North Florida Residential Green Building Committee 

The North Florida Residential Green Building Committee is a standing committee of the US Green Building Council of North Florida.  This committee makes an effort to educate the residential building industry and the public of North Florida about the benefits of green building and remodeling.  We want the most sustainable homes possible to be built here.  We would like to see North Florida a state leader in sustainable housing by 2015 and a national leader by 2020.

Monthly Meetings: Third Tuesday of each month 11:30am-1:30pm; HabiJax Restore Conference Room; 5800 Beach Boulevard, Jacksonville

Chair: Wally Conway, HomePro Inspection Inc. - wally@gohomepro.com

Vice Chair: David Reed, JEA Conservation Programs - reeddm@jea.com

Secretary: Al Tilley, Retired Professor, UNF -- atilley@unf.edu

In whatever it does, the Residential Green Building Committee promotes a holistic approach and adheres to the basic principles of green building.  The holistic approach considers the home as a whole, paying attention to what each change does to the home’s general performance.  The principles of sustainable building include the following: 

• THE SITE.  Do minimal harm to the selected site and the nearby habitat before, during, and after construction work.
• ENERGY.  The goal is that the home be as energy efficient as is compatible with the project.  The home should use renewable energy, and even produce its own, as feasible.
• WATER.  The home should be designed to minimize release of nitrogen, phosphorus, pesticides, and other pollutants into the aquifer and the water system.  Rain water should be harvested to provide irrigation, and other steps should be considered to minimize potable water usage.
• DURABILITY.  Homes should be highly durable.  The home should be designed with an eye to long-term use as well as to efficiency.  Consumable features should be designed for recycling.  Modular designs often serve the ends of reuse. 
• WASTE.  The waste stream should be designed to be minimal before, during, and after construction.  Home waste should be composted and recycled as feasible.
• PERFORMANCE.  The home’s performance should be optimized through good building science and quality assurance control.
• MATERIALS.  The materials used should be from recycled sources where possible, and should be from local sources or nearby sources, where that can be accomplished.  They should be cleanly and sustainably produced.
• COMFORT.  The home should provide a comfortable environment.
• HEALTH.  The indoor air quality should be excellent.  Materials should not release volatile organic compounds or other health hazards.  The house should be designed so as to avoid the growth of molds.  The lighting and views of the outside should provide a sense of contact with the natural world where possible.
• CARBON FOOTPRINT.  The entire construction project should be designed so as to preserve our climate by producing a minimum of greenhouse gasses.

The Residential Green Building Committee has two working subteams: 

• Education & Marketing team -- Team Leader: Mike Bonts mbonts@renaissancecreative.com, and 
• Policy, Economics, and Finance team -- Team Leader: Tom Goldsbury (tomg@coj.net).  The last has become a subcommittee of the City of Jacksonville’s Subdivision Standards Policy Advisory Council but continues to operate as well within the RGBC.

Anyone is welcome to join and help the Residential Green Building Committee. 

If you would like further information on green building and remodeling, you might start with the following sources:

• List of web resources
• Green Building Certification Programs