Congratulations 2012 HBADE Board

Congratulations to all our clients and friends that were officially sworn in last Saturday night as the new Officers and Directors of the Home Builders Association of Delaware. Everyone looked sharp as tuxedo's were the call of the evening for gents, formal gowns for the ladies.

Special congratulations to Fred Fortunato of Benchmark Builders as the new President for 2012. This is a special honor for us since Fred joins the list of second generation families to serve as President. Steven L. Fortunato, father of Fred and this blogger, was President of HBADE in 1970.

It is an honor to be part of HBADE, an association of builders and associate members looking to further the interests of housing in Delaware.

Green for Green Helps New Homeowners

Ted Williams and Howard Fortunato were honored today to help Habitat for Humanity of New Castle County and Home Builders Association of Delaware present SEU-sponsored Green for Green rebate checks to two new Habitat homes at Terrace Green in Wilmington.

Habitat and the homeowners built the homes to achieve Silver Certification in the National Green Building Certification Program which means their homes were built to be 15% more energy efficient than other new homes built to the State energy code. Plus not to mention all the other features of certified green homes - water efficiency, improved indoor air quality, etc. To achieve certification, LandmarkJCM performed the Verification Inspections. Pictured are Kevin Smith of Habitat, Jen Casey of Home Builders, Ted Williams, Geneva Wilson homeowner, Maurice Boddy homeowner, and Howard Fortunato

Great News from Delaware General Assembly!

The Delaware 146th General Assembly recessed on Wednesday June 30, 2011 for the year.

A highlight came on June 28, 2011 when the HBADE represented by Mark Grahne, Steve Bomberger and Fred Fortunato were recognized on the floor of the House as House Concurrent Resolution #24 sponsored by Representative Brady was passed. This Resolution Recognizes and Proclaims June as "New Homes Month".

In addition, the Delaware Green for Green Program received additional funds to extend it through 2012 and hopefully into 2013 with an additional $500,000 set aside for rebates for homebuyers of Green certified Homes!

Congrats Mark, Steve and Fred! And thank you Jen Casey for your advocacy to help Delaware provide this successful funding for such a wonderful program! Of course it goes without saying we thank our State officials to provide the funding!

Happy Fourth of July to all!

NAHB Research Center Announces 2,000th Certified Project

The NAHB Research Center announced last week their 2,000th Green Certified Project in the Nation. Certified projects are almost all single family homes, but they also include remodeling, multifamily projects and site certifications such as this one. Congrats to the NAHB Research Center and the developer of this project in Cecil County Maryland. The link to the article is below.

We are happy to see the National Green Building Certification Program explode, a worthy accomplishment which is helping to support the housing economy. Of course here in Delaware, we have a lot of green to brag about. Our HBADE created the Green for Green homebuyer rebate program in conjunction with State DNREC officials. Delaware ranks #1 on a per-capita basis for the number of certified green homes in the nation. And while our many fine builders and clients in Delaware are embracing green, just last April Bestfield Homes in Delaware achieved the 1,000th certified green home project in the nation.

LandmarkJCM is happy to help all our clients build green, we are the most experienced Accredited Verifiers in Delaware. We're always happy to tell you about it, call Howard Fortunato at 302-323-9377 for information.

2,000th Green Certified Project link: http://www.nahbrc.com/news/pressreleases/rc_20110214.aspx

Congratulations to our Friends and Colleagues

The Homebuilder's Association of Delaware (HBADE) celebrated a Leadership and Legacy Ball on Saturday night.

Mark Gandy of Bath, Kitchen and Tile was honored as Associate of the Year.

Shari Hendley of J.S. Hovnanian was given the President's Distinguished Service Award.

Bob Thornton of Silverstock Builders was honored as the Builder of the Year.

Congratulations to them and to all of the Executive Committee Members and Board Members who were sworn in (see list here).

Roesville's First Green for Green Success!

Yesterday, Mr. and Mrs. Moran, formerly of New York, received their ceremonial $3,000 rebate as the first recipient at Roesville of the new DNREC/SEU Green for Green program! Because J.S. Hovnanian and Sons built and delivered the home in Felton, Delaware that earned Silver Certification from the National Green Building Certification Program, Mr and Mrs Moran received the rebate!


Pictured from left includes Jim McCulley, Principal of LandmarkJCM; Howard Fortunato representing the Green Accredited Verifiers at LandmarkJCM and the HBADE Green Building Council; Don Yoos of J.S. Hovnanian & Sons; Mr & Mrs. Mr. & Mrs. Moran; Tammy Quiroz, Sales Manager at Roesville; and Jen Casey, EVP of Home Builders Assn of De.


We hope more buyers continue to buy homes and obtain their energy efficient, certified green homes - plus a rebate! Info at http://www.degreen4green.com/

Delaware Green for Green Picking Up Speed

Having launched only 5 months ago, the Delaware Green for Green homebuyer rebate program is really picking up speed. The initial $300,000 allocation of total rebate money, available to buyers of new-construction certified green homes in Delaware, is nearly one-third gone. Between actual paid rebates, pending applications and approved rebates awaiting settlement, nearly $100,000 has been committed/earmarked or paid. The word is spreading as new home buyers are being rewarded for buying green, energy efficient homes while assisting the local housing economy. The program was put together as a joint effort between the Home Builders Association of Delaware, DNREC, and the Delaware SEU.

