Backyard accessory dwelling units (ADUs) such as this one by Portland, Oregon, builder Hammer & Hand, are part of the trend towards greater urban density. (PRNewsFoto/Earth Advantage Institute)

Earth Advantage Institute, a nonprofit green building resource that has certified more than 12,000 homes, announced its annual prediction of 10 green building trends to watch in 2012.

The trends, which range from a boom in certified multi-family construction to the advent of consumer friendly home energy technology, were identified by Earth Advantage Institute based on discussions with a broad range of audiences over the latter part of 2011. These sectors included policymakers, builders, developers, architects, real estate brokers, appraisers, lenders, and homeowners.

“While the economy has not been kind to most new home builders, we have seen a surging interest in home energy management and energy improvement among homeowners,” said Sean Penrith, executive director, Earth Advantage Institute. “Those builders and remodelers who have adopted a transparent green message have been quite successful.”

1. Urban density. Filling in the spaces is the name of the game as homeowners and builders opt to create more living space through the construction of accessory dwelling units (ADUs), laneway homes (bordering the back lane behind the main house), and build on infill lots. All this because the younger crowd and the empty nesters are opting to settle in the city where they can be closer to cultural activity, mass transit, more sustainable lifestyles, and other like-minded people.
2. Green multifamily homes. As a corollary to the urban density trend, Earth Advantage Institute has seen a large spike in Northwest multifamily building certifications this past year. The increased interest by building owners and operators in energy efficiency savings coupled with 2011′s 17% growth in multifamily homes (McGraw-Hill) means that we can expect to see a rise in certifications in this sector, especially in progressive regions.
3. Energy upgrades start to drive home remodels. Builders and remodelers who are plugged into changing consumer preferences (smaller homes, reduced energy bills) have been able to capitalize on energy upgrade work. They have moved into the energy audit and residential retrofit market by either expanding their service offerings or, in the case of large West Coast remodeler Neil Kelly, creating entirely new service groups. In the Northwest, demand has increased, leading to significant new energy improvement business for these firms. Remodelers see such work as a driver to help bring in more remodel leads.
4. Deployment and testing of new materials. Although architects and builders are eager to try new energy-saving materials and systems, these products require significant testing to ensure that the materials and benefits will last the life of the building and to avoid litigation. As a result, national labs and university research departments are partnering with builders to create test beds and sensor-filled buildings that log the energy performance of new materials and equipment. Portland State University‘s mechanical engineering department recently partnered with a local builder to measure the effects of phase change material used as insulation in a duplex passive house, while Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories is constructing a test bed that will track all performance aspects of new materials and equipment.
5. Consumer friendly home energy tracking devices. The introduction of the Apple-like Nest Learning Thermostat, and Belkin’s Conserve Insight energy use monitor that tracks energy use by appliance, are two of many sensor-based energy and water monitoring products for the home that are easy to use and help save money. Large electronics players like Fujitsu and Intel are also developing products, among others.
6. Energy education for commercial tenants. The growing adoption of commercial building energy disclosure (New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Seattle, Austin) has building owners/operators and utilities seeking effective ways to educate tenants on saving energy. Technology can only go so far in conserving energy without tenant participation.
7. Transparency in home marketing. The increasing use of smart devices by consumers to instantly access information at a home site means that buyers are much more informed and can see through any greenwashing claims. Those builders, remodelers, and real estate professionals who can clearly educate their clients about the benefits and features of energy efficient, green homes will be those who earn the buyers’ confidence.
8. More accurate appraisals. The old-school appraisal criteria based on a drive-by look at a home – view, approximate square footage – no longer holds. The ability for sellers and buyers to ask their banks for a green-certified appraiser (Certified Residential Green Appraiser) means that the lending community will buy into the idea of the additional value and return on investment offered by new certified homes and remodels.
9. Broader adoption of residential energy ratings for homes. Energy labeling systems are appearing in many states, offering a miles-per-gallon style estimate of a home’s energy consumption for homebuyers and homeowners. The Energy Performance Score and the Department of Energy’s own Home Energy Score have been rolled out in different climate zones across the U.S. to encourage homeowners to compare energy use and undertake energy upgrade work.
10. Smart grid-compatible high-performance homes. According to Smart Grid News, household appliances (heating and cooling systems, refrigerators, electronics, hair dryers) account for 60 to 90 percent of the residential electricity consumption in the U.S., depending on whose reports you read. Increasing numbers of those appliances are becoming “grid-aware” and are gaining the ability to monitor and report their own usage and to increase or decrease their electricity usage by remote command.

via 10 Green Building Predictions for 2012 from Earth Advantage Institute — PORTLAND, Ore., Jan. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ –.

