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Matt Derrick
HBA
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Local Program Helps Consumer Make Their New Homes “Green”

When Craig and Nedra Mitchell chose to build a new home, they did their homework. They reviewed their finances, visited local neighborhoods and took a hard look at new technologies and approaches to use in their home. For the Mitchells, choosing to “go green” made good sense.

The family’s new home is among the first metro area homes to be certified by the National Association of Home Builders Research Center using the NAHB National Green Building Program. Featured on the 2008 Parade of Homes as No. 386, the Mitchell’s home in Lee’s Summit’s New Longview also helps mark the launch of Build Green Kansas City, a new local program designed to promote green building and help consumers and home builders work with the NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines.

Home builder Gale Homes is constructing the Mitchells’ home to the Gold level of the Model Green Home Building Guidelines. That means the builder has taken steps to ensure proper lot design and site development; increased energy, water and resource efficiency; enhanced indoor environmental quality; improved home operation and maintenance; and addressed the home’s long-term global impact.

 “Our three major premises are that our program needed to be practical, sustainable and affordable,” said Kevin Enyeart, vice chairman of Build Green Kansas City and vice president/general manager of Gale Homes. “We wanted to make sure that items implemented made sense for the consumer.”

Corey and Jodi Baker have also chosen to go green using the program. The Bakers’ new home will also be on display during the upcoming Parade of Homes as No. 387. Their home has been certified Bronze by the NAHB Research Center and illustrates different choices available to homebuyers who opt to go green.

 “We were planning on a house we could live in through retirement, so we included a lot of energy efficiency requirements in our list,” Jodi Baker said. “We had read articles about going green but figured it wouldn’t be in our budget to make those decisions. But (the program) made it affordable for us and there was no reason not to do it. It was the right decision to make.”

Consumers interested in learning more about the opportunities for homeownership and about Build Green Kansas City can find numerous resources online at www.buildgreenkc.org. The Web site features links to green building resources and lists of members of Build Green Kansas City as well as a list of NAHB Certified Green Professionals.

The Parade of Homes is your opportunity to learn more about Build Green Kansas City firsthand by touring the first local homes to be nationally certified by the NAHB Research Center. The parade marks the first and only time these two homes will be open for public viewing. Along with all homes on the parade, the green-built homes will be open daily from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 7-21.

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