What is the relationship between the U. S. Green Building Council and Energy Star? PDF Print E-mail
Written by Team Connect the Dots   
Sunday, 23 August 2009 13:06
Question: What is the relationship between the U. S. Green Building Council and Energy Star? Earthcraft Virginia? I thought these programs were in competition with each other.

Answer:

We all have the same goals: to advocate and educate building owners and local industry stakeholders on sustainable, high performance building. These programs mutually reinforce each other, serving different parts of the building market.

LEED certification may be appropriate for one project – Energy Star or Earthcraft Virginia for another. Currently, LEED for Homes is focused on new home construction, and is most often cost-effective for multi-home developments. Energy Star and Earthcraft also address new home construction, but Energy Star is focused solely on energy performance and is at the heart of both LEED and Earthcraft Virginia. For individual homes with a more comprehensive sustainability and performance goals that include water, site development, etc., Earthcraft Virginia is often the most contractor-friendly and cost effective certification. At this time, Earthcraft Virginia’s Renovation Program is the only robust certification program for existing homes. Earthcraft Virginia is also our most local Provider for LEED for Homes projects.
 
Team Connect the Dots

Written on Sunday, 23 August 2009 13:06 byTeam Connect the Dots

Viewed 388 times so far.

 
Published in Subscribe to the RSS feed of Whiteboard  Whiteboard / Subscribe to the RSS feed of Home  Home
Like this? Let your friends know now!
Rate this article
 

Latest articles from Team Connect the Dots

 
back to top
 

About Us

Connect the Dots is a project of the U. S. Green Building Council Southwest Virginia Chapter to advocate and educate our region about green building through a locally produced seminar series and subsequent website modules.

Learn more...

Facts

95% of our buildings are over 10 years old; while LEED and other programs do a lot to address new homes, improving performance for all buildings is important, higher value, higher performance, lower bills.

Strategies

  • Begin with a ‘Home Performance Analysis.’
  • Map your own path: state clear, measurable goals.
  • Engage qualified experts to advise you and carry out the work.
  • Measure post-improvement performance to track your progress.
  • Finally, engage a third party, certified energy rater.

Connections

Our founding sponsors were selected from among the most innovative, forward thinking companies in Southwest Virginia. Check them out - they may be able to help you complete your goals for high performance building!

Learn more...