LEED for Homes Illinois

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.

New Energy Star for Homes Guidelines

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released the Version 3 Guidelines for ENERGY STAR® Qualified New Homes.

The new guidelines are quite a step up from the existing Energy Star guidelines, and specify Read more » »

Join USGBC for an important, free educational program – bringing you the tools you need to understand the intersection between green building and affordable housing. And then leverage the local incentives supporting sustainable affordable housing. Read more » »

We’re pleased to share developing news that Northern Illinois’ Mulitple Listing Service (MLS), will be adding support for green building features in 2010. This development is something we at LEEDforHomesIllinois.org have been keeping a close eye on, and are very pleased to see this implemented. An official announcement is likely forthcoming in the new year.

The Green MLS will consist of many new categories for identifying property characteristics for a green home. These new MLS features will allow competent real estate agents to be able to market a green home’s building components, such as water efficient appliances, insulation type, and recycled content of building materials. Building technologies such as solar energy systems, insulated concrete forms, and structurally insulated panels (SIPs) can also be indicated in the Green MLS. Read more » »