Attendees gather for the 2016 Earth Advantage Green Builder of the Year Awards luncheon and ceremony at Blackberry Hall, McMenamin’s Edgefield.
What are the awards?
Earth Advantage will soon host a panel of three outside judges–drawn from the Oregon building and real estate community–to deliberate and award the 2017 Green Builder of the Year honors.
Begun in 2012, this will be the 6th year that Earth Advantage has recognized outstanding achievements in energy efficient and sustainable building practices by those developers and builders certifying their homes to the Earth Advantage Homes, Earth Advantage Multi-family, or LEED for Homes green building standards.
The judges oversee a process that grants twelve different awards across a broad spectrum of categories. Award categories include Zero Energy Builder of the Year, Custom Builder of the Year, Volume Builder of the Year, Hall of Fame Builder of the Year, Multi-family Project Team of the Year, and Lowest EPS Score of the Year. The Energy Performance Score (EPS), by Energy Trust of Oregon, is the energy consumption metric used by the Earth Advantage Home Certification program to award performance based energy points in their green building program. There is also a thirteenth award, but this one is determined by Earth Advantage residential team members.
Since 2015 the Earth Advantage technical field staff have independently voted for the Construction Manager of the Year. After all, they know who runs the most efficient job sites and produces sustainable buildings with the minimum amount of delay in the construction schedule. While the first twelve awards are presented to a building company, the Construction Manager of the Year award has the individual’s name engraved on the plaque.
Who is Earth Advantage?
Earth Advantage is a nonprofit, green home certification program that guides builders in constructing energy efficient, healthy, durable homes with minimal waste of resources. With over 15,000 single family homes and 7,000 multifamily units certified in the Pacific Northwest, Earth Advantage is a leader in advancing the goal of creating better buildings in our region. One of the oldest green building programs in the country, with roots dating back to 1992, Earth Advantage is the largest green building program in the nation that inspects the homes they certify with their own in-house staff of technical field inspectors. This wealth of experience has led them to become one of the most active providers of the LEED for Homes green building certification in the country.
Builders from all across Oregon have been recognized for outstanding leadership in green building practices.
A group of Earth Advantage builders enjoy a round of golf after the awards in 2015, an annual part of the event.
Central Oregon leader SolAire Homebuilders has been recognized as an Earth Advantage Hall of Fame Builder and Woodcraft Building, Inc. has won the Custom Builder of the Year category. What really sets the Central Oregon builders apart from the rest of Oregon is the category Lowest EPS Score of the Year. Three times Central Oregon builders have won this category, which almost always means the homes have EPS scores approaching zero (0). To put it another way, these homes are Zero Energy homes, meaning they consume so little energy that on-site renewable energy production through the use of solar photovoltaic panels provides 90% or more of their annual energy load. Timberline Construction, WH Hull Company, and Woodcraft Building, Inc. have all won Earth Advantage’s Lowest EPS Score of the Year award.
Portland area builders have demonstrated the regionC”B Bs deep commitment to green building. Noyes Development exemplifies this leadership role, having won Volume Builder of the Year in 2013 and 2014, Hall of Fame Builder in 2015, as well as Most Platinum Certified Homes in 2015. Everett Custom Homes has been recognized as Volume Builder of the Year in 2015 and 2016, and they also were awarded for the Most Platinum Certified Homes in 2016. In addition to Noyes Development, Hall of Fame builders from the Portland area include Stone Bridge Homes NW, Ethan Beck Homes and Marnella Homes.
The Salem builder most recognized has been Bilyeu Homes, who was the Zero Energy Builder of the Year in 2016, in addition to winning the award for Custom Builder of the Year in 2015.
Who are the judges?
The judges for the 2017 Green Builder of the Year awards are Hilary Bourassa, Thomas Anreise and Kaitlin Torney.
Hilary is the principal broker at PDX Green Team. Passionate and well versed in sustainable building features and technology, she’s an accredited Earth Advantage Broker and an ADU specialist.
Thomas is a Technical Manager at CLEAResult. A well-known building scientist throughout the Pacific Northwest, Thomas launched Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance’s Next Step Homes program several years ago and is currently managing their Efficient Home Initiative.
Kaitlin is the Sustainability & Education manager at the Portland Metro Home Builders Association. In addition to running the HBA’s Home Performance Council, Kaitlin is in charge of the annual BuildRight conference in Portland and other events throughout the year that train appraisers to correctly assign the proper value to high performance homes.
Left to right: David Heslam, Executive Director – Earth Advantage John Mead, Founder – Cellar Ridge Construction Carson Benner, Director of Construction – Cellar Ridge Construction
I know the award winners are working hard to use less energy and take care of our environment – because it’s the right thing to do! What recognition do they receive?
Award winners are presented with beautiful and sustainable bamboo plaques, as well as a full suite of 2017 Green Builder of the Year digital logos (for print and internet use) specific to the awards they won. Additionally, past award winners are listed on the Earth Advantage web site. Judging takes place on August 10, 2017 and the winners are announced on September 7 at the annual Earth Advantage Golf Invitational and Luncheon.
For more information on Earth Advantage’s Green builder of the Year awards, click here.
Written by: Peter Brown; Earth Advantage- Director of Building Certifications
