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In the Triangle can be foune a concentration of commercialLEED (Leadership in ) certifiedr buildings, an active local chapter of GBC and a initiated by localp homebuilders. "I think it is really importantf that we transform the way that we build saysDona Stankus, chair of the North Carolinaz Triangle chapter of GBC. "The great thing about the U.S. Greeb Building Council and the LEED programthat they'vse created is that they are raising awareness at an almosr astronomical rate ... I don't think the LEED system is a perfect system. But it's a systej to start with and a systen to get us moving in theproper direction." The U.S.
Green Building Council is a nonprofit organizationb that promotes sustainable building practicese through its LEED Green Building point which sets benchmarks for green buildingb in fiveareas - sustainable site water savings, energy efficiency, materials selectiobn and indoor environmental quality. The agency offers four differeny levelsof certification. For example, constructiomn projects earn points for using green design elements such as recycledmaterialw (recycled carpets), rapidly renewing materialse (bamboo floors), local materials (brick from withinb North Carolina helps reduce shipping distance), energy saviny devices (designs with natural lighty and streamlined HVAC systems), and water saving devicesa (such as waterless urinalxs and low-flow toilets).
That's accordinvg to Rob Everett, director of business developmenat , a LEED-certifiedr contractor. "It's a no-brainer that you want to incorporates sustainable design elements intoa building," Everett says. "w lot of those sustainable elements are done at noadditionalk costs. We just need to be smart aboutyour design." There are 26 LEED-certified buildings in the state. More than half are locatedx insidethe Triangle. Several other buildinges in the Triangle, including the , are currently beingt considered for theLEED certification. In there are 54 project in the Triangle registered with the LEED accordingto U.S. GBC.
The Northb Carolina Triangle chapter of GBC is led bya nine-membert board of directors, which includesz architects, landscape architects, a realtor and representatives from locakl educational institutions. Local advocates startedr planning the chapter in 2003 and received approval from the national organization in 2005. Since then, the locao chapter has attracted375 members. Its advocacy and educatioj committees areextremely active, putting on countless eventzs for green-minded professionals, Stankus Each month, the chapter hosts a "talkj and walk," an educational event at the site of a greeb building, followed by a tour of its In January, 200 attendees tourer the North Carolina Legislative Building's rainwater systemn after listening to several speakers talk about how to move forwards on water issues.
Most "talk and walk" events attract 40 to 80 Stankus says. Every year, the chaptet hosts a "Green N.C." trade show sponsorerd by the North Carolina Solar Center andthe . The loca l chapter also sponsors conferences at the North CarolinaaState University's College of Design. In April, the group gets together for an annuaolmembership meeting, and in winter, membere enjoy a social The Emerging Green Builders group, which is comprisee of college students and young professionals, hosts "green drinks" once a month where people meet at a bar and talk aboutg green building.
The chapter also hoste LEED workshops for locapprofessionals - meetings that regularly sell out a month in Yet, constructing buildings following LEED standards can add to construction Also, the ratings are largelyg directed toward commercial construction. To offer thos in the residential construction industrgsimilar standards, the , Orange Chatham Counties created the Green Buildingg Council. This group certifies homees that meet green home building guidelines as set forthy bythe . The council aims to make greenn building less mysterious for home builders and provideas a less expensive and demanding route togreenj certification. "We want to bringg green to themainstream ...
," says Nick executive vice president of the Homebuildere Association of Durham, Orange & Chatham Counties. "A builder can make some marginal change to deliver a product that meetxs these guidelines and has a positive effect without tryintg to go offthe grid," he says. Since Novemberd 2006, the program has attracted 150 members from the homebuilding community and certifiexd more than100 homes. And there are aboutt 80 homes in the pipeline for certificationrighg now, Tennyson says.
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