A Blog by WARM Training Center
governments
Professional Green certifications
May 11th
We’re expanding our ministry and doing more green work including things like community gardens, kitchen renovations, etc. Can we pursue some kind of green certification for this?
- Dave, Madison Heights
Congrats on the new efforts – they sound great! While entire homes or neighborhoods can achieve a green certification, neither of these approaches seem relevant to the scale of work that you’re doing. From what you’ve described, I think the best route would be to tackle professional green certifications and training for the people who’ll be working on these projects. Here are a few options:
- Green Advantage – this is designed for people who will be working on green construction projects. It is designed as a compliment to the national LEED standard, and works closely with LEED, but is geared toward the worker that does not need the full rigor of the LEED Accredited Professaional (LEED AP). Trainings aren’t required to take the test, but trainings are available in Michigan.
- LEED AP or LEED Green Associate – The LEED AP designation is the defining certification for green building and has been at the head of the industry. While this might be useful for a project leader, it may be overkill for what you’re working on. Also the LEEDHowever, LEED now also offers a LEED Green Associate certification which is a lighter certification that might fit better.
- NAHB Certified Green Professional – This is the Green builder certification offered by the National Association of Home Builders. Also, a nationally recognized program with a good reputation.
Those are the main green building certifications available. You also might want to consider just pursuing educational work for folks (without any particular certification) for the community garden work you’re doing. I would primarily recommend two resources for this:
- The Garden Resource Program – I cannot say enough good things about this program and the educational offerings associated with it. It’s homegrown here in Detroit and has transformed the community garden and urban food world. They offer classes on everything from gardening basics to composting and beekeeping.
- MSU Extension – The state standard for gardening information.
And of course if you want a general introduction to Green Building course, WARM is always happy to provide that.
Community Renewables
Mar 29th
Here’s a great article on policies being developed to share renewables on a community scale:
http://www.solartoday-digital.org/solartoday/201003#pg30
Energy Performance Contracts
Mar 15th
In Sept. 2009, WARM and the Southeast Michigan Regional Energy Office hosted a training for local governments on Energy Performance Contracts (EPCs). Since then, we’ve gotten questions from other for more information on this useful tool for tackling deep energy changes in an affordable way. Of course, EPCs aren’t for everyone. It must be a sizable building or campus to make it worthwhile, and they only make sense for projects that would cost at least $500,000 and preferrably closer to a $1 million or higher. We’ve also talked with SEMCOG about holding a training specifically for smaller communities to look at how to collaborate to harness an EPC for several smaller projects (if you’re interested in this, let us know).
Meanwhile, here are some recommended resources for more information:
Intro Essays: Getting the Most out of An EPC Part 1, and Getting the Most out of an EPC, Part 2 (geared toward university campuses, but still a great resource)
An in-depth overview of EPCs from Energy Star
More in-depth info from energyperformancecontracting.org including guides for each step of the process.
And before long we’ll post the presentations from our 2009 training. Stay tuned.
Low Impact Development
Sep 24th
Interested in raingardens, greenroofs, porous pavement? These are all techniques that are sometimes used in LID or Low Impact Developments, which avoid the costs and infrastructure problems related to storm water overflow. Instead of running into the sewage system, most of the rainwater is absorbed into the ground onsite where it can be handled in the old fashioned way – through the dirt and biological filters underground.
Don’t miss this great interactive map of Metrot Detroit that show’s local projects, which as developed by Lawrence Tech and recently reported on by Metromode.