Resources

Our professionals are those with proven experience on certified green home projects, those who completed our GreenHome Associate Training and/or are LEED Green Raters.

Whether you seek a LEED Green Rater or GreenStar Homes inspector, builder, designer, or other trade, we have many professionals ready to assist you.

 If the type of professional you are looking for is not listed here, check the links provided on this page or look through our list of member profiles.

If you would like to be listed on this Find-a-Pro page, you can do so by being a part of the project team on a certified project, training to become a GreenHome Inspector, or taking the LEED Green Rater course.

Find a Pro

Find a professional who was vetted by GHI through certification, accreditation or involvement in a green building certification program.

Financial Resources

Review and access resources such as incentives, rebates, tax credits, tax abatements, financing, and more for green building, home improvement, or new construction. Consider stacking or braiding funds to make your project possible. Some resources are available based on eligibility, which may partially be determined using AMI (Area Median Income) or FPL (Federal Poverty Level) guidelines, taking into account factors such as family income, family size, and location of the project and/or resource coverage area. 

Stay informed about the constantly changing and expanding landscape of financial resources for green building, home improvement, or new construction. Download our list of available resources and bookmark this page, as these resources are constantly being updated and new ones added, while some may expire. 

Do you see a resource missing that we should add, or do you have a question? If so, contact us.

$9k to Add Insulation While Residing

We are collaborating with the federal agency Pacific Northwest National Laboratories (PNNL) to offer up to $9,000 to Michigan homeowners or housing developers who want to add exterior rigid insulation during a siding replacement project. The funds cannot be used to purchase siding, but will cover inspections, labor, materials, and other expenses related to adding exterior insulation. Contractors participating in the project will receive special training and oversight. The program aims to improve your home’s comfort, energy efficiency, durability, and resiliency while studying the siding contractor’s awareness and interest in adding exterior rigid insulation during siding projects.

DIY Home Energy Score Assessment

The U.S. Department of Energy now offers a do-it-yourself version of its scoring tool. This self-assessment tool helps you evaluate ways to make energy-efficient improvements to your home and to determine what its Home Energy Score is and what it could be based on the improvements. A score of 5 or more meets the energy requirement for GreenStar Homes certification. Click here to watch an educational webinar to learn how to use this tool.

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GreenStar Homes Checklist

The GreenStar Homes program can be applied to new construction or existing homes and to single family or multifamily projects. Formal certification is available through the GreenHome Institute, but the workbook and manual can also be accessed and used for free as guidance to make your project healthier and more sustainable.

GreenHome Inspection Checklist

Access a free checklist to evaluate a home based on its health- and sustainability-related features and qualities. While the official GreenHome Inspector designation requires training on this tool, it can be used open-source as a helpful resource as well. 

Cold Climate Heatpump Decision Tool

This tool is owned by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and is free to use. The goal of the tool is to help guide contractors and installers through the decision-making process for heat pump (HP) sizing and selection, with a focus on retrofit applications in cold climates. The tool will provide HP size, configuration, and further installation guidance.

Heatpump Water Heater Installation tool

This tool is owned by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and is free to use. The goal of the tool is to help with the decision-making process for heat pump water heater product selection and installation. Before using this tool, please collect pictures of the water heater location, the electrical panel, and the existing water heater nameplate.

Evaluate wall durability risk

This tool, the Building Science Advisor (BSA), is provided by the U.S. Oakridge National Laboratories. BSA is a no-cost, web-based tool that provides expert guidance on the moisture durability and energy efficiency of new and retrofit wall assembly designs.  Click here to watch a CEU webinar on the benefits of this tool and how to navigate it.

RED Calc Ventilation Calculation

This tool is owned by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratories and is free to use. Calculate the ventilation rates for single-family or multifamily housing to ensure good air quality. The link also provides additional resources for other sustainable housing improvement opportunities. 

Moisture and Humidity Risk Calculator

Dive into moisture management for buildings using an easy-to-use app built from a Google spreadsheet. Explore charts that make understanding moisture movement simple, learn how to tackle and predict moisture issues, and access a handy reference tab for even more resources. Click here to watch a CEU recording on how to use this tool.

Here is a Dewpoint Calculator for use in gauging humidity risk and more. 

Electrification Panel Sizing Tool

The Watt Diet Calculator takes information about a home and estimates the size of the electrical panel needed for that home. It can help homeowners, building owners and contractors determine if a panel must be upsized in order to electrify the home.

Plumbing Sizing for Water Demand

Design a better plumbing system to deliver water effectively while conserving water and maximizing comfort. 

Watch Practically Perfect Plumbing Part 1 and Part 2 (CEU webinars) for further guidance. 

Home Water Score Tool

This tool helps determine how water-efficient your new or existing home or residential multifamily building is. The tool focuses on indoor water usage with an option and pathway for adding outdoor water usage into the tool. It allows you to compare an existing housing unit to a planned new one or upgrade for water efficiency. This tool is built into the GreenStar Homes workbook on the 3rd tab. Please use this CEU webinar to help guide you on how to use the tool. 

Sustainable Plantings List

For over a decade, we have maintained a growing list of drought-tolerant, native, and/or adaptive plantings that have been verified through various green building programs. This list is public and can be found in the link below. 

Outdoor Water Budget Tool

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) WaterSense Outdoor Water Budget Tool can be used to help design your landscape project to be more water-efficient. It can also be used for projects pursuing WaterSense Certification and other third-party green building certifications.  Click here to watch a CEU recording on how to navigate the tool. 

The link below has a workbook, a short guide, and a long guide to using the tool. 

Building Clean Product Search

The BlueGreen Alliance Foundation Building Clean tool helps you find various sustainable products for your project. 

EPA Portfolio Manager

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a free-to-use Portfolio Manager tool that allows you to compare energy usage in your home to other, similar homes. By achieving a certain energy usage, you can obtain an ENERGY STAR score and certification. The evaluation is based on your utility bills, and can help you achieve various green building standards or a zero-emissions home, as defined by the Department of Energy. 

This tool was recently enhanced to add the ability to calculate the energy usage in single-family homes. Click here for a “how-to” tutorial.

Tenant Satisfaction Survey

This tool was developed for the Enterprise Green Communities program to evaluate compliance toward Criterion 1.1 Integrative Design: Project Priorities Survey. It can also be used as a general tool to gain an understanding of tenant concerns about various issues including climate change, resiliency, health, and energy efficiency.

Energy Attribute Certificates (EACS)

EACs, like carbon offsets or renewable energy credits (RECS), help offset energy usage, achieve zero carbon emissions, and assist with green building certification goals. WattCarbon is offering EAC discounts to GHI members.

ZEROs

ZEROs is a prediction model that has been validated with actual residential building performance data and compared with results from Energy Plus, a detailed standard used for building performance prediction.

Green Appraisal Addendum

It is likely that every property has green features, many of which may be overlooked. When valuing a property, appraisers should consider using the official Green Appraisal Addendum from the Appraisal Institute to ensure the value of these features are incorporated into the property’s appraisal. Both single-family and commercial versions are available.

Green Building Registry

This website lists homes that have achieved green building certifications, HERS scores, or Home Energy Scores. We can help you get a project certified and featured on the registry.

Click here to watch a CEU webinar about this resource.

LEED Residential Resources

Access every resource you need to start and complete a LEED Residential project below on our DropBox file share.