We are pleased to announce that Mark English, AIA, principal of Mark English Architects, has earned credentials as a Certified Energy Plans Examiner. This program is administered by the California Association of Building Energy Consultants (CABEC) to provide an objective demonstration of a person’s technical expertise and application skills for the California Title 24 Energy Standards.

Why is this exciting, you ask? Well, you don’t need CEPE credentials to prepare Title 24 compliance reports, but some incentive programs such as the New Solar Homes Partnership (NSHP) from the California Solar Initiative require that the Title 24 report be prepared and signed by a CEPE in order to be considered eligible. To achieve this certification requires a class and a 2-hour exam, administered by CABEC.

The California CEPE training and certification program is administered through the California Association of Building Energy Constultants (CABEC).

Mark English Architects is proud to announce that a recently completed project of ours at 97 Pepper Drive in Los Altos has just received its official “GreenPoint Rated” certification. We spoke with GreenPoint Rater Andrew Arnold of Arnold Engineering, who performed the analysis.

“There are five categories in GreenPoint Rating: Community, Energy, Indoor Air Quality and Health, Resources, and Water Conservation. In order to qualify as a GreenPoint Rated project, a minimum amount of points must be earned in Energy, Indoor Air Quality and Health, Resources, and Water Conservation,” explained Andrew. “There are also two mandatory measures that the project must meet. The first is a 50% minimum construction debris ‘waste diversion’ (recycling or reuse) as measured by weight. The second is a 15% improvement over and above the standard Title 24 energy compliance margin.” A full set of categories and possible items are shown in the GreenPoint Checklist from BuildItGreen.

An example GreenPoint Rated certification from BuildItGreen.

The GreenPoint Checklist for 97 Pepper Drive was filled out and submitted to the Los Altos Planning Department as part of the permitting process. Items claimed for this particular project were then subsequently verified by Andrew during the course of construction.

So how did our house do? Well, it scored 113 GreenPoints out of a possible total of around 300. This maximum isn’t a fixed number, because it’s possible to petition the parent organization, BuildItGreen, to obtain recognition for innovations that aren’t part of the regular list of features in the GreenPoints system.

A section from the GreenPoint Data Collection Form for 97 Pepper Drive.

What was the breakout for those 113 GreenPoints? Andrew sent me the GreenPoint Data Collection Form that he used for 97 Pepper. “Only items that earn points are included,” he said, by way of explaining why our list was shorter than the full checklist. Each individual measure has a point total and a category associated. During the design and construction phases, the GreenPoint Rater has various options for verifying that the selected measures are being implemented correctly, including inspections, photos, material safety data sheets, and invoices.

The GreenPoint Rater also has the option of having a consultant or subcontractor fill out and sign an Accountability Form for selected measures when the Rater needs more information, or when the measure is difficult to verify such as the VOC content in paint. The accountability form, shown below, is signed by the contractor who executed that portion of the construction. It is a means to provide the GreenPoint Rater with a higher level of confidence that the measure was implemented, without having to visually inspect the actual installation. Addtional documentation could include receipts or Material Safety Data Sheets.

So, is a GreenPoints score of 113 good or bad? “The minimum required point total in Los Altos is 50 points, which also corresponds with the minimum point total to qualify as a GreenPoint Rated project” says Andrew. “Originally, the owner only wanted to meet this minimum threshold. However, he ended up installing windows with a better SHGC and U value, a more efficient water heater, and more insulation. These three improvements alone boosted us from 71 GreenPoints to 113 because they helped our Title 24 compliance margin.” If your project beats Title 24 by 15% or more, you can earn more points based on the size of that margin.

One of the measures that earned GreenPoints directly was a quality of insulation inspection or QII. This is one of several HERS field verifications that can boost the Title 24 score – which also adds GreenPoints.

A GreenPoint Rated Accountability Form is used for items requiring third-party affirmation.

Lessons Learned

So how does the rating process itself actually work? Did things go smoothly? “This was my first GreenPoint Rated project,” says Andrew. “Most of the items can be seen during the rough framing stage. I made a list of the selected measures for which we were hoping to score points, and arranged with the contractor when the best time to come and see it would be, based on the construction sequencing and schedule. In this case, the owner was acting as the general contractor/owner/builder, which increased the need for careful communication. All the subcontractors needed to be informed of exactly when items needed to be verified, so that they did not proceed with any subsequent work that could impede the verification process.”