GRI said the Sustainability Disclosure Database includes data on the sustainability and environmental, social and governance ESG transparency of over three thousand companies. This information was previously hard to find, but GRI said the new database will make the data easily accessible for companies and investors alike.

Any organization can upload a sustainability report and profile information to the database, which will help them engage with stakeholders and get feedback, GRI said. A global team of 22 GRI “data partners” will also collect information from companies in their regions, to populate the database.

via Database Will Benchmark Thousands of Reports, GRI Says · Environmental Management & Energy News · Environmental Leader.

10,000 + green homes is nothing to sneeze at–especially when those homes are certified LEED, the internationally-recognized standard in green building. As of April 5th, the U.S. Green Building Council announced [PDF] that it had reached this landmark, signifying “the continued transformation of the home building industry[.]”

Since its launch in 2008 to the time when this story was written [by Susan DeFreitas], a total of 10,161 homes have achieved LEED certification, and over 38,000 additional units are currently lined up to do the same.

The 10,000th home to earn LEED certification was the Tacoma Housing Authority’s 91-unit development known as Salishan 7 in Washington. This is the first federally-funded HOPE VI Redevelopment project to achieve LEED Platinum; it was built within an affordable budget and designed to be at least 30% more energy efficient than the average home.

via LEED: 10,000+ Green Homes & Counting | EarthTechling.

In Hong Kong, because of the space, apartments are small and expensive. Gary Chang, an architect, decided to design a 344 sq. ft. apartment to be able to change into 24 different designs, all by just sliding panels and walls. He calls this the “Domestic Transformer.”

Open Source Ecology is developing and testing the Global Village Construction Set, a set of tools to build replicable, open source, modern, off-grid resilient communities. By weaving open source permacultural and technological cycles together, we intend to provide basic human needs while being good stewards of the land, using resources sustainably, and pursuing right livelihood.

With the gift of openly shared information, we can produce industrial products locally using open source design and digital fabrication. This frees us from the need to participate in the wasteful resource flows of the larger economy by letting us produce our own materials and components for the technologies we use. We see small, independent, land-based economies as means to transform societies, address pressing world issues, and evolve to freedom.

via Open Source Ecology – Open Source Ecology.

In order to promote participation, Sustainable Rhythm partnered with Northeast Ohio Chapter of the USGBC (the study was conducted pro bono for northeast Ohio), the NC Triangle Chapter of the USGBC, and the Alberta Chapter of the CaGBC, along with other building industry associations.

Market Embrace

• Across all regions, at least 80% responded that their clients had at least “somewhat embraced” the message of green building;
• Management and organizations of respondents were very strong in “embracing or completely embracing”;
• Perception of vendors dropped across regions in “embracing”;
• At least 46% of respondents indicated that they had added internal capacity to meet the green building market needs.

The Case for Green Building

• Energy efficiency and cost reduction are the best communicated and most impactful drivers;
• Health and productivity, though important in some regions, is least effective case being made;
• Regulatory and environmental drivers not resonating or seen as factors for implementation.

Financial Investment

• Perception of cost premium still prevalent with at least 58% of respondents indicating a significant premium for projects;
• More than 50% – Premium between 10-25%;
• Majority feel premium exists for materials, systems and services.  Materials at the lower end of premium projection;
• A majority feel there is a significant ROI for green building.

Certifications

• Level of understanding or certifications and rating systems very low throughout all region – lowest level of understanding related to product certifications;
• Respondents’ comments were very critical of the confusion in the market place;
• Certifications are playing a growing role in specifications and consultant selection.

Marketing Communications

• Great deal of fatigue with buzzwords – very vocal about the confusion in marketplace – what does “green” mean?
• Overall as buyers, respondents feel benefits of green building are not being communicated well;
• Terminology/data related to performance and efficiency resonating;
• Professional associations, specs, and web resources are most effective channels to communicate.

via Sustainable Rhythm OpeningDoorGreenBuilding (but heavily edited by Brian, as the source can’t seem to write a damn sentence; no wonder they are having trouble communicating impact; Brian takes no responsibility for some of the gobbledygook in the bullet points). You can find the reports at the foregoing link.

An excellent report by New York-based JWT Intelligence — 100 Things to Watch in 2011 — is bouncing around the internet right now. The authors seem to have a pulse on key aspects of the internet, including mobile, advertising, media, and technology trends. But I noticed at least six things to watch that relate directly to building greener homes.

