Green Professional

We all hear the word Green being thrown around in every aspect of life, from batteries to building products and everything in between. When it comes to Green Building, what is it really? What is a CGP (Certified Green Professional)? Will it make a difference to my building project?

What is "Green Building"?

Green building - also known as sustainable or high performance building - is the practice of: Increasing the efficiency with which buildings and their sites use and harvest energy, water and materials. Protecting and restoring human health and the environment, throughout the building life cycle: siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation and deconstruction.

In simple terms: It is the practice of creating and using healthier and more resource-efficient models of construction, renovation, operation, maintenance and demolition.

Go Green Inside & Out

The idea of "greening" one's home includes many different factors, such as:

• Reducing home energy use and using renewable energy
• Reducing home water use and protecting water resources
• Selecting the most environmentally friendly location for a new home
• Choosing greener home building materials and household products
• Reducing waste from home construction and household activities and increasing recycling
• Protecting your health from environmental hazards that occur in homes.

Green buildings are designed to reduce the overall impact of the built environment on human health and the natural environment by:

• Efficiently using energy, water, and other resources
• Protecting occupant health and improving employee productivity
• Reducing waste, pollution and environmental degradation.

The CGP (Certified Green Professional) certification provides a solid background in green building methods. Thanks to more durable roof coverings, insulated windows, increased insulation and high-efficiency heating, cooling and water heating equipment, homes built today are 100% more energy-efficient than homes built in the 1970s. In the long-term, energy improvements can save you money and help protect the environment.

So what, you may ask, are the economic benefits of green or sustainable building and development?

Here are some of them: a well-designed, constructed, operated and maintained green building can have many benefits, including durability; reduced costs for energy, water, operations and maintenance; improved occupant health and productivity; the potential for greater occupant satisfaction than standard developments.

Do not let all this scare you. You can do as much or as little of green building as you want. There is no standard, just remember, every little bit helps our world. Even if all you do is that you replace your next light bulb with a more efficient one (which you can purchase at any local hardware store). You can do a complete remodel of an existing home implementing as much green product as you can. When it comes to building a new home, I would recommend making this decision before the final design of the home is complete.

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