GHI memberNew Leaf Home Design, LLC, is excited to announce their Moreland Hills home project has been honored as a recipient of the 2023 Housing Innovation Award! This project is also certified under the GHI Zero Energy Home Certification program because it met the DOE Zero Energy Ready Certification, achieved a negative 2 HERS rating by a certified rater.
As a “Zero Energy Ready”, a distinction that places it among the nation’s finest in the realm of high-performance residential architecture. The Zero Energy Ready verification process confirms the home’s ability to provide exceptional energy efficiency, indoor air quality, comfort, and construction quality.
The Moreland Hills home stands as a prime example of how thoughtful design, precise construction, and renewable energy can converge to create a residence that’s both visually stunning and environmentally responsible. Designed to take advantage of its ravine views, the home is also oriented to maximize the efficiency of its solar panels. With 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and a spacious 3900 square feet of finished area, it has a HERS index of -2, a testament to its net-positive energy efficiency.
The homeowners are thrilled with the outcome. They shared, “We knew we wanted to mirror the land and build a functional, beautiful house that was sustainable and energy efficient. We have lived here for one year now, and the craftsmanship, efficiency, and livability have far exceeded our expectations. It is a joy to be in the house with the views of mature woods and new native landscaping. “
Hallie Bowie, the architect behind New Leaf Home Design, LLC, expressed her enthusiasm for the recognition: “We are immensely proud to receive the 2023 Housing Innovation Award. It reflects our dedication to high-performance home construction and electrification. Building green is no longer a cutting-edge approach used by just a few people on a handful of projects. The details and systems for sustainable construction have been implemented on thousands of homes, and researchers have verified their performance over decades of use. This award recognizes our implementation of these proven strategies.”
Cornerstone Construction of Northeast Ohio, the general contractor for the project who previously achieved LEED Platinum certification on a previous home with GHI, played a crucial role in bringing this vision to life. Their detail-oriented commitment to quality construction and sustainability mirrored that of New Leaf Home Design, LLC, resulting in this outstanding achievement.
As activities that are central to our mission, the quality of the GreenHome Institute’s green building consultation services and certification programs is essential! To this end, we have established a Technical Advisory Committee to guide our certification programs and consultation services. This committee will be a forum and vehicle to ensure key decisions are made with input from multiple expert perspectives and will provide input on program development and improvement.
We are excited to introduce the five founding members of the committee!
Larry Bridge | Harvey Bell | Debbie Coleman | Matt Ahearn | Rick Hall
Larry Bridge
Larry (Lawrence) Bridge – Larry has 36 years of industry experience at Procter & Gamble (P&G) in
engineering, third party governance, change management, facilities, environmental sustainability, real estate and information technology. Larry holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering degree from Michigan State University. He is a US Green Business Council Accredited Professional (USGBC AP) and GreenHome Institute Certified Green Professional (CGP). He was a founding board member of the Greater Cincinnati Green Business Council and USGBC Southwest Ohio Area Board Member. At P&G, he developed P&G’s third-party governance processes for P&G’s Global Business Services and was appointed to the CIO IT Distinguished Expert Circle based on this expertise. Larry managed P&G’s Workplace Governance Programs for 20 years, overseeing general office and R&D facilities and
supporting real estate. Larry most recently worked on the development, transition and management of a global, outcome-based contract supporting P&G employee care, employee IT and site network & voice services. He retired from P&G in 2023 and is currently an Executive Advisor with SynFiny Advisors in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Harvey Bell
A. Harvey Bell, IV was appointed Professor of Engineering Practice and Co-Director of the
Multidisciplinary Design Program on September 1, 2010 after a 39 year career in the automotive industry with General Motors. During his career with General Motors some of his significant positions were: Chief Engineering, 2.5 Liter Engine, Vehicle Chief Engineer, 4th Generation Camaro and Firebird, Executive Director, Vehicle Performance and Executive Director, Advanced Vehicle Development Center for North America. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and undertook graduated studies at the University of Pennsylvania and University of Michigan-Dearborn.
Debbie Coleman
Debbie Coleman has been a GreenHome Institute member since 2018 and is a current member of the Board of Directors. As a licensed architect for over 30 years, she has designed hundreds of low-energy passive solar homes for clients across the United States and Canada in many climate
zones. She authored The Sun-Inspired House: home designs warmed and brightened by the sun which is available in the ever-expanding eBook with over 150 house designs from Sun Plans. She believes that every home should as a minimum have a third-party Home Energy Rater working with the builder and homeowner to assure that the home is constructed to the level of energy efficiency chosen by the client whether it be to the entry level of Energy Star or all the way to net zero energy.
