In partnership with the Better Buildings Better Business (B4) conference for residential building professionals, AES will be offering a full day LEED for Homes Workshop on Tues. January 31, 2012 in Schaumburg, IL.

As shown in the photo, this workshop pulled in 20 developers, designers, builders and architects when held on Nov. 11 in Chicago, and now will be offered again for those that were unable to attend.

HOMES 252: Understanding the LEED for Homes Rating System

Course Description:

In today’s business, LEED is the language of green. LEED for Homes is a green rating system for mixed-use multi-family buildings, up to six stories in height, as well as single-family homes. This course provides an introduction to the LEED for Homes rating system and delivery model. The course addresses the intents and requirements of prerequisites and key credits within the rating system while providing real world examples of strategies to meet them. The course also identifies the roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders and a LEED for Homes project and is designed to prepare the professional to plan for key considerations and requirements for the LEED certification process.

We’ve stripped pricing to the bone to just cover costs and are able to make this available for the special rate of $159.00!

Register Now for just $159!

Learn more about the Better Buildings, Better Business conference!

Early Bird Rate just $299 ends Nov 15!

The residential building and remodeling community in Illinois will have an opportunity to prepare for new energy efficiency standards at the Better Buildings: Better Business Conference®, Jan. 31 – Feb. 2, 2012 in Schaumburg, Ill. As part of the conference, AES will be offering a full-day pre-conference workshop HOMES 252: Understanding LEED for Homes for a special price of just $159!

The conference is being brought to Illinois in response to energy efficiency initiatives that will be affecting the building industry in 2012 and beyond. Under legislation passed in 2007, electric utilities in Illinois must reduce overall electric usage by 2 percent of demand by 2015. These are among the most ambitious energy efficiency standards in the nation.

Similarly, the state’s natural gas utilities are being challenged by law to meet new energy efficiency goals.

In support of these ambitious energy efficiency goals, Illinois utilities are introducing incentive programs that are designed to foster the use of energy efficient products and technologies in residential buildings. Several of the state’s major utilities are co-sponsoring the conference, including Ameren, ComEd, Nicor Gas and People’s Gas / North Shore Gas.

In addition, the State of Illinois will be adopting the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) in June 2012. This code is significantly more stringent than the 2009 IECC, requiring more building insulation, a tighter envelope, mandatory whole-house ventilation, tighter ducts, better windows and more efficient lighting.

“Energy efficiency is an emerging area of focus for the residential building community in Illinois,” said Marge Anderson, associate director of the Energy Center University. “There is a significant need for education on all aspects of high performance homes, including reduced energy use, occupant safety and comfort, money-saving measures and issues of sustainability. There are also significant business opportunities for those who get in early on the energy efficiency movement, because they will be ready to provide their customers with appropriate products, services and technologies.”

The Better Buildings: Better Business Conference will feature more than 70 sessions addressing challenges and solutions for the home building and remodeling industry. Attendees will include builders, remodelers, architects, contractors, consultants, multifamily housing owners and managers, HVAC contractors, weatherization specialists and others in the residential building community.

Session tracks will address various aspects of high performance homes, such as indoor air quality, insulation and air sealing, HVAC, weatherization and more. The conference will also incorporate workshop tracks on building science, architecture and design, and business development. A building clinic will offer live demonstrations and hands-on learning opportunities. The complete conference program is available at www.betterbuildingsil.org.

On Friday, Nov. 11 the Alliance for Environmental Sustainability is partnering with USGBC Illinois to bring a LEED for Homes workshop to the Chicago area. This is in response to the increasing demand for LEED projects and desire for building professionals to be more educated.

This full-day workshop is also something approved for LEED specific continuing education hours, which would be of interest to any LEED AP’s looking to maintain their credential. It’s also helpful for anyone intending to take the LEED AP + Homes exam. Here are the program details.

Register Now for the Workshop

LEED 252: Understanding LEED for Homes

Course Description:

In today’s business, LEED is the language of green. Make your next project a LEED for Homes project. Learn the intents and requirements of prerequisites and key credits within the LEED for Homes rating system.  Identify the roles and responsibilities of key stake holders, learn the value of green homes, and prepare for key considerations in the LEED^® for Homes certification process.

