Shawnee home builders go green under adoption of new guidelines

Shawnee News-Star
Posted May 24, 2008 @ 09:36 PM

SHAWNEE, Okla. — The Oklahoma State Home Builders Association (OSHBA) is adopting stringent national guidelines by the National Association of Home Builders Green Building program.
“We really did not want to reinvent the wheel,” said Todd Booze, OSHBA’s Green Building Council chairman. “Our national association has spent a lot of time and effort in establishing the guidelines for an across-the-board approach to green building. We felt that the adoption of this program for our members was the most prudent choice.”
Link Cowen, president of the Shawnee Home Builders Association, said the national association will soon announce it is the only green building program certified by the American National Standards Institute. The Shawnee Home Builders Association is under the umbrella of the state association.
Cowen said this makes for a true third-party certification, setting the gold standard for all programs for consistency of product.
The move is designed to bring confidence to the consumer.
David Ritchie, OSHBA president, said the state association wanted to make sure the OSHBA program was not just a “green washing,” which means someone is claiming to build green without it truly being a comprehensive program.
OSHBA is demonstrating an early commitment to the program with the current renovation of the organization’s headquarters in Oklahoma City. Everything from the heat pump to installation of fluorescent lighting follows the green guidelines.
The carpeting is even produced from a recycled product.
Ritchie said, “I can say green building is the future, but the proof is ‘what are you doing?’ Our renovated headquarters will demonstrate that first step.”