Local Resources
Portland/Clark County Residential
Green Building Certification Programs
Homes built to these third-party certification programs are now listed on the Regional Multiple Listing Service. Ask your real estate professional to search newly constructed homes that are built to LEED for Homes®, Earth Advantage®, and ENERGY STAR®.
LEED for Homes - The most rigorous green building standard in the United States.
Earth Advantage - With the ability to certify homes as Earth Advantage®, ENERGY STAR®, or LEED for Homes®.
Northwest ENERGY STAR - One ENERGY STAR® home can keep 2,070 pounds of greenhouse gasses out of the air each year. That's equivalent to not driving 2,244 miles or planting 200 trees!
Local Green Building Directories
Green Pages - Search to find a builder who is a member of the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild, a Pacific Northwest non-profit green building membership organization.
Northwest Green Directory - A tool designed to help industry professionals and consumers find green building products and services in our region.
Redirect Guide - Redirect offers a variety of resources promoting the health and vitality of our community including local green builders.
Building Green Clark - Build Green Clark is a service project of Leadership Clark County. Built in 2006, the site provides source information for green building products found locally. The site includes printable information and quick references for the following building categories: * Doors * Flooring * Framing * Heating * Insulation * Paint * Plumbing * Roofing * Siding * Wallcovering * Water Heaters * Windows.
National Green Building Product Directories
Building Green - An independent company committed to providing accurate, unbiased, and timely information designed to help building-industry professionals and policy makers improve the environmental performance and reduce the adverse impacts of buildings.
Oikos - A site devoted to serving professionals whose work promotes sustainable design and construction. Oikos is a Greek word meaning house. Oikos serves as the root for two English words: ecology and economy. That may seem contradictory at first, but it makes perfect sense.
Third-Party Certification Organizations
for Green Building Products
GREENGUARD - An industry-independent, non-profit organization that establishes acceptable indoor air standards for indoor products, environments, and buildings. An Advisory Board consisting of independent volunteers who are renowned experts in the areas of indoor air quality, public and environmental health, building design and construction, and public policy, provides guidance and leadership.
Green Seal - Another independent non-profit organization dedicated to safeguarding the environment and transforming the marketplace by promoting the manufacture, purchase, and use of environmentally responsible products and services.
Recommended Green Building Blogs
Enviropundit - Most of the discussions will be about sustainable building and energy, but there will also be some about disproving the "environment vs. economy" myth, efficiency in the economy and more.
Green Home Guide - This blog helps close the gap between green intentions and practical realities. It's a community-based resource whose combination of tips, case studies, expert Q&A and regional directories of products and services helps homeowners create homes that make them feel, well, good. The blog contains alternatives to conventional building, cleaning, pest control and landscaping.
Jetson Green - Jetson Green focuses on modern "sexy green" buildings and makes the business case for green building while considering the pragmatic concerns. The content is original. It is intended to be a conversation starter and an idea generator. Readers can be awarded for their responses to postings.
Green Building Discussion List
Green Building Discussion Page - This is one of the best discussion lists that we've found. Threads contained in the discussion are generally geared to the building profession, but the discussions give a unique, practical perspective to a public interested in knowing the technical discussions happening in green building today.
Green Building Tax Incentives
The Tax Incentives Assistance Project (TIAP), sponsored by a coalition of public interest nonprofit groups, government agencies, and other organizations in the energy efficiency field, gives public and builders information to make use of the federal income tax incentives for energy efficient products and technologies passed by Congress as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
Local Green Building Financing
ShoreBank Pacific (Builders) A Washington State chartered, FDIC insured bank, the first commercial bank in the United States with a commitment to environmentally sustainable community development. ShoreBank is unique in that (with each loan) it provides sustainability consultation with a Bank Scientist. Shorebank is currently working on a loan program that provides incentive for green development. For more information, contact Real Estate Banker, Bonnie Anderson at 503-916-1552.
Countrywide Home Mortgages (Public) -
Countrywide's Kari-Ann Lewis is offering a 1-point percent rate reduction in the first year of your new home mortgage on a qualified Energy Efficient Home. Contact Kari-Ann at (360) 546-8607 or kari-ann_lewis@countrywide.com in Vancouver, Washington, for more information.
For more information or for more specific research and assistance with these resources, please see our Services Page.
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