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Earth Craft Homes

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18 2008

At Green Drinks Warrenton last night I had the opportunity to talk with Anthony Palladino from Golden Rule Builders about Earth Craft Homes.

I was aware of the Earth Craft Homes but hadn't realized that Golden Rule was a certified Earth Craft builder. It's great to have local builders who are excited about green building! And, having worked with Golden Rule for years, I know they're good people!

Earth Craft Homes are homes that are, by design, more energy efficient and environmentally friendly. The standards and scoring system are different than the LEED standards. The Earth Craft designation comes in three levels, Earth Craft House, Earth Craft House Select and Earth Craft House Premium. You need a progressively higher number of points to achieve each certification. There's a worksheet on the Earth Craft web site that shows how points are accumulated.

Earth Craft homes can cost slightly more money up front. But weigh that against the energy cost savings you'll get every month for as long as you own that home.

I'm excited to see more and more activity around green building locally. And, if you haven't been to a Green Drinks meeting yet, you're missing out!

Thanks for the kind words, Julie and congratulations on receiving your EcoBroker designation! Your role in the building industry cannot be overlooked. I am so glad that you obviously realize the value in green construction and the critical importance of pricing these products fairly. Let's both of us do our part to educate the appraisers as well.

I had a chance to visit www.EcoBroker.com - very informative! I mentioned our conversation [about green awareness] to Joel Barkman, President (Golden Rule Builders); and Dennis Reitz (Vice President and Remodeling Manager) - we find your efforts to be very uplifting.

Thanks again for taking an interest in EarthCraft and Golden Rule Builders. We take our role in the community very seriously. We have just recently received the distinction of building the first EarthCraft certified home in Prince William County. The home scored a 56 on the HERS index, which further distinguished Golden Rule as the first builder in Virginia to accept and exceed the U.S. Department of Energy’s “Builder’s Challenge”. Find out more about the DOE program at:

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings...

Also be sure to read what the Fauquier-Times’ Bill Walsh had to say about us in his August column.

http://www.fauquier.com/news/2008/aug...

Posted by apalladino

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