Annual Green Home Tour Coming Soon

DURHAM, N.C. - March 23, 2018 - PRLog -- The High Performance Building Council (HPBC) of the Triangle presents the 2018 Green Home Tour April 28 – 29 and May 5 – 6, noon – 5:00 pm, at new green certified homes throughout the area. In its13^th year of inviting the public to view green building practices and materials, this free self-guided HPBC event showcases a variety of excellent examples of green home construction at various levels of national certification: National Green Building Standard, EcoSelect, and/or ENERGY STAR^®. Each home in the tour is inspected and third-party verified, making sure each home meets the minimum certification requirements established by its specified program. The High Performance Building Council of the Triangle is a joint council of the Home Builders Associations (HBAs) of Durham, Orange and Chatham Counties and of Raleigh-Wake County.

With today's home buyers looking for healthy, efficient, cost-effective homes, high performance builders are poised to fulfill these consumer needs. The Tour showcases a diverse collection of certified high performance new homes in this annual open house, with a building professional onsite at each home to answer questions and present the home's high performance features. The tour homes may be in various stages of construction or owner-occupied. This is a unique opportunity to see first-hand some of the innovative high performance building practices at work in our area. Homes in this year's tour are certified in at least one of the following programs:

The National Green Building Standard (NGBS) is the only green building rating system for homes approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).  Homes certified to NGBS must meet point thresholds for Site, Energy, Water, Indoor Air Quality and Materials to earn the certification.  The four NGBS certification performance levels (Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Emerald) require increasingly higher point thresholds in all categories for a home to reach the next level of certification.

EcoSelect homes require meeting or exceeding straightforward standards designed to measurably improve energy and water efficiency. EcoSelect establishes a solid foundation utilizing the HERS rating system, working to reduce the home's energy use while incorporating and promoting the integration of indoor air quality and water efficiency features.

ENERGY STAR® certified homes must meet strict energy efficiency requirements set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). These homes earn the ENERGY STAR® label by delivering better quality, better comfort, and better durability, performing 15 – 20% more energy efficient when compared to typical new homes.

"Green homes do not have to cost more," says Jamie Hager, 2018 HPBC Chair. "Our goal with the Spring Green Home Tour is to show homebuyers that they do not have to settle for high bills or unhealthy homes just to reach a certain price point.  Our Tour Builders -- from spec homes to high end custom -- are making smart decisions to ensure high home performance, and they're able to prove it.  The different programs help buyers zero in on the performance features that are most important to them."

The Triangle has long been recognized as a leader in building innovative, high-performance, green homes. According to Home Innovation Research Labs, North Carolina was ranked first in the country in the number of NGBS Green Certified single-family homes and multifamily units in 2017.

Green Home Tour guidebooks are available at all area Harris Teeter and Kroger stores, HBA offices, and area Realtor^® Association offices. For more information about the Tour, call (919) 493-8899 or visit www.SpringGreenHomeTour.com, #thinkspringgreen2018, #greenhometour, #springgreenhometour and www.facebook.com/GreenHomesTriangle/.