Green Builder magazine, Green Builder Media’s flagship publication, has once again received recognition for its  investigative reports, analysis, design ideas and pertinent information for professionals and consumers.

The magazine received two national journalism awards from the National Association of Real Estate Editor’s annual journalism competition. The first award, “Best Trade Magazine Report for the Residential Real Estate, Mortage/Finance or Homebuilding/Residential Development Industries,” went to Green Builder’s editor in chief Matt Power for the article titled “The Limits of Technology.” The article addressed which green technologies really progress sustainability.

The second award of Best Residential Trade Magazine was granted to Green Builder magazine because of the variety, depth and beauty that the magazine holds.

The magazine is led by a veteran staff including editorial director, Cati O’Keefe; editor in chief Matt Power; and national design director, Eddie Malstrom.

For more information about Green Builder magazine, visit the website.

S&A Homes was recently awarded the 2010 Energy Star Leadership in Housing award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for qualifying an outstanding number of ENERGY STAR™ Homes in 2009.  The builder closed more than 200 Energy Star Qualified homes last year! Congratulations to S&A Homes.

For homebuyers seeking energy efficient homes at an affordable price, S&A Homes offers the E-Home. Focused on building high performance homes that combine energy efficiency, eco-friendly building materials and indoor air quality solutions, the E-Home meets all of these goals as well as provides the best value in the market.

Big deal, just another community, right?  Nope.  The Park Run community is comprised of two condominium buildings, with a total of 23 planned, making this the first multi-family housing complex to receive this certification.

Congratulations to The Jones Company!

The challenge has arisen for other condo and apartment communities to be built green, so hopefully we should see more of them.  With more consumers looking for an environmentally responsible home, The Jones Company should simply be the first with many more builders to follow suit.

Certification under the National Green Building Standard is awarded by the NAHB Research Center, a subsidiary of NAHB.  To become certified, a home is measured on energy efficiency, environmental construction, site and lot design and indoor air quality.  The builder also has to educate homeowners on proper maintenance and operation to keep their home running green.

The Park Run community utilized the expected Energy Star appliances and lights, energy-efficient windows, low-flow faucets and low-VOC flooring in their homes.  What really sets it apart though, was the handling of the site.  All unused building materials were recycled, and the landscaping uses plants native to the area to avoid excess watering.

Are you currently building green?  Check out the NAHB green scoring tool from the NAHB Research Center to determine if you’d be eligible for certification.

Developed by the GAHBA through a partnership with Southface Energy Institute, government and industry leaders, EarthCraft is a voluntary green building program that serves as a blueprint for healthy, comfortable homes that reduce utility bills and protect the environment.  Since EarthCraft’s inception in 1999, more than 450 builders have become builder members and more than 7,150 homes in the Southeast region have been certified to EarthCraft standards.

President of Wickstead Works, Frank Wickstead said, “We have remained very active despite the economy and we attribute that success in part to our partnership with the EarthCraft program.”

Each EarthCraft home follows a systems approach to home building that stresses an understanding of how the different components of a home work together.  This approach results in a home that performs better, is more economical for the homeowner and is still comparable in price to a home built with standard construction practices.

Congratulations to  WicksteadWorks on winning the Renovator of the Year Award!

If this sounds like you then make sure to get together all the necessary paperwork and forms and send them in. All applications and supporting materials must be submitted no later then February 3, 2010 on one CD. No print materials will be accepted or reviews.

Award categories include:

• Advocate of the Year (Builder, Remodeler, Individual, Group)
• Advocate of the Year (State or Local Government)
• Green Project(s) of the Year (Single Family, Remodel, Multifamily)
• Green Site Development of the Year
• HBA Green Building Program of the Year (New and Existing)

All projects entered in the Green Project of the Year category must have been started after June 2008 and substantially completed by December 2009, in order to be eligible.

How will the projects be scored?

All project entries can be scored to the green certification program of the applicant’s choice. But in order to better facilitate the judging process, all single-family homes must be scored with the NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines or the ICC 700-2008 National Green Building Standard.

Multifamily and site development projects must be scored using the ICC 200-2008 National Green Building Standard.

