Greenpoint Rated | Green Compliance Plus

Mark English Architects Project Earns GreenPoint Rated Certification

Posted on 15. Jul, 2010 by Rebecca Firestone.

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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.

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Green Certification: Is It Worth It?

Posted on 12. Jul, 2010 by Rebecca Firestone.

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When we’re advising our Title 24 clients on their residential projects, the first concern is whether the project will meet the State of California’s requirements for efficient energy consumption – and, if it doesn’t, what measures are needed to bring the project into compliance. A home’s Title 24 compliance “score” is expressed according to the percentage by which the home exceeds the baseline efficiency standards set forth by the California Energy Commission, and these standards are tightened every 3 years.

For the most part, people are relieved just to get their home to zero. For many projects, this is challenging enough. But sometimes, additional measures could boost a home’s compliance score higher, and are much easier to take while construction is already occurring. For example, in a remodel where walls are opened, why not insulate those walls? Well… obviously it’s an additional cost that budget-conscious owners may not want to absorb at the time. But, aren’t they potentially leaving money on the table, too? What value is there in achieving a positive compliance margin?
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HERS Inspections and Title 24 Compliance

Posted on 12. May, 2010 by Rebecca Firestone.

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A few months ago we published an interview with a GreenPoint Rater to de-mystify the GreenPoints system that was suddenly taking California building departments by storm. Like LEED and several of the current rebate programs, GreenPoints has tie-ins to Title 24’s energy compliance scoring, and so we’ve had to help our clients to interface with this new standard.

There’s another standard that’s been around for a long time – the Home Energy Rating System, or HERS. For the first time, we are having to tell our clients that they will have to do at least one HERS verification in order to meet the new 2008 standards of California’s Title 24 energy code. Suddenly, everyone had questions. What in the heck do HERS raters actually do, and what does it cost? Is this going to be a huge headache or a minor annoyance? What benefit is there to HERS testing apart from compliance? What does a person have to do to become certified as a HERS rater?

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GreenPoint Rating: What’s In It for You?

Posted on 12. Oct, 2009 by Rebecca Firestone.

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After our recent interview with a GreenPoint Rater, several people wrote to us and we realized that since our last coverage in the Chronicle, many of our site visitors aren’t architects or building officials. They’re interested homeowners, or just plain interested.

Some confusion is perhaps justified. Even a cursory web search for “green building rating systems” turned up a pile of competing standards and organizations, some of which merely promote green building without issuing standards. (Mark, Alan, and myself have all contributed to the answers below.)

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Interview with GreenPoint Rater John Eckstein

Posted on 23. Sep, 2009 by Rebecca Firestone.

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A few months ago, we had the pleasure of working with a GreenPoint rater on one of our recent Title 24 consulting projects. John Eckstein is a building professional with expertise in both home energy performance, and indoor air quality, particularly mold investigation. Since GreenPoint rating is still relatively new, we asked him what is involved in working with, or becoming, a GreenPoint rater.

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Mark English Architects Featured in Eco-Friendly Metropolitan Home Showcase

Posted on 09. Jun, 2009 by Rebecca Firestone.

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Modern by Design, a project sponsored by Metropolitan Home, is offering public tours of 2201 Baker Street from June 20-July 12, in San Francisco. This spectacular renovation project of an historic 7,000 square foot home showcases modern living and design aesthetics with the latest technologies.

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