieu of mandatory local, state and federal regulations,” he said.

Builder Sam Bradley of Sam Bradley Homes recently completed a green-building certification course through NAHB, focusing on incorporating green principles without driving up construction costs.

Although the home buyer might pay more up front for energy efficient procedures, HVAC and efficiency ratings, Bradley said the additional costs can be recouped in a measurable amount of time.

Bradley, who spearheaded the construction of HBA’s new environmentally friendly headquarters in Corporate Village (see page 37 for photos and information), said he builds custom homes exclusively, which can take the emphasis off the extra costs.

“The spec home building market is all about cost, whereas my customers are usually purchasing their second or third home,” he said. “Features that might not be as price competitive or (are) cost-prohibitive in the spec market are (attainable) to the custom homebuyer.”

Builder Babcock, who’s not an HBA member, said the prices on the Energy Star-rated homes he builds average 3 percent to 5 percent more than comparable homes that aren’t built for energy efficiency.

“However, based on cost/benefits analysis, the payback range to recoup the additional cost is five to six years,” he said.

HBA-member builder Scott Kisling of Up-Tyte Construction Inc. used energy-efficient techniques to build the 2007 St. Jude Dream House (see page 46), a fund-raising project for St. Jude’s Research Foundation. Kisling builds with insulated concrete forms, which are designed for energy efficiency and for withstanding significant storms.

Regardless of whether they’re building for charity, local builders have multiple reasons for going green on the home front.

“Many (builders) are interested. ... Some do it to make a living, some do it because it’s the right thing to do – and for me, it’s a bit of both,” Babcock said.[[In-content Ad]]