Tucson leads the way for green homes and Earth Day

Just in time for our coming Earth Day celebration, there is a renewed interest in green homes in Tucson. Our city is tapping into this new enthusiasm for our environment by launching the Pima County Regional Residential Green Building Standards program. This is a brand new certification effort by the city dedicated to helping homeowners and professionals complete projects that are focused on sustainability for our desert environment. This certification program recently enacted by Tucson is voluntary, and is consolidated with the home building permit and inspection process. Homes are rated and awarded points for environmentally-responsible criteria in categories including: Location; Lot Design & Development; Resource Efficiency; Energy Efficiency; Water Efficiency; Indoor Environmental Quality; Operation, Maintenance & Owner Education. Around the country you’ve heard a lot of talk about the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) and how it has doubled its LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) network across the United States. This will allow more local access to green home building expertise, since LEED-certified green homes complete comprehensive inspections to validate energy efficiency, water conservation and other environmental features. Although the Pima County program is not exactly the same thing as LEED Green Home Certification, this rating system was developed specifically to address the needs of Pima County and is available at no additional cost. Once the process is completed, a homeowner or professional can receive a certificate and will be eligible to obtain a building plaque commemorating the achievement. You can check out southwest green home building resources, and get additional environmental information about recycling or alternative fuels at Tucson’s upcoming Earth Day celebration, to be held Saturday, April 19 at Reid Park, beginning at 9am. Attend and enjoy exhibits, a parade, festival treats and music during this fun, family-friendly event. Learn how Tucson living can be green as well as fabulous!