July_August2005_FGBC

Announcements

Energy Bill to Provide Incentives for Efficiency and Renewables
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005) is the first effort of the United States government to address U.S. energy policy since the Energy Policy Act of 1992. Among many other things, the 1724 page law provides new tax incentives for a number of solar and energy efficiency measures. Among them are:

Tax deductions for highly efficient commercial buildings
Tax credits for highly-efficient new homes
Tax credits for improvements to existing homes
Tax credits for high-efficiency residential air conditioners and equipment
Tax credits for residential solar photovoltaic and hot water heating systems
Tax credits for residential fuel cell systems
Tax credits for fuel cell and microturbines used in a business .

LEED for Homes Piloted in Florida
FGBC is trying to work with USGBC, FHBA, and the Enterprise Community Foundation to coordinate green home ratings as FGBC's system has been in place since 2001. The USGBC has released a pilot LEED for Homes project. FSEC was selected as the pilot phase provider in Florida.

Hal Knowles Honored
Outgoing treasurer Hal Knowles was honored with a plaque at GreenTrends. Under his tenure, FGBC has improved reporting practices allowing directors to quickly ascertain the category of all expenditures and revenues.

New Officers and Board Members Elected
Karen Childress of WCI will serve as president for a second year. Among her top priorities is to work with the Florida Home Builders Association to obtain recognition and adoption of the FGBC green home standard. Her second goal is to grow membership. Mike Houston will serve as vice-president, Drew Smith of TwoTrails has been elected treasurer and Rob Vieira of FSEC was elected secretary. The entire list of board members including those newly elected is available.

GreenTrends 2005 Presentations Available On-Line-
Maybe you heard the presentations at GreenTrends or maybe you missed the event, either way you may want to refer to the many presentations now on the GreenTrends 2005 web site. Simply scroll through the agenda for hot links to pdfs of the presenter's slides.

Workshop on Smart Growth Held in Brevard County
The Community Greenhouse Foundation's first workshop in Brevard County Florida as part of their case study, "Smart Growth Case Study" and Educational Transfer to the Public program was held at the Brevard County Government Center in Viera, Florida on July 14, 2005. A diverse mix of fifty two people registered for the workshop representing government, environmentalists, architects, builders and the general public. More

Going Green

BuildingGreen Releases New Guide for Choosing Residential Products
BuildingGreen has released a comprehensive directory of green building products for home building and remodeling featuring more than 1,400 descriptive listings for products from ag-fiber panels to zero-VOC paints. All phases of residential construction are covered, from sitework to flooring to renewable energy. Products are grouped by function, and each chapter begins with a discussion of key environmental considerations and what to look for in a green product.

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Allan Bedwell, FDEP Deputy Secretary, was the Keynote Speaker for the FGBC Awards and Recognition Banquet at GreenTrends 2005. Photo by Roy Bonnell

Some of the Founding Members of the Florida Green Building Coalition who received special recognition plaques at the FGBC Awards & Recognition Banquet at GreenTrends 2005.

Dr. Jennifer Languell of Trifecta in Naples and Dr. Charles Kibert (below)of the University of Florida in Gainesville were each elected to the FGBC board of directors.