Benefits
The California Green Builder program features homes that annually save thousands of kilowatts of energy, thousands of gallons of water and acres of trees. The program encourages voluntary partnerships between builders and local governments to build cost-effective, green homes that benefit homebuyers and the community at large. Builders who embrace CGB differentiate themselves in the marketplace through resource efficiency. Documentable savings is a plus for local officials who must record greenhouse gas emissions and water conservation efforts. The California Green Builder homebuyers benefit from lower energy costs while their home makes less impact on the environment.
Builder Benefits
The California Green Builder program is consistent throughout California. Local jurisdictions may provide recognition, improved plan check, advantages in the entitlement process and/or lower fees to CGB builders. The CGB programs provides builders point of purchase marketing support, product differentiation, ability to enter CBIA Golden Nugget Award competition for California Green Builders, and website linking to CGB communities.
Rater Benefits
The California Green Builder program provides HERS rater an opportunity to provide services to builders who want to differentiate their communities. It also provides raters and opportunity to be found with a link to their website from CGB’s.
Homebuyers Benefits
Studies show that homebuyers think building green is the way of the future. Homeowners want less impact on the environment, lower energy bills, and cleaner air. They find that after moving into their new, CGB homes that reduced utility bills provide long-term savings, and find their homes require less maintenance.
Buying a CGB home:
- Produces a feeling of satisfaction at having done something good for the environment
- Improves indoor comfort level, reducing dust, pollen, and other pollutants
- Saves money on utility bills over the life of the home
- Helps conserve precious natural resources, such as wood and water
- Helps lessen the impact on local landfills
Jurisdiction Benefits
The California Green Builder program helps local jurisdictions throughout California comply with the stringent requirements of the California Integrated Waste Management Act (AB939). CGB also helps jurisdictions deal with challenging and complex water issues. Jurisdictions find that the voluntary CGB program addresses water conservation in a realistic, win-win scenario. Government and jurisdiction officials perceive CGB builders as being better stewards of the land than non-green builders. CGB offers building officials and builders an opportunity to work together to improve the quality of life within the community.