Good news for contractors regarding the new Lead based paint law.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
www.nahb.org


NAHB Applauds EPA'S Decision to Delay Lead Paint Certification Enforcement

WASHINGTON, June 21--The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decision to delay enforcement of the new Lead: Renovation, Repair and Painting rule will provide much-needed time to get more remodelers and other contractors trained - and for EPA to get the word out to consumers about the importance of hiring a certified remodeler, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

"EPA listened to our concerns and did the right thing," said NAHB Chairman Bob Jones, a builder and developer in Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

In revised guidance released on Friday, EPA acknowledged that remodelers in many parts of the country have been unable to obtain the required training to comply with the rule - a problem that NAHB has urged the agency to solve since the rule was announced two years ago.

The issue came to a head in May after floods devastated parts of Tennessee and there weren't enough certified remodelers to complete much-needed home repairs. NAHB and its state home builders association proposed a delay in enforcing the rule -- a decision EPA consented to in its letter on Friday.

While remodelers, electricians, heating and air conditioning technicians and other contractors must adhere to lead-safe work practices, including special equipment filters and a ban on open flames, EPA will not take enforcement action against firms that have been unable to obtain certification until Oct. 1 of this year.

Individual contractors must apply to enroll in a training class by Sept. 30 and complete the training by Dec. 31, 2010.

"This rule potentially affects about 79 million homeowners. That's how many homes were built before 1978, when lead paint was banned," Jones said. "We need significantly more contractors certified than the 300,000 who have taken the training course, and we also need to make sure that affected homeowners understand the importance of hiring a certified contractor."

Homeowners can find a certified firm at this link. Remodelers can search for an EPA-approved training provider at this link or contact their local home builders association here to find Certified Renovator training sessions.


ABOUT NAHB: The National Association of Home Builders is a Washington-based trade association representing more than 175,000 members involved in home building, remodeling, multifamily construction, property management, subcontracting, design, housing finance, building product manufacturing and other aspects of residential and light commercial construction. NAHB is affiliated with more than 800 state and local home builders associations around the country.

Not an option, but a responsibility

"Green is not a trend, but a standard operating procedure
- not an option, but a responsibility"
~Eric Tetuan, Chief Operations Officer, Production Glue, L.L.C., New York
I saw this in a report on the future of meetings and the industry. I was on the site researching for my position of Direector of Marketing for Rancho Capistrano as I was planning for this year's marketing campaign. Like most businesses these days, we are adding more green and sustainable features and services to our conference center operations. We have reduced the use of disposables, use water in urns and not bottled water when possible, and use flowers from our property for centerpieces.

I wholeheartedly believe this statement about green being standard operating procedure.

I know green is seen as a trend, as so many companies have jumped on the green bandwagon. Real Estate, which is probably the largest purchase most people make, is clearly important when it comes to sustainability and all things green. And green homes will become standard operating procedure when it comes to construction practices and (I hope) in recycling pre-owned homes. (As I can help you do!)

The best part is green homes are more energy efficient, thus saving money, have healthier indoor air quality, which helps families live healthier, and also reduces the home's carbon footprint on the planet. This sounds like great standard operating procedure to me!!!

Green Building and Real Estate is Booming in So Cal!

I went to the HUD Symposium on Green Building last week at Chapman University, and came back with my brain and bag loaded with great information. We got to see an abbreviated version of "An Inconvenient Truth" presented by the Climate Project. http://www.climateproject.org/ and I was so encouraged to see the government was presenting this! I think the ostrich's head is finally out of the sand! Anyway, I made some great connections with mortgage lenders with tons of experience with EEMs (Energy Efficient Mortgages -see my post from: April 27, 2009) and Energy Auditors, Certified Build it Green Companies, and so much more.

Also found out about some great programs where foreclosures are purchased by non-profits, remodeled green, then offered at a great discount to low income families. The families are helped with their down payment and also with part of the purchase price through HUD grants and these programs. More info on this can be found at: www.enterprisecommunity.org/about/media/news_releases/.../RNLA_pr_2009.pdf

The organizers of the symposium promised to post all the power point presentations on the web soon, so I will post the link when I get it for everyone. In the meantime, I have loads of information on my website: http://www.socalgreenrealty.com/ or http://www.ocgreenrealty.com/

TELE-BLOG AND WRITTEN BLOG

You may not be aware that I post a green tele-blog on my voice mail each week with green tips. Check it out at: 949-306-3854. I've decided to start doing a different green tip each week here on this written blog also.

Green tip of the week:

The HUD Symposium's presentation of the Climate Project reminded me that:

If you have not seen "An Inconvenient Truth"by Al Gore (who by the way won an Academy Award and a Nobel Prize for this work!) see it now! More information and resources can be found on http://www.theclimateproject.org/, http://www.wecansolveit.org/, http://www.realclimate.org/

Discover why the issue of Global Warming is so very important and be encouraged, as we are taking a lot of steps as a country and world to deal with it. I believe human ingenuity can and will come up with solutions to every problem.