She is excited to be on the GHI Technical Advisory Committee to help assure that GHI programs reach the maximum number of homeowners who desire to save energy while living in comfortable, healthy, and resilient homes. She sees building connections between homeowners, certified green professionals, energy raters, builders, and designers/architect as a key and one in which GHI is poised to facilitate. The GreenStar program by GHI is an entry level certification program with fewer barriers, but with most of the same benefits as the more complex green and energy certification programs. This should allow more homes to become certified and appropriatly appraised during the financing and sales phases for their low-energy and green features. As these homes are listed on the Green Building Registry, which may be integrated into MLS systems throughout the country, this is an additional financial benefit to the long-term energy savings and health benefits of living in a comfortable, resilient home. Homeowners can then go on to choose even greater energy independence by becoming Zero Energy Ready or Zero Energy Capable.
Matt Ahearn
Matt Ahearn is the Technical Lead of Sustainable Services at Bright Power. Leveraging his deep
technical expertise in energy efficiency, Matt works to incorporate both high-performance and sustainable construction concepts to promote healthy living along with both energy and carbon reduction via the built environment.
Matt’s six-year tenure at Bright Power, and his previous experience as a Technical Field Representative have equipped him with extensive knowledge in the energy conservation and sustainability services industry. Matt also holds a HERS Rater Certification alongside BPI Certifications in Envelope and Heating. In addition to his leadership on Bright Power’s Sustainability Services team, Matt is excited to join the Technical Advisory Board at the GreenHome Institute, where crafting green building certification programs and policy are driving the industry forward to achieve healthier, more efficient buildings.
Rick Hall
Rick has been in the HVAC industry in every capacity from installer, technician, service manager and owner. He started in the trade in 1984 and currently holds a Kentucky state HVAC masters license. He was an HVAC instructor at Jefferson Community and Technical from 2002-2012. He began training others in Building Science-related areas privately in 2012 and still trains across the United States with HVAC contractors in size from 10 trucks to 300 trucks. He is the principal for BSPT, LLC, a company that is currently a BPI test center, a NATE Training/Testing Organization, ESCO Institute Testing Organization and formally a RESNET Training Provider, Rating Provider and QA Designee. He currently holds certifications from Building Performance Institute, North American Technician Excellence, ESCO Institute and Association of Energy Engineers. He was on the BPI 1200 Standards Committee.
Are you looking for a job in sustainable housing? Consider the internationally recognized sustainability credential ‘LEED Green Associate.’ You can take our training class here on your time, any time!
Follow us #greenhomejobalert to get instant updates daily on jobs!
This session at the MI State Capitol aimed to connect state policymakers with zero-energy-building advocates to educate policymakers on what is needed to advance zero-energy buildings in Michigan.
We had 30 different offices of House and Senate representatives and/or their staff in attendance, and this included 85 people in total who attended or checked in throughout the session.
A huge thanks to our panelists, Matt Hollander, Kortney Lull, Matt Dunham, and Rob Kaercher, who discussed these important topics and how they impact their work.
If you live in Michigan (or any state), consider contacting your representatives and sharing our resources, and please tell them you support zero-energy buildings! Here are some additional resources you may share.
Looking for a job in sustainable housing? You first need the internationally recognized sustainability credential called the LEED Green Associate. You can take our Green Associate class here on your time, any time now!
Despite the national new media narrative of a “cooling” jobs market, the reality is the residential green building, affordable housing and energy sectors remain as hot as ever. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released a report last month showing county-level data on energy employment across the United States, which found that energy jobs grew in nearly every county. Of course when people think of green or energy jobs, their first thought is solar, and they would not be wrong. Solar jobs grew 3.5% in the last two years, and the industry is struggling to find talent!
Just like every month, we want to feature some of the most interesting residential green building jobs we found that you may be interested in.
We are also now tagging every relevant job, so follow us at #greenhomejobalert to stay up to date in real-time or subscribe to our mailing list to get monthly updates on jobs and all your green home news here https://greenhomeinstitute.org/mailing-list/
In Michigan, we are proud to highlight the DTE Energy BPI workforce development in Detroit and on that note, all sustainability jobs must consider equity so we can gain diverse voices and diverse ideas to ensure all benefit from green housing and jobs.
I am thrilled to announce my house’s (re)certification to the Pearl Platinum standard!
I was also recently able to pick up the all-electric home badge and look at the solar equity calculator to properly value my home with solar.
I am very grateful to Casey Murphy and his team there for assisting with this, and actually, I’ve been certified for two years now, but just finally getting the word out now.
I am excited about Pearl certification and why I want to get the word out. Here are three reasons why.
