New MSU Web site showcases resource-efficient homes

A new Web site launched by Montana State University showcases resource-efficient homes throughout the United States. The site features homes that demonstrate conservation of natural resources, environmentally sound products, healthy environments for occupants, and lower-cost maintenance, repairs and utilities.

By MSU-Bozeman News Service

Qualified homes are added to the site as they are identified. Homeowners, builders and architects can also submit an application to have their resource-efficient homes considered.

The "Homes Across America" Web site, designed by the Peaks to Prairies Pollution Prevention Information Center at MSU-Bozeman, also offers a database of contacts, listed by state, for technical assistance on resource efficient building.

The site includes a home in Stevensville, Mont. that features a passive solar design, tight building envelope, heat and air exchanger, and innovative integration of the foundation, floor, walls, and roof to assure low maintenance and operating costs.

The site also profiles the "Gold Dust" apartment complex in Missoula, Mont., which uses sustainable construction and renewable energy sources to measurably reduce utility bills for tenants, many of whom are low-income.

Other projects featured on the site are located in:
–Austin, Tex.
–Farmington, Utah,
–Portland, Ore.,
–Pueblo, Colo., and
–Washington, D.C.

Home profiles in Iowa, Michigan and Georgia will soon be posted.

Mike Vogel, director of Peaks to Prairies, said, "HAA keys in on seven categories a team should consider when building or renovating a home. Energy efficiency and indoor air quality are two examples. With spiraling energy costs and the negative impacts of poor indoor air on human health, people want resource efficient, healthy homes. Homes Across America profiles such homes, and the people, affordable technologies, and techniques that make them possible."

Resource efficient building is entering mainstream residential construction. It has support from homebuilders associations throughout the country. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy have many programs that focus on pollution prevention and home energy efficiency. Some cities offer incentives to contractors and homeowners for building resource efficient homes. Universities, non-profit organizations and private businesses bring new technologies to market and provide education. Some mortgage lenders have programs to encourage green building. And there are tax breaks.

Vogel said, "Before Homes Across America, there was no nationwide forum that featured ‘green homes’ from a variety of sources in a consistent way. HAA enables people to compare different home building solutions based on things such as owner preference, budget, site and climate."

According to Vogel, resource efficiency and pollution prevention go hand in hand. "Many people think green building and green products are more expensive and perform less effectively than conventional means. This is not necessarily so. Advanced framing, for example, uses less wood without compromising structure, and enables the home to be better insulated. So you save three ways: on materials, labor, and heating and cooling. Plus, the resale value of a ‘green home’ is usually higher than that of a comparable conventionally built home."

Visit the site at http://www.homes-across-america.org.

Homes Across America is a project of the Peaks to Prairies Center, which is supported by the Pollution Prevention Resource Exchange (P2Rx) and funded by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Contact: Steve Guettermann, Peaks to Prairies Information Center, 406-994-4292, [email protected]

http://www.montana.edu/commserv/csnews/nwview.php?article=1173