Thus far, ALL of the participating homes in the program are receiving certification under the National Green Building Certification Program, the only national green building rating program to be consensus approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

Builders interested in selling more homes or buyers wanting to learn how and where to buy a new green certified home can email Howard Fortunato at howardf@landmarkjcm.com

Tour of the NAHB Research Center

Friday the Home Builder’s Green Building Council was treated to a tour of the NAHB Research Center in Maryland. Nearly 30 members - builders, associates, and Kent County inspectors attended the tour. The first part, conducted by President Mike Luzier and Green Director Michelle Desiderio was to learn about the numerous services the Research Center provides besides green home certifications, including state of the art market research and focus groups for housing and housing product clients. We learned that the Research Center’s independence from NAHB and non-biased results are without dispute as they hold many accreditations from independent national testing certification bodies.

Then Bob Hill, Director of Laboratory Services, hosted our tour of the 45,000 square foot, 4-story indoor testing facility which can evaluate all parts of housing product components - weatherization of walls, materials, and insulation, osb strength, thermal characteristics, plumbing fixtures, etc.

The Research Center congratulated our HBADE with implementing the Green for Green homebuyer rebate program which rewards new home buyers of certified green homes with cash rebates. Mike cited it as an example of a win-win partnership in Delaware between the State DNREC and SEU and HBADE. He commented that other States are looking to implement the program nationally.

Green for Green Success !

Saturday, Mr. and Mrs. Fritts received their ceremonial $3,000 rebate as the first recipients of the new DNREC/SEU Green for Green program! Because Silverstock Builders delivered the home in Ocean View Delaware that earned Silver Certification from the National Green Building Certification Program, Mr and Mrs Fritz were the first to receive a rebate, actually issued a couple weeks ago.

Reybold Development delivered the second rebate check, also Silver, to their buyer at Meridian Crossing in Bear a couple days later. Buyers are seeing the benefit of Certified Green homes!

Pictured from left includes Howard Fortunato representing the Green Accredited Verifiers at LandmarkJCM; Mr & Mrs. Fritts; Homebuilder Bob Thornton; sales rep Mary Cerami; DNREC Energy and Policy Director Carolyn Snyder; and Jen Casey, EVP of Home Builders Assn of De.

We hope more buyers continue to buy homes and obtain their energy efficient, certified green homes - plus a rebate! Info at http://www.degreen4green.com/

Another Successful Pig Roast

The Green Building Council of the HBADE held their third annual Pig Roast, and it was as popular as ever.

Several speakers promoted green building, discussing pervious pavement and house wrap. DNREC Secretary Collin O'Mara, flanked by several aides, offered his comments about our new co-jointly-assembled Green 4 Green new home rebate program. As most are aware, each home must be certified green - by the National Green Building Program, as endorsed by HBADE, or LEED.

Perfect sunny weather combined with the star of the day - the pig. Great food, a little education, a lot of marketing interaction and entertainment combined to make this a successful event.

Congrats to the Green Building Council and the HBADE.

Green Building Council Wins Award

Landmark/JCM's Howard Fortunato and Don Yoos of J.S. Hovnanian & Sons were on hand Monday night in Raleigh, NC to receive the coveted New Program of the Year Award.

Don and Howard attended the NAHB Green Building Conference which began Sunday. The highlight of the conference is the National Green Building Awards which are bestowed for several green building categories. The panel of national judges reviewed entries from across the country and awarded the Green Building Council of the HBADE as the 2010 New Program of the Year.

Big Shoes to fill for a relatively new Council, we were pleased to accept the award on behalf of the entire GBC and the Home Builders Association of Delaware. We' re pleased to show the nation that although Delaware is a small state, that Green building has taken hold here.

LandmarkJCM Captures Two Regals!

We're proud to join our client's successes, as we received two Regal Awards last Friday night!

Best Color Print Ad for an Associate Member!

Best Special Event or Promotion for an Associate Member!

When JCM Environmental and Landmark Engineering joined forces and merged to create a truly full service engineering and environmental company, we rolled out our Breaking New Ground campaign. It captured and won over the judges!

Check us out at http://www.landmarkjcm.com/ whenever we can be of assistance - engineering, surveying, environmental, pond management, green building, and the list continues on, and on...

FIRST ANNUAL GREEN FEST A SUCCESS

The First Annual Green Fest, put on by the Green Building Council and the Home Builder’s Association of Delaware, was a great success, held this past Sunday.

Held on Legislative Mall in Dover, this was the first time for this green themed earth day event. Despite somewhat cold wind, temps 50’s and sun in and out, everyone seemed to enjoy the beautiful day. There was music all day, storytelling to kids and kids friendly activities, a fashion show, exhibits and more, all taken in by an estimated 1,000 attendees.

The Air Quality Partnership of Delaware participated to educate people about air quality and they held a press conference to announce the start of the air quality monitoring season. The main speakers at the press conference was DNREC Secretary Collin O’Mara and Dover Mayor Carleton Carey.

