Award-winning green builder Don Ferrier, of Ferrier Custom Homes, based in Fort Worth, Texas, relies on the Internet, conferences and his customers to stay abreast of the latest information about green building, energy efficiency and building science in order to meet consumer demand for green homes.

The information also helps him keep up with increasingly stringent energy codes.

Ferrier, who has been building energy-efficient homes since 1982 and has won numerous EnergyValue Housing Awards (EVHA) and National Green Building Awards, said he continually searches myriad sources for new information that he can use to develop new ideas and hone his company’s building techniques in order to maintain an edge over his competition.

Because “green building information is exploding,” Ferrier said, sifting through all the information available online to find those really valuable nuggets can be challenging.

One source of information that Ferrier finds particularly useful is the online NAHB Green Scoring Tool of the National Green Building Program. “When we go through the scoring process step by step, I discover details that I never thought of before, and some are very easy to implement,” Ferrier said

He said he also finds the  EnergyValue Housing Award program beneficial, not only because of the market differentiation it provides program winners, but because it enables him to network and share advances in green building with other EVHA builders.

Heather Ferrier, general manager at Ferrier Custom Homes, said the EVHA application process is also an effective learning tool. “It’s a great process to go through to ensure that every level of energy-efficiency is installed and performing as we specified,” she said. “The award’s documentation process is lengthy, but it provides benchmarks to help guide our process.”

Don Ferrier also finds conferences on green building and energy-efficiency great sources of information. While he admits that he serves as a presenter and expert speaker at many of the conferences, he attends as many sessions of interest as he can. “There is always something to learn when you see what others are doing,” he said.

Another information source that Ferrier finds valuable is the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building America program.

Some ideas Ferrier garnered from the program are simple – such as making his trade contractors responsible for flashing and sealing any building envelope penetrations that they make. Until implementing the suggestion from Building America, the builder would do the repair work needed.

“Now, if a plumber puts a hose bib through a wall or an electrician runs power to an air conditioning compressor, we supply the details and they are responsible for the work,” Ferrier said.

One other source of information Ferrier finds valuable is his clients, who come to him with ideas and suggestions for their homes. He doesn’t dismiss a customer’s idea outright; he’d rather “look at it and see if it makes sense.” To compensate for the exploratory time, however, Ferrier charges for estimates and offers clients design services for an hourly fee.

Source: www.nahb.org

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