Green Home

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 9, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Fannie Mae (FNMA/OTC), with support from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Federal Housing Administration (FHA) today announced the expansion of Green Preservation Plus. Formerly known as Green Refinance Plus, Green Preservation Plus supports the preservation of quality affordable multifamily housing in the United States by providing additional funds to improve the energy and water efficiency of properties.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 8, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Finding and selling green homes is about to get easier for buyers and sellers with the National Association of Realtors®’ new Green MLS Implementation Guide, a comprehensive guide for helping multiple listing services promote the special features of a green home.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 8, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Increasingly, banks, credit unions, and other lenders are beginning to offer loan products to homeowners and businesses for the installation of rooftop solar systems. However, barriers to accessing this growing market still remain. The Energy Department’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recently convened the Banking on Solar working group to engage lenders and other stakeholders to address these barriers.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 1, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) released its ranking of the top 10 countries for LEED® outside of the United States, demonstrating the global reach of the movement that is transforming the built environment into healthy, high-performing structures that benefit the planet and all of its people.

TRENTON - April 24, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- With the spring boom in home, landscape and gardening activities kicking up now, the Department of Environmental Protection today urged New Jersey residents to use caution when applying pesticides, and to employ only licensed commercial pesticide applicators when hiring for pest control services that include pesticide product applications

Washington, D.C. - April 24, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) launched its new online data visualization resource that highlights real-time green building data for each state in the U.S. and Washington, D.C. The enhanced state market briefs — highlighting LEED projects, LEED-credentialed professionals and USGBC membership in each state — provide green building advocates and the general public a look into LEED’s impact within any U.S. state.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 22, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced the four winners of its second annual Campus RainWorks Challenge, a design challenge created to engage college and university students in reinventing our water infrastructure and developing innovative green infrastructure systems to reduce stormwater pollution and build resilience to climate change.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 22, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and its Committee on the Environment (COTE) have selected the top ten examples of sustainable architecture and ecological design projects that protect and enhance the environment. The projects will be honored at the AIA 2014 National Convention and Design Exposition in Chicago.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 16, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- In support of the Administration’s all-of-the-above energy strategy, the Department of Energy issued a draft loan guarantee solicitation today for innovative renewable energy and energy efficiency projects located in the U.S. that avoid, reduce, or sequester greenhouse gases. When finalized, the solicitation is expected to make as much as $4 billion in loan guarantees available to help commercialize technologies that may be unable to obtain full commercial financing. This draft solicitation represents another step in the Department’s commitment to help overcome the financial barriers to the deployment of innovative, clean energy technologies.

Washington, D.C. - April 10, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has named the recipients of the 2013 LEED for Homes Awards, recognizing projects, developers and homebuilders that have demonstrated outstanding leadership in residential green building. The award categories recognize innovative multi- and single-family projects, production builders, affordable housing projects and developers, an overall commitment to LEED for Homes and Project of the Year

Washington, D.C. - April 9, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced today that 3 billion square feet of green construction space has earned LEED® certification around the globe.

CHICAGO - April 8, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Appraisers need to get up to speed on the latest energy efficient home features and should learn to determine how green a property is, according to a new book by the nation’s largest professional association of real estate appraisers.

SACRAMENTO, CA - April 1, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Speaking at the Green Schools National Conference, Global Green USA and Pureology announced the completion of its comprehensive, student-led Green School Makeover at Boston Latin School. A panel of expert judges selected the winning school after six months of intensive outreach by educators, school districts and educational organizations, resulting in more than 450 submissions. Drawing on its green building expertise that spans more than two decades, Global Green USA provided Boston Latin School with a $75,000 grant to realize its student-created proposal of giving America’s first and oldest public school a sustainability-focused makeover.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 26, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council, together with global education leader Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH), released aNational Action Plan for Educating for Sustainability, a call for action to ensure that Education for Sustainability (EfS) is accessible to all students across the United States. The plan outlines a robust goal for all 50 states to adopt a comprehensive green schools policy that includes a graduation requirement around sustainability literacy by 2040

New York, N.Y. - March 24, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced the award of a $500,000 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant to the City of Buffalo to fund green infrastructure projects to improve water quality in Lake Erie. Cameron Davis, Senior Advisor to the EPA Administrator for the Great Lakes, was joined today by Congressmember Brian Higgins and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown at the offices of the Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper to announce the projects.

RACINE - March 13, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced the award of a $250,000 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant to the city of Racine to fund green infrastructure projects to improve water quality in Lake Michigan. EPA Region 5 Administrator / Great Lakes National Program Manager Susan Hedman was joined at Memorial Hall by Racine Mayor John Dickert and Vicki Elkin, Executive Director of the Fund for Lake Michigan to announce the projects

WASHINGTON, D.C. - February 28, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Industry groups and energy efficiency advocates applaud the inclusion of the Sensible Accounting to Value Energy (SAVE) Act in yesterday’s reintroduction of the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act (Shaheen-Portman), S.2074. As the provision will be the largest generator of energy savings among the new additions to Shaheen-Portman, the SAVE Act will help households reap the benefits of investing in energy-efficient homes. The bill’s co-sponsors, Senators Isakson (R-GA) and Bennet (D-CO) have championed the SAVE Act since its introduction in 2011. The coalition would also like to thank additional co-sponsors Boxer (D-CA), Toomey (R-PA), Udall (D-CO), and Begich (D-AK) for their support. The bill’s diverse coalition of supporters includes over 45 organizations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

DULUTH - February 21, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced the award of a $250,000 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant to the City of Duluth to fund green infrastructure projects to improve water quality in the Lake Superior Basin. Duluth is the first of 16 cities to receive funding in the initial round of EPA’s new Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Shoreline Cities grant program

WASHINGTON, D.C. - February 6, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- GuildQuality, North America's leading provider of customer satisfaction surveying for the residential building industry, recently conducted a national survey of homeowners who purchased a National Green Building Standard (NGBS) certified green home built within the past three years. The study, commissioned by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and presented today at the annual International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas, aimed to uncover how green homeowners feel after purchasing their home; primarily focusing on their overall satisfaction and whether they would recommend purchasing a green home to others.

ATLANTA - February 4, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- EPA’s Acting Assistant Administrator for Water, Nancy Stoner, will be in Nashville Thursday and will tour the River Center and Cumberland Park. Located on the Cumberland River’s east bank under the Shelby Street Bridge, the 6.5 acre Cumberland Park opened in April of 2012 and is the flagship for Nashville’s New Riverfront Revitalization Plan. The park incorporates many innovative green infrastructure features that help improve quality, including a rain water harvesting cistern that collects 1,000,000 gallons of stormwater annually that is reused for park irrigation.