Course Objectives

* Identify the types of projects which are eligible
* Recognize the roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders in the LEED certification process.
* Recognize goals, intents, and requirements of prerequisites and key credits, and strategies to meet them
* Identify synergies between LEED credits
* Plan for key considerations and requirements for the LEED certification process

Continuing Education: 7 AIA/CES/CoreNet / GBCI credits

When: Friday,  Nov. 11  from 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Where: Merchandise Mart Conference Center, 350 West Mart Center (2nd Floor), Chicago, IL 60654

Tuition: Just $199 early bird price; $230 after 11/2/11

Register Now for the Workshop

The Appraisal Institute, the nation’s largest professional association of real estate appraisers, has made it easier to identify attributes of green homes. Last week, they released a form intended to help analyze values of energy-efficient home features. It is the first of its kind intended for appraisers’ use, and can identify LEED homes.

The new form is intended to be used as an optional addendum to Fannie Mae Form 1004, the appraisal industry’s most widely used form for mortgage lending purposes. Used by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration, Form 1004 is completed by appraisers to uphold safe and sound lending. Currently, the contributory value of a home’s green features is rarely part of the equation.

“This addendum is another example of how the Appraisal Institute is at the forefront of real estate valuation,” said Appraisal Institute President Joseph C. Magdziarz, MAI, SRA. “It will help the industry standardize the way residential energy-efficient features are analyzed and reported.”

The Appraisal Institute’s addendum allows appraisers to identify and describe a home’s green features, from solar panels to energy-saving appliances. Form 1004 devotes limited attention to energy efficient features, so green data usually doesn’t appear in the appraisal report, or it is included in a lengthy narrative that often is ignored.

Magdziarz pointed out that the Appraisal Institute’s form also will make it easier for appraisers to determine whether recent home sales should be used as comparable sales. Sales that are truly comparable are key components in determining a property’s value.

While the addendum won’t guarantee that an appraiser will raise a property’s value by tens of thousands of dollars for energy-efficient upgrades, it should guarantee at a minimum that energy improvements will be taken into account based on value adjustments consistent with local market conditions. More importantly, appraisers using the new addendum should be better equipped to identify accurate, area-specific comparable sales.

One of the interesting aspects of the form is the emphasis given to describing how renewable energy systems such as solar photovoltaic. The form has an area where data collected by the appraiser could easily be used to calculate the net present value (NPV) of the energy savings from a solar energy system.

It’s worth noting that this is an optional addendum to a traditional 1004 appraisal form. Hopefully the lending community will embrace this and builders, architects, lenders, appraisers, and other real estate professionals all find value in encouraging the use of this form for green homes.

Download the Appraisal Institute’s two-page green addendum at http://www.appraisalinstitute.org/education/downloads/AI_82003_ReslGreenEnergyEffAddendum.pdf.

Learn more about the form and how it will be used at a webinar on Nov. 17.

AES recently summarized an article that outlines how any project can incorporate many strategies of LEED that can result in an affordably built LEED home. Learn more about these 22 tips for a LEED home at the main Alliance for Environmental Sustainability web site.

Finding diamonds in the rough has been the strategy for many a house-flipper, and there are plenty of people doing that with the number of foreclosed homes available on the market.  However, a new spin on this is taking a foreclosed home that needs a gut rehab and turning it into a LEED-certified home, and could be a model solution for dealing with the glut of foreclosures on the market. Read more » »

Builders of energy-efficient homes are now eligible for a business tax credit up to $2,000. This is retroactive to Jan 1, 2010 when the previous tax credit expired. Since every LEED home receives a HERS rating, this gives builders a great incentive to build green. Learn about this and other incentives for LEED.

Chicago Magazine recently profiled a gut rehab home that achieved LEED Platinum certification, and included a photo tour of the home along with affordable green home remodel. View details at the Chicago Magazine online blog.

See this home for yourself at our tour on May 5!

Delta Institute is partnering with local deconstruction professionals to offer deconstruction training for contractors. In this two-week session, learn the basic deconstruction techniques on a residential structure and expand your career opportunities in the emerging deconstruction industry. Five sessions will be available between March and May. For more information or to apply, click here.

The US Green Building Council has released the LEED Mid-Rise rating system, designed to allow multi-family and mixed-use buildings of 4-6 stories a way to earn LEED certification more affordably than by pursuing the commercially-focused LEED for New Construction (or BD&C) rating system.

Review the LEED Midrise rating system PDF or learn more at the main LEED for Homes page at the bottom under the sub header Pilot Rating Systems. Be sure to review the pilot credit library as well, since many of these are applicable to multi-family buildings.