The first is Pearl is a great stepping stone to call GreenStar Home Certification in much the same way energy star is the energy baseline to LEED Residential. Pearl is a great energy efficiency program that can serve as a baseline so all homes and a starting point for green. A Gold Pearl Certified level meets the baseline requirements of GreenStar Homes Certification.
Next, all homes need continual improvement and maintenance, and their Green Door program offers homeowners or landlords ways to maintain their homes and make upgrades to achieve higher levels of pearl, home health, and comfort. Making sure the home is well maintained and is an easy hand-off to the next owner. In connection again with GreenStar, the silver requirements are that the owners have an operations manual, and this green door tool covers more than that.Finally, as I mentioned, the solar equity calculator has proven to help appraisers understand how to value solar properly, which is one of the biggest impediments to solar that I hear often. The complaint is that people who decide they might sell not only think they won’t get any value for the solar but worse, they think the home might not sell or have less value due to solar, which is completely untrue.
Because of Pearl, I was able to eek out 3% more value on my home appraisal from solar. So I am excited to get the word out about the solar equity calculator and provide you with more details on how it works and my reports as well. The solar equity calculator uses a discounted cash flow method to estimate the solar projection, the cost savings based on utility costs, including inflation, and a low, medium, and high estimation of the system value based on its likely energy generation value.
The bottom line is that Pearl + GreenStar Homes + Solar is a win-win for high-performance homes, ensuring home equity and value are communicated well.
Earth AdvantagePartners with the GreenHome Institute to Provide Certification Data to the Green Building Registry
[Portland, OR July 2023] —Earth Advantage®, Inc. and the GreenHome Institute announced today a partnership to deliver GreenStar Homes certification data through the Green Building Registry® (GBR). This partnership will provide easy access to this Certification data to the market and help facilitate inclusion in real estate listings.
Historically, important home data such as energy ratings, third-party building certifications, or solar electricity generation has not been included in sale or rental listings. This lack of data transparency has prevented appraisers and lending institutions from creating a thorough valuation, resulting in the potential loss of thousands of dollars of value per home, and preventing buyers from making a fully informed purchasing decision.
Since 2017, Earth Advantage’s self-funded, Green Building Registry has provided home performance data to the public and real estate multiple listing services. GBR partners with programs to provide verified data directly from sources such as the U.S. Department of Energy’s Home Energy Score program, LEED® for Homes, ENERGY STAR®, HERS® Index Scores, and other national and regional third-party verification programs.
“The GreenStar Homes Certification program provides a clear pathway to upgrade all homes easily to increase sustainability, but without recognition and market comparison, it’s hard to find value. As someone who lives in a certified home and derives value from these efforts, it is important to ensure the expansion of an easy-to-understand and easy-to-find listing of green-certified homes. We are thrilled to collaborate with and promote the US Green Building Registry in this regard!” says Brett Little, Education Manager at the GreenHome Institute.
David Heslam, Executive Director at Earth Advantage states “The GreenStar Homes Certification has been utilized for over ten years. Earth Advantage is excited to help make these certified homes more visible to everyone in the market.”
About the Green Building Registry
The Green Building Registry (GBR) is the largest single-source for building performance data in the United States. GBR contains over two and a half million records of data on single-family, multifamily, and commercial buildings. Additionally, the GBR API allows any MLS, lender, or other data consumer or provider to connect directly to the information contained in the registry. Visitus.greenbuildingregistry.com for a free property search.
GBR is a wholly owned and self-funded initiative of Earth Advantage, a nonprofit organization headquartered in Portland, Oregon. Earth Advantage is helping the US housing industry to create a more informed and humane residential real estate market. For more information on Earth Advantage visit: earthadvantage.org
About the GreenHome Institute
The GreenHome Institute is a Grand Rapids, MI-based non-profit that works around the US with a mission to empower people to make healthier and more sustainable choices in the renovation and construction of the places we live. GHI provides education, consulting, and certification services for residential green buildings, including our GreenStar Homes Certification Program, which offers free tools and resources to help anyone green up their new or existing residential project. GreenHomeInstitute.org
If you want to start your GreenStar Homes Certification project, go here https://greenhomeinstitute.org/greenstar/
If you would like more information about this topic, please call Meg Garabrant at 503.310.9138 x162, or email meg@greenbuildingregistry.com
Ralf is passionate about climate sustainability and social justice. As a board member of the GreenHome Institute, Ralf looks forward to applying his extensive entrepreneurial and business experience to promoting and supporting the organization’s mission. Ralf works as International Product Manager for building envelope systems at Sparta MI-based tesa tapes, focusing on air and waterproofing solutions for energy-efficient and sustainable buildings.
