Green Building Questions Answered Here!

Metro, the City of Portland , Multnomah , Washington and Clackamas Counties want to ensure you know about their joint community resource the Regional Green Building Hotline. The Hotline provides practical and impartial information about green home strategies, resources and incentives for new and existing commercial and residential projects in the region. We’ll answer your questions about ways to reduce your carbon footprint, renewable energy, indoor air quality, salvage, training workshops and more. The Hotline is a bridge to the information, programs and local resources to help you be as green as you would like to be.

Inquiries are welcomed from homeowners, renters, real estate professionals, non-profits, contractors, students, developers, business owners and design professionals in the tri-county area. It is the Hotline’s intent to inspire callers (not overwhelm!) to incorporate as many sustainable choices, either material or behavioral, into their projects as possible. The Hotline can also help callers overcome barriers and obstacles they have around green building.

A great place to start is right where you are, know which resources are available and take it one day at a time. How can you get money back on my stormwater/sewer bill? What actions can you take to save on your home energy use? Where can you tour a green home? When is the next class on rain gardens? What is the WaterSense label? How can I retrofit my house to age-in-place? Can I get a rebate for planting a tree? Call us!

The FREE Regional Green Building Hotline can help! 503.823.5431
http://www.buildgreen411.com/
we tweet! @greenhotline
join us on Facebook: Green Development Resource Center .

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me on the Hotline at 503-823-5431.

Best wishes,
Valerie Garrett

How do I know where to start saving energy?

You could be wasting as much as 60 percent of the energy used to heat and cool your home. Leaky ducts, inefficient equipment, poor insulation and air leaks may be inflating your energy costs. To find out what is causing the energy loss, use an online Home Energy Analyzer or schedule a Home Energy Review with Energy Trust of Oregon. An energy advisor will come to your home when it’s convenient, spend an hour walking with you through your home and visually assessing typical areas of energy loss. After the review, you’ll get customized recommendations on where to start, plus information on cash incentives available when you improve the energy efficiency of your home. Sign-up online at www.energytrust.org/her for your Home Energy Review.  Or call 1.866.368.7878 for homeowners to set-up an appointment.

Solarize Northeast -- Enroll by April 15

Solarize Northeast, a volunteer-driven, community-based volume purchasing project for solar electric panels organized by Portland's Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods (NECN), expects to create over 20 new green jobs in the Portland area in the coming months. The project is designed to simplify the process of going solar as well as bring significant cost reductions through volume purchasing. Enrollment for the group purchase program is now open at http://solarize.necoalition.org and closes April 15.

The program is structured so that the price of solar panel installation goes down for everybody as more neighbors join the effort. Group purchasing creates a 25 to 35 percent savings below current prices, depending on how many sign up. This group discount, in addition to current available tax credits and cash incentives, gives Solarize Northeast participants a significant cost savings. These are the lowest prices ever seen in Portland for solar installations. Information is available at http://solarize.necoalition.org.

-- By David Sweet, SCA Land Use and Transportation chair and key Solarize NE organizer