• 3D printing – yay! I’m gonna prototype yr ass.
• Biomimicry — not really new, but always cool.
• Home energy monitors — def not new in Europe, but maybe the U.S. will start picking up the pace. Then again, maybe not: we hate science and technology and smart people and anyway, climate change is all a lie, right Tea Baggers?

Check out the list and Jetson Green’s take on it at Six Green Building Trends to Watch | Jetson Green.

At the heart of the 24-page complaint are claims by Gifford that the USGBC has deceived consumers and others by misrepresenting the benefits of LEED certification relating to energy efficiency and savings and attributes of the LEED rating system.Some of Gifford’s criticisms of LEED include that it:

• is not based on objective scientific criteria;
• is not based on actual building performance data but rather on projected energy use;
• does not require verification of data submitted in certification applications and does not require actual energy use data;
• is not based on actual measurements but rather computer modeling of anticipated energy use levels.

Other Gifford slams include that the USGBC does not have sufficient staff to evaluate applications for certification and that the USGBC has misrepresented to the public that LEED buildings perform 25-30 percent better than non-LEED buildings based on a USGBC initiated study by the New Buildings Institute (pdf) that Gifford claims is flawed.

Gifford claims that the marketplace, consumers, the environment and skilled professionals like himself with years of experience making safe, comfortable and energy-efficient environments are being harmed by LEED’s alleged misconduct.

corrected for punctuation and grammar via Federal lawsuit attacks LEED building rating system – AnnArbor.com.

• 100k House Blog: A blog that began as a journal of quest to build a $100,000 LEED Platinum home has evolved into a full-fledged source for green building info.
• Sustainable Building Codes: The author is a building code regulator who advocates the revision of modern building codes in order to encourage more sustainable construction.
• Green Building Law Update: Issues in the green building industry that hinder progress are brought to light by a construction consultant.
• Green Building Law Blog: Although the blog is run by an attorney based in Baltimore, insight is given into green building law and issues that affect the country.
• Green Building Law: Green Building Law is based in the Pacific Northwest, but it covers a variety of green building legal issues important to people nationwide – not unlike Green Building Law Blog.

A new article has just popped up on Wikipedia, called Sustainability Organizations, which lists groups in ag, building, business and much more, all working on sustainability issues of one sort or another.

An Arts and Crafts wallpaper image by way of illustration of the blooming of the green building industry.

As we’ve reported in the past, the “green” building industry (new, retrofit, and prefab) is booming. Here’s a round up of reports about the ongoingess of it all, news-hooked on a report from McGraw-Hill Construction.

Despite a deep economic recession, the U.S. green building market has expanded dramatically since 2008 and is projected to double its size by 2015, says a new report by McGraw-Hill Construction.

The report comes as the private U.S. Green Building Council holds its annual Greenbuild conference this week in Chicago, which has attracted tens of thousands of attendees from more than 100 countries and more than 900 companies exhibiting their green products.

via Report: Green building market booms in weak economy – Green House – USATODAY.com.

The report, “Green Outlook 2011: Green Trends Driving Growth,” found that green building represented 25 percent of all new construction activity in 2010 and that the value of green building construction starts was up 50 percent from 2008 to 2010 — from $42 billion to $55 billion-$71 billion.

The report, according to Earth and Industry, says that

Not only are new homes in the U.S. getting smaller, they are getting greener….

green building represented 25 percent of all new construction activity in 2010 and that the value of green building construction starts was up 50 percent from 2008 to 2010 — from $42 billion to $55 billion-$71 billion.

And the growth spurt isn’t over. According to projections, by 2015, the size of the green building market is expected to grow to $135 billion.

In the press release obviously lurking behind both these reports is this widely reproduced quote:

“It’s an amazing area of opportunity at time when the construction market is extremely challenged,” said Harvey M. Bernstein, vice president, Global Thought Leadership and Business Development, McGraw-Hill Construction. “In today’s economy, firms that specialize in green or serve this market are seeing a tremendous advantage–and they’re doing good at the same time. Green building leads to healthier places for us to live and work in, lower energy and water use, and better profitability.”

This is great news, but green-washing and bubble-thinking also become more of a danger in the wake of reports like this that are produced by members of the industry. We can argue the epistemological validity of “objectivity” until we’re blue in the face but this is a simple case of journalistic common sense: follow the money that hired the researchers and writers of the report.