It’s good to be flexible on the GreenPoints during construction, because sometimes measures aren’t executed exactly as planned, and you might have to seek additional points elsewhere to make up for it. “The hardest part for me was helping the owner with data collection. A GreenPoint Rater’s role is to verify that all the measures are being correctly implemented. Normally, all the data is furnished to the Rater; it’s not intended that the Rater would have to perform the legwork. However, due to the learning curve on both sides, I had to perform some tasks that are normally outside the intended scope of a GreenPoint Rater. For example, I had to tabulate the tonnages for waste during construction, and do product research to make sure the materials met GreenPoint Rated requirements. Sometimes the owner would buy first and check later, not fully understanding the exact requirements of the measure. Even though there was a learning curve for all parties involved, overall the project was a success and became the 18th home in Los Altos to be certified as a GreenPoint Rated home.”

“We ran into an issue on the zero-VOC paint because there’s a difference between what BuildItGreen considers to be ‘zero’ VOC and what the paint industry will allow. BuildItGreen requires zero-VOC paint to be less than 5 grams per liter of volatile organic compounds, whereas the painting industry claims zero-VOC for anything up to 10 grams per liter. When the owner knew we wanted to earn GreenPoints for zero-VOC paint, he went right out and bought some, but he didn’t read the fine print. The people at the store told him it was zero-VOC, but we had to settle for a less aggressive designation of low-VOC instead. A low-VOC designation works for anything with under 50 grams of VOC per liter, and we missed some GreenPoints because we went for 10 instead of 5. Even though we were just a little bit over, we had to settle for a low-VOC designation, which doesn’t earn as many GreenPoints.”

You’ve got to do your homework and be very thorough when checking out products. “Most people don’t have that level of attention to detail, but it’s very important in the GreenPoint Rating process,” Arnold cautioned. The GreenPoints system may have finely tiered levels, as with the VOC example. When in doubt, check with BuildItGreen directly rather than relying on over-the-counter information from the retailer.

97 Pepper Sale Information

This Greenpoint Rated property was for sale but has since been sold!

Entry hall of 97 Pepper Drive, a Greenpoint Rated sale property in Los Altos, California.

Andrew Arnold and Passive Houses

Arnold is also passionate about passive houses, or “Passive Houses” as they’re officially termed by the Passive House Institute US in Urbana, IL. (PHIUS has been authorized by the Passivhaus Institut in Darmstadt as the official Certifier of Passive Houses in the US.) The concept and standards for Passive Houses were originally developed in Germany under the term Passivhaus. Arnold is actually helping to create the first certified Passive House in California.

Apparently the hardest part of Passive House certification is passing a very strict blower door test; part of the concept is to create a virtually airtight dwelling with carefully calibrated ventilation to minimize temperature swings. We are hoping to get more information about the new Passive House that Arnold is currently working on, as soon as construction is completed.

There’s more than one way to be green, and the San Francisco Chronicle has featured Mark English touting old-fashioned thrift over more showy forms of environmental non-consumption – even the very same stuff we were talking about only last week.

So yes, reuse where you can, and make your home more efficient first, before you put in those solar arrays that will make your neighbors “green” with envy. Then when your neighbor is showing off his new solar roof tiles, you can counter by saying that your home uses so little energy already that you decided to put your money towards a “living carpet” instead.

Does it pay to be nimble, light, and alone these days? As the reeling economy continues to wreak havoc on the design and construction industry (2,000 fewer people were working at architecture firms in the month of April alone) architects are being bounced from their jobs at traditional design firms and wondering where their skills fit into the economy’s seemingly willful refusal to build buildings. Experience from other sole practitioners and small firms that offer services to architects and architectural clients suggests that the best business model today allows architects to use their diverse skills wherever they see fit—plugging their expertise into hyper-specific micro markets that are too small for a large firm to work in, yet large enough to keep paying the bills. Four Bay Area architects have been doing just that, often after long and familiar experiences with large, traditional design firms. Though their practices are vastly different, they’ve all found that the freedom and flexibility of their consulting practices have allowed them to bob, duck, weave, and advance in a worsening design market.

