There’s been a lot of spec­u­la­tion about where exactly the massive amount of stim­u­lus funds have gone, and who if anyone is receiv­ing them.  Well I can tell you from per­sonal expe­ri­ence it hasn’t been me.

One of my roles is that of a green build­ing ver­i­fier, cer­ti­fied through the National Home Builders Asso­ci­a­tion.  In fact when the NAHB started their green build­ing pilot pro­gram, I was the only one to par­tic­i­pate in the entire state of New York in the capacity of the ver­i­fier role.  Once the pilot pro­gram con­cluded, there was an offer to take some addi­tional train­ing and sub­se­quent test­ing, which I gladly agreed to.  I have been of the mind­set after many years on job sites, that some­thing other than dump­ing con­struc­tion waste into land­fills needed doing.

Now this was by no means a free ride.  Because of my par­tic­i­pa­tion in the pilot pro­gram the NAHB gra­ciously trained and tested me at no cost, but the mem­ber­ship fee paid to my local chap­ter, along with the unbe­liev­ably expen­sive insur­ances I have to carry, made me ques­tion if my deci­sion to con­tinue on had been a wise one.  Walk your talk I told myself,  and so I wrote the checks and waited for my first job.

Then the hous­ing indus­try tanked, and we all know what hap­pened to our econ­omy, but there did seemed a sil­ver lin­ing to this cloud, stim­u­lus money.  If I could just hang in there a while longer the money appro­pri­ated for green build­ing would surely find its way to me.

Sure enough I got a phone call from a devel­oper who wanted to take advan­tage of the cash incen­tives being offered through NYSERDA.  I excit­edly set up the first of 3 appoint­ments and started my due dili­gence.  Then I received another phone call from another devel­oper want­ing the same thing.  At last my new green career had launched, or so I thought.

After sev­eral meet­ings on both projects the bot­tom fell out.  Seems as though the first devel­oper received sub­stan­tial fund­ing through the DHCR and they didn’t want to play nice with another agency par­tic­u­larly if the agency was NYSERDA.  The sec­ond project ran into prob­lems when NY State changed the cri­te­ria at the last-minute.  Didn’t mat­ter that the design included all first floor mas­ter bed­rooms and baths.  Didn’t mat­ter that the entire first floor was hand­i­cap acces­si­ble com­plete with entrance ramps.  New York wanted the entire house built hand­i­cap acces­si­ble, so the design as it was first approved with sec­ond floors was now out of the ques­tion.  This killed the project along with any hopes I had of mak­ing a mea­ger living.

These days I work at keeping a positive outlook and still believe that green jobs are and will be cre­ated.  I got a call last week from another builder, but I know now how the process works so I'll wait and see if anything comes of it.  Although in the world of big government, big money and small business, it's still a big green toss-up.

In an attempt to not only revitalize the housing industry, but also to encourage a more energy efficient and sustainable way of building, New York's Governor Paterson empowered NYSERDA, (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority)by giving them the authority to establish and administer a residential green building program. (RGBP)

Stimulus funds are being used to fund the project, and while I applaud the Governors efforts, as a small business owner I fear that the cluster of bureaucracy which will inevitably surround this incentive will keep anyone other than large real estate conglomerates from reaping the actual monetary benefits from using it, and the small business owner will once again get lost in the mix.

The program itself won't officially launch until January 2010, and therefore some time is left for changes to be made or added, but as it is written now I can find no fault with NYSERDA's clearly defined outline of qualifications.  They have also wisely incorporated using either the National Association of Home Builders silver performance level using the National Green Building Standard, or USGBC's Leed for Homes Rating System, or LEED for New Construction Rating System into the qualifications. AS a certified verifier through NAHB's Green Building Standard you can guess which one I prefer.

No matter how well intentioned this or any other government funded program starts out as, the end result is usually the same; power plays resulting from too many opposing agency's involvement.  In other words a nice game of push and shove, and the original purpose of the program gets lost in the shuffle by over inflated egos. 

I truly hope this isn't the case with the RGBP Program and that I'm proven wrong, really wrong. There's nothing more I'd like to see than all of New York prosper and take advantage of this wonderful program offered through NYSERDA. 

The Sustainable Energy Coalition hosted a huge energy expo last week in Washington D.C. In preparation for the event they released some very interesting facts regarding renewable energy.

For instance did you know that; U.S. wind power grew by 50% in 2008, and that 42% of all new power generated last year was attributed to wind? Furthermore 20% of all U.S. electricity needs could be fulfilled by wind by the year 2030. Not only that but 7.6 gigatons (yes I said gigatons) of carbon dioxide could be avoided all together!

One more interesting energy fact is the 6 million Americans are now using geothermal energy to heat and cool their homes. 3 million receive electricity from geothermal power plants, and the other 3 million use geothermal heat pumps. Not only that but more than 100 new geothermal power projects are now in development in 13 states, which will double our geothermal capacity within the next five years.

Now if only we could get the country on board with water conservation as 35 states are facing sever water shortages within the next 5 years. But I guess you can´t have everything, or can you - hmmm?

Overall, the definition of green building represents the go green movement in its purest form. Building green homes encompasses a wide array of businesses; from the architects who produce the green building designs to the actual green home builders, and all the other green building jobs associated with building green homes.

Ways to go green when opting to have your home built are also endless. First you must decide on whether or not to use a builder who incorporates green building certification into his proposal. There may be a bit more cost associated with this, but you will have a certified green home, and third party accreditation if using a Certified Green Professional through the National Home Builders Association.

You may also opt for a builder who simply uses green building ideas, but does not incorporate green building certification into his proposal. Green building methods are not as rigid or formal with this way of building, but green building plans are utilized and the go green movement is still implied.

Neither way is right or wrong, and is a personal decision. Just remember to build it right, build it green!

Happy Earth Day Everyone!! 40 years old, wow. I remember when the first Earth Day, um I mean I remember my older sister telling me about, I mean my Aunt. Yes it was my Aunt who told me about the first Earth Day celebration. Not a very good liar am I?

In the past 40 years Earth Day has made a difference. Back in 1972 only 36 percent of all streams in the US were safe for swimming and fishing, today it is 60 percent, and our waterways are not the only places where improvements can be seen.

By far the largest attention has been placed on energy, first by conserving it, and next by making cars, homes and buildings more energy efficient. But I have a warning here; when constructing a new home or building energy efficient remember to play the movie through to the end. Think about it, if a home or building has such a tight envelope seal to get the best energy efficiencies it can, and attention isn't paid to the VOC content used in that home or building, where do you think all those off gasses go? No where that's where, they stay right in the building, hence the appearance of sick building syndrome that appeared in the 80's. Now this has been addressed by improving ventilation systems, but it just does not make sense to use any VOC's at all? And VOC's are not just in paint, they're in all adhesives used in cabinets, flooring, counters, tile, just to name a few.

So on this 40th anniversary of Earth Day remember to recycle, plant a tree, go to the park and pick up some garbage and always remember to build it Green!