This  Online Green Scoring Tool, provided by the National Association of Home Builders will generate checklists that can easily be saved to the submission disk.

All winners will receive one complimentary ticket to the awards dinner on May 17, 2010 as part of the 12th Annual National Green Building Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina.

So don’t delay! Make sure you fill out your forms and get your applications in as soon as possible.

Developed by Minerva Properties, this Atlanta golf community was named the 2005 Community of the Year by the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association and was also selected to receive the 2006 Grand Award for Outstanding Development by the Georgia Urban Forest Council. Since winning these prestigious awards, Heron Bay has continued their efforts to preserve the integrity of the area surrounding the Atlanta Lake Community.

Heron Bay began their extensive tree initiative program in 2002 when a beautiful American Beech Tree on Heron Bay Boulevard was saved. Since that time over 3,500 trees have been planted in the common and amenity areas of Heron Bay. Minerva has also partnered up with Henry and Spalding Counties to create tree-lined streets, planting trees on 50 foot centers twice yearly. By planting during the dormant season, this project has seen a survivability rate of almost 99%.

Greenhaven will carry the US Green Building Council’s LEED for Homes (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), Earthcraft House, Energy Star, Health House, and NAHB green building certifications and showcase the latest in green building techniques, sustainable design, state-of-art technology and energy efficiency.

Twenty of Atlanta’s top decorators, each with a fresh and unique perspective on eco-friendly design, has worked with the LEED program guidelines to transform the 7,000 square foot house into a green show home to be toured by all.

To complement the inspiring design, Pace Homebuilders’ Richard Feis will unveil Greenhaven to be an archetype for maximum sustainability and energy-efficiency. The implementation of state-of-the-art technologies in the design of Greenhaven will create a smart and functional home to evolve with the needs of today’s family.

For more information about Greenhaven, visit www.greenhavenhome.com.

You can become a Fan of Greenhaven on Facebook, www.Facebook.com/GreenhavenShowHome

The award, given by Southface and The Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association, distinguishes an EarthCraft House renovator that has gone above and beyond to reduce energy use in an existing home. The annual awards program honors the leading builders, developers, renovators and manufacturers dedicated to protecting the environment through sustainable design and construction of homes, communities and products.

WicksteadWorks is an Atlanta remodeler that builds to a minimum standard of EarthCraft certification on all projects.

The EarthCraft House program is a voluntary, green building third-party validation program that serves as a blueprint for healthy comfortable homes that reduce utility bills and protect the environment.  Since the program’s inception in 1999, more 450 builders have become builder members, and more than 7,150 homes in the Southeast region have been certified to EarthCraft House standards.

Atlanta-based multifamily developer and operator Post Properties was recently awarded a Multi-Housing News Green Services award for its company-wide recycling efforts. Post’s recycling centers collect 840 tons of newspaper, glass and aluminum annually.

Recycling is just one program under the direction of Post’s newly established green team. EcoActive will support Post’s vision to educate associates and residents on the benefits of conserving earth’s natural resources through best practice programs and processes.

The company also minimizes its environmental impact through submetering and eco-conscious landscaping. Two of Post’s newest properties (including Post Alexander in Atlanta) feature green roofs, which limit water runoff, control heating and cooling costs,
and maximize roof life.

Awards will be given in the following categories: Advocate of the Year (Builder, Remodeler, Individual, Group); Project of the Year (Single Family, Remodel, Multifamily); Development of the Year; HBA Green Building Program of the Year (New and Existing); and Outstanding Green Marketing. A new category has been established for 2009: the Local Government Award, to recognize a government body that has worked to allow and encourage green practices.  The nomination for this award must come from a local home builders’ association.

All award applications, supporting documentation and photographs must be submitted via email or on a compact disk.  Download entry forms at www.nahb.org/greenbuildingawards. No paper applications will be accepted. To be eligible, projects must have been started after June 2007 and substantially completed by December 2008. Additional entry requirements and an online application are available online as well. Entries must be postmarked by January 31, 2009.

Award winners will be recognized at a gala dinner on May 8, 2009, as part of the 11th annual NAHB National Green Building Conference in Dallas.