AIArchitect This Week | Consulting Practice Niches Create Shelter for Architects in a Thorny Economy

After a challenging 5-day training class, Alan passed the exam for Title 24 HERS raters on June 4, 2009 – this time for 2008 Title 24 HERS Rater Update.

“What I enjoyed most about the CalCERTS HERS-Rater classes was working with CalCERTS great instructor, Russ King, PE. He really knows California Energy Compliance and keeps the classes interesting by inviting class participation in the discussion both during the lectures as well as the laboratory work. So, consequently with my coming to class with my background as a CEPE and CABEC Certified Energy Analyst, and with the classes occurring during the height of change over from the 2005 to 2008 in Title 24, he and I kept up a stimulating and challenging discussion for the five full days of classes.”

As a result, Alan is now a certified CalCERTS® HERS-Rater and Certified Energy Plans Examiner (CEPE) for:
2005 Existing Residential Construction
2005 New Residential Construction
2008 Existing Residential Construction
2008 New Residential Construction

Congratulations, Alan! Now, what about that architect fellow?

Not to brag or anything, but Mark English Architects has won two national awards this spring: a Grand Watermark Award from Builder Online for an extravagant and theatrical master bath featuring shimmering iridescent gold glass tile, and a Gold Nugget Merit Award from Hanley Wood Media for an airy and serene whole-house remodel in Sausalito.

The Sausalito owners were highly pleased not only with the design, but with what is normally a painful process, namely, getting the project done. “Donna and I want to express our appreciation for the seamless job that you did in the design and oversight of the construction of our home in Sausalito. Folks have asked how the 2-year process of design, permit application, contractor selection, and building went. When we answered ‘without a single problem’ they are amazed.”

Chenery Bath- Water Mark award:

http://www.builderonline.com/design/center-stage1.aspx
http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/hanleywood/builder_200905/#/122

Sausalito Residence- Gold Nugget Merit Award (category 11/12):

http://www.goldnuggetawards.com/

We often get asked, “Who does what with Energy Compliance?” with regard to new residential construction and existing residential remodels. The traditional roles of Architect, Building Contractor, and Sub Contractors are well understood. But, as energy efficiency has become more regulated and the documentation required by the California Energy Efficiency Code (Title 24) has become more complicated…

… there has been a parallel proliferation of various Energy Experts and different Energy Raters each claiming to be the Real Green Expert. This seeming power vacuum has spawned a plethora of organizations competing for market share and each claiming to be the True Green Authority, some with governmental sanctions, but many without any official charter what-so-ever.

Unfortunately, in this free market we now have: BUILD-IT-GREEN, the CEC, CalCERTS, CBPCA, CHEERS, CABEC, CSLB, CARB, CEE, CPUC, CHPS, CalSEIA, DSIRE, EPA, Energy Star, EERE, IREC, LBNL, NCSEA, NREL, REPP, ResNET, SBIC, and finally in last place for residential and definitely not LEED…ing the pack is the USGBC, with LEED for Neighborhoods. Yet, this alphabet soup does not even include the public utilities which also have their own proliferation of sub-agencies….. So you might well be left asking, “Who are all these people?….. The short answer is….

“At Green Compliance Plus® we strive to be all of those people for you”.

The underlying truth hidden beneath the green chaos is that, on any project there are actually only (2) players that make any difference where energy is concerned; the Title 24 Documents Author (a CEPE or CEA certified by CABEC), and the HERS-Rater (certified by CalCERTS, CBPCA, or CHEERS). These are the guys with the official sanctions from the State of California to actually file the necessary paperwork.

Here at Green Compliance Plus® we are certified and licensed by California to do both halves of the Energy Analysis and Verifications for you. In my next post I’ll explain what Energy Analysts and HERS Raters do.

Our editor, Alan Hugenot, who is also Director of Energy Compliance at Mark English Architects, is now a Certified HERS Rater with CalCERTS. This now allows him to verify the energy efficiency of the heating and cooling installations on completed projects. And this provides our Title 24 clients with ONE STOP SHOPPING when it comes to energy efficiency.