Home building in Austin is greener than ever.

Long known for its save-the-planet ways, the city continues to be a national leader in producing eco-friendly homes, says Richard Morgan, Austin Energy’s green building manager.

More than 20 percent of homes built in the Austin Energy service area now are being rated green by the city program, Morgan says. The city always ranks among the top 10 in the country in green production – and by some reckonings, the city ranks No. 1, Morgan says.

“Over the last few years, we’ve been rating anywhere from 18 to 23 percent of homes ? more than 1,000 homes each year,” Morgan says. “It was probably about 24 percent last year.

“Even with the downturn, we’re still rating a lot of homes.”

Worth noting is the number of green-certified homes built in Austin by production builders, Morgan says.

“One of the interesting things that’s happening in Austin is, early on back in the 1990s, everybody assumed green building would be for high-end custom homes, but now probably about 90 percent of what we rate are built by production builders. In most places, it’s the custom builders doing green, but here, the production builders have really adopted green. And that is something that’s unique to Austin.”  Click Here For More. . .

By Carrie Alexander
SPECIAL TO THE AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Sunday, May 10, 2009