Build It Green

Build It Green,

... a professional non-profit membership organization whose mission is to promote healthy, energy and resource-efficient buildings in California. Supported by a solid foundation of outreach and education, Build It Green connects consumers and building professionals with the tools and technical expertise they need to build quality green buildings.

Build it Green is featured in a great article about green construction, in the NY Times:

... “The consumers are far ahead of the contractors,” said Dan Taddei, director of education for the National Association of the Remodeling Industry, which represents 5,000 remodeling companies, most of which do not emphasize green building.

Although green projects make up only a small minority of renovations, he said, growing consumer interest, along with a lack of expertise among remodelers, spurred the association to start a pilot training program in green remodeling this fall. It plans to introduce a certification by spring.

While no one tracks the number of environmentally friendly remodeling projects, other groups also say they have seen a climb in interest. Build It Green, a nonprofit organization that provides free advice to homeowners in the San Francisco area, says inquiries have risen since 2003, to roughly 150 calls a month, from around 20.

“There’s been a significant uptick in the volume of people who are doing additions or remodels and want to know where to get green building materials or find architects or contractors,” said Brian Gitt, executive director of the group, based in Berkeley.

In the past three years, enrollment in Build It Green’s training course for architects and contractors has grown from 20 or 30 a session to 70, with a long waiting list.