This article first appeared in the PB January 2000
issue of Pro Builder.
The second annual National Green Building Conference offers attendees three days of education where the theory behind resource efficient construction is brought to life through residential case studies and housing tours. Scheduled for April 5-8 at the Adams Mark Hotel in Denver, Colo., the National Green Building Conference is the only event that focuses on this topic for the mainstream home builder.
Educational sessions planned for this year’s conference explain and explore all aspects of environmentally-sensible residential design, development, marketing, building and financing. Some of the specific programs are:
- New Technologies with PATH presented by Lee Rayburn, Civano; Rich Halpin from the American Institute for Learning; and Elizabeth Burdock from HUD.
- Sustainable Site Design presented by Ron Tyne, Gap Creek, Little Rock, Ark.; and Kevin Warren, Lake Erie Land Development.
- Material Selection presented by Michelle Randall, Hayward Lumber; Nadav Malin, Environmental Building News; and Greg Norris, Sylvatica, Inc.
- How To Market & Sell Green presented by Cheri Meyn, The Genesis Group; and Tom Hoyt, McStain Enterprises.
- Fannie Mae’s Green Mortgage presented by Robert Lupton,Sivage-Thomas Homes and Stephanie Harmon, Fannie Mae.
- Other session topics include energy efficiency, green design, durability and warranties, managing water resources and model development principles for better site design.
The latest in Built Green homes will be showcased in three housing tours on April 8. Tour sites include:
- Northeast Denver Housing Center’s Fillmore Street Project: A non-profit affordable home builder is redeveloping downtown infill sites with highly efficient housing.
- Perry Affordable Housing Corp.’s Highlands Garden Village Project: This 27-acre site is the former Elitch Gardens, a downtown amusement park. The entire site is being sustainably redeveloped as an urban infill, mixed-use project that includes senior housing, co-housing, commercial and all other types of single and multi-family units.
- McStain Enterprises’ Meadowview: Located in Longmount, Colo., Meadowview is a recently completed urban-fringe project, with planned transit access to metro Denver. The development features all Built Green homes, extensive trail systems and many other sustainable features. This year’s conference also includes a new track for government and public officials. Featured speakers at these Wednesday, April 5, afternoon sessions include Jim Irvine, The Conifer Group (Portland, Ore.); Brian Bosse, Department of Planning and Development, Santa Barbara, Calif.; and Bill Kreager, Mithun Partners, Seattle. One of the case studies to be presented at this session is The Green Companies’ Pine Hills project in Plymouth, Mass. Partner Tony Green will present.
This year’s conference also will feature an expanded exhibit hall with green building products and materials.
More information on the conference is available at nahbrc.org or by calling 888/602-HOME.