LandmarkJCM was happy to attend and support our green building clients. The NAHB Research Center participated as an exhibitor and explained the benefits of certified green building to many attendees. Of course we brought our collection of wild critters, always a popular draw.

Congrats to all who participated, sponsored, and helped make this a reality. Special congrats to HBADE and their dedicated and tireless staff for creating and holding this exciting event. We’re sure it will become an annual event not to be missed.

Jim, Clients On the HBADE Board of Directors

At Monday's HBA/DE inaugural luncheon, Jim McCulley was again sworn in as a Board member. What's different this time is that Jim is an Officer and Member of the Executive Commitee! This can only help strengthen the Home Builders, as Jim's participation and involvement will continue on this new level. Besides being a long serving Board member and earlier winner of the Associate of the Year and the President's Award, Jim is the authority on responsible environmental issues for HBA/DE and the Board. He also represents Landmark/JCM and Delaware as a member of the NAHB Board of Directors and their Environmental Committee as well. That's Jim on the far end (photo by Jay Greene).

Also we're pleased to congratulate Fred Fortunato of Benchmark Builders (first on nearest end), Scott Bradley of Bestfield Homes (mr. beard) and Kevin Whittaker (second from left) of Whittaker Homes. All are clients of ours, for inauguration onto the Board of Directors. Fred becomes the Senior Vice President, Scott is our Vice President representing Kent County and Kevin VP for New Castle County. Not shown but also sworn onto the Board are clients: Steve Bomberger, Immediate Past President; Don Yoos of J.S. Hovnanian and Sons, and Bob Thornton of Silverstock Builders. The oath of office was administered by our client Kevin Kelly of Leon Weiner & Assoc.

Way to go guys!

Howard is a Big Winner

Howard Fortunato, manager of the Green Systems Division at Landmark/JCM http://www.landmarkjcm.com/ was presented with the Associate of the Year award from the Homebuilder's Association of Delaware (HBADE).

Here is a link to the Delaware State News Article: LINK

Howard has been the President of the HBADE Green Building Council for two years and has been instrumental in advancing green residential construction in Delaware.  Howard assisted Silverstock Builders in building the first Gold Certified Home under the NAHB Green Building Guidelines in the Nation and has assisted many builders in building green homes in the State.

Congratulations Howard!

You can reach Howard at howard@jcmenv.com

Meeting with EPA on Chesapeake Bay

Jim and Keith Rudy met this morning in Kent Island, MD with builders from Maryland and Delaware and representatives from the U.S. E.P.A. to discuss the upcoming initiatives related to the Chesapeake Bay Executive Order.

According to EPA, the States now have draft TMDL numbers and should be developing implementation plans.  It was clear from the discussions that EPA is leaning towards recommending no new development in the basin with 2:1 offsets for nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment.

You Wanted Change...You Are Getting It!

Jim presented a summary of the new environmental initiatives at the Federal level that are coming out of the Obama Administration at a Homebuilders Association of Delaware (HBADE) breakfast this morning.

These new initiatives cover everything from storm water, wetlands, nutrients and climate change.

HBADE will be sponsoring additional seminars in Kent County and Sussex County in the coming weeks.

For more information, contact Jim at jim@jcmenv.com

Seminar Announced

Jim McCulley will be presenting a brief update on Federal Environmental Issues on October 28th at a breakfast meeting jointly sponsored by JCM Environmental and the Homebuilders Association of Delaware.



Register or get more details here:



http://guest.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Agenda.aspx?i=e75958cc-bd18-43d4-807a-412d576df0cb



Some of the topics are:

Post construction SWM facility maintenance
Clean Water Act Enforcement
Effluent Limitation Guidelines (due in December)
Smarter Growth Options
Climate Change Legislation
Great Lakes Restoration Plan
Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Legislation
Chesapeake Bay TMDL and Legislation

HBADE Home Show Highlights Green Building and Living

Despite the rainy, windy and cold weather this past weekend, lots of people trekked to the Chase Center in Wilmington to attend the Home Builder's Home Show.

Attendees at the show were able to see many different green-minded products from hundreds of vendors. Our Green Building Council (including Howard and many of our clients and colleagues) staffed a booth and provided answers for the people asking various questions about green and reminding them to look for the NAHB certified green logo on new construction in order to make sure they were really buying a green home and not getting greenwashed.

Jim McCulley was a featured speaker, talking about green building and how to avoid greenwashing. Other speakers included DNREC Secreatry Collin O'Mara, Ralph Nigro who spoke about the stimulus package, and UD students who presented green energy seminars.

Meeting with Senator Carper

Jim McCulley was part of a small group from the Homebuilders Association of Delaware to meet with Senator Carper yesterday on housing issues.

Discussed were:

1. Extension and broadening of home buyers tax credit

2. Problems with appraisal process

3. Problems with Mortgage and A.D. and C. lending practices.

The Senator was very gracious in extending time to us and we believe that he will bring our ideas back to the Senate when they are back in session.

For more details contact Jim at jim@jcmenv.com