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Sue Firpo’s next residential project is consulting on the design of a sustainable new home outside Centralia, Washington. Her clients are especially interested in capturing as much water as possible on site and storing it in cisterns.
Firpo is excited because she will be applying recently gained knowledge. She just earned her certified Sustainable Homes Professional (SHP) designation last month when she successfully completed the six-weekend course at Earth Advantage Institute. “I plan on reaching deep into the wealth of information that I have taken away from this class to design this home,” says Firpo.
Builders and designers in Portland and Bend – both newcomers and old hands at residential construction – are using their extra time during the economic slowdown to deepen their knowledge of sustainable design and develop new sustainability credentials that help them secure more business.
Even with the downturn, the number of certified sustainable homes has risen from 9 to 16 percent in Oregon, and these industry professionals intend to get a share of the growing pie. They say there is no other organization that offers such cutting-edge information and hands-on practice. The course enables them to apply their passion of constructing high performance homes while using sustainable building techniques and improved business methods.
“As a designer and builder, I had experimented a bit in alternative construction methods, such as straw bale, cob, and timber framing,” says Firpo, who runs her own business, SL Firpo Design/Craft. “I knew that I was a novice but I thought I knew a bit about ‘green practices.’ The SHP class has enabled me to develop strategies in my business for analyzing how water, air, and energy flows affect a home’s performance. A new understanding of how buildings perform and how that performance affects the environment everyday has given me a new outlook on ‘green.’”
“I’ve been in residential construction for 30 years, and this class is changing the way that I’ve been building up to now,” says Michael Scannell of WoodCraft Building Inc. “Currently, I’m in the planning stages of a home that will be built to the Oregon High Performance Home standard in Northwest Crossing, a development in Bend.”
For Noah Moore, the SHP class went beyond green construction practices to encouraging fundamental lifestyle changes. Moore’s company, Marin Development, is working on launching a line of next generation homes - E1, E2, and E3. E1 happens to be the home that Moore chose for his class project and the clients are very happy with the final product.
Not only are graduates using this training to further their own businesses, they are using what they’ve learned to mentor emerging green builders who attend the ACE Academy Charter School. The Academy combines rigorous academic and technical education for juniors and seniors interested in career tracks in the design build industry.
The six-month (two days per month) Sustainable Homes Professional certification course helps participants develop the technical skills and knowledge required to design and build high performance homes. Each two-day module integrates lecture and discussion, hands-on exercises and tours of homes with ENERGY STAR, Earth Advantage® New Homes, and LEED for Homes certification. Outside work includes homework assignments, readings and a final project that students can apply to real life. Earth Advantage Institute’s expert instructors have used building science and sustainability practices to construct award-winning homes, and they share practical tips that won’t be found anywhere else.
Most of the modules in this course can also be taken individually. The full course schedule and details can be found at Eart Advantage Institute’s web siteor by contacting the organization. The Portland, OR course begins January 22 & 23, 2010 and the Bend, OR course begins - January 15 & 16, 2010. General admission is $1,625; builders and designers may inquire about available discounts.
About Earth Advantage Institute
Earth Advantage Institute (earthadvantage.org) seeks to create an immediate, practical and cost-effective path to sustainability and carbon reduction in the built environment. A nonprofit group, it achieves its objectives through a blend of innovative certification, education and technical service programs aimed at the building industry and homeowners. It has certified more than 11,000 healthy, sustainable homes in the Northwest.
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tbreunig[.]earthadvantage.org 
