Parade of Homes

New Program Makes it Easy Being Green

When Craig and Nedra Mitchell chose to build a new home, they did their homework. The 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 two 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.

Like most new-home buyers, the Mitchells wanted to enjoy the comfort, convenience and security new homes can offer. But there were other reasons they chose to build green with their new home.

“We’re also trying to be more conscientious, from a cost savings as well as just being more responsible as a consumer for the next generation,” Nedra Mitchell said.

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 Silver by the NAHB Research Center and illustrates the different choices available to homebuyers who opt to go green.

 “We had planned to build for a long time and we’ve been looking for about five years, going through the homes tours and deciding what we liked and didn’t like,” Jodi Baker said. “We were planning on a house we could live in through retirement, so we included a lot of energy efficiency requirements in our list.”

When the Bakers learned about the national green building guidelines and how they could improve their home’s performance and energy efficiency, those chose to build green.

“We had read articles about going green but figured it wouldn’t be in our budget to make those decisions,” Baker said. “But they 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 national 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.