Certification

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For those interested in green certification, GreenBau can deliver several levels; Energy Star, LEED (multiple levels), and Passive House.

Passive House

The Passive House Standard is the world’s highest energy efficiency standard. By taking seasonal advantage of interior heat gains and passive solar gains, it drastically reduces the energy load required to operate a building, resulting in about a 90% savings on heating and cooling cost, and about 75% energy savings overall, with a big bonus: a significantly smaller carbon footprint.

Think: Simplicity, flexibility, energy independence, freedom from high utility bills, comfort, health, and durability.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LEED

There are four different levels on which LEED certification can be attained — Certified, Silver, Gold, and Platinum — and they are determined by a credit, or point, system.  A building or project can attain LEED certification by submitting an application that documents compliance with the requirements set forth in the rating system. The Green Building Council issues LEED certification upon satisfactory application, review and compliance verification. There are fees associated with this certification.

While design and construction of buildings have used environmentally friendly practices in the past, LEED was developed to provide a streamlined set of building standards. The government has worked to model sustainable green building by achieving certification on many of its state buildings. In order to increase the number of new and redeveloped buildings eligible for LEED certification, the government also offers many incentives within the building industry, including grant funding and tax breaks based on the level of LEED certification attained.

Energy Star

ENERGY STAR is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy helping us all save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices.

Results are already adding up. Americans, with the help of ENERGY STAR, saved enough energy in 2010 alone to avoid greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 33 million cars — all while saving nearly $18 billion on their utility bills.

For the Home

Energy efficient choices can save families about a third on their energy bill with similar savings of greenhouse gas emissions,  without sacrificing features, style or comfort. ENERGY STAR helps you make the energy efficient choice.

  • If looking for new household products, look for ones that have earned the ENERGY STAR. They meet strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the EPA and US Department of Energy.
  • If looking for a new home, look for one that has earned the ENERGY STAR.
  • If looking to make larger improvements to your home, EPA offers tools and resources to help you plan and undertake projects to reduce your energy bills and improve home comfort.

For Business

Because a strategic approach to energy management can produce twice the savings — for the bottom line and the environment — as typical approaches,  EPA’s ENERGY STAR partnership offers a proven energy management strategy that helps in measuring current energy performance, setting goals, tracking savings, and rewarding improvements.

EPA provides an innovative energy performance rating system which businesses have already used for more than 200,000 buildings across the country. EPA also recognizes top performing buildings with the ENERGY STAR.