How to find a certified Green Builder?

It’s not common to find a reliable ‘green home listing’ or ‘green pages’in specific regions, so choosing a quality general contractor with experience building efficient homes can be tricky. Here are some tips of where to look, what to look for, and what to avoid.

First, start with an internet search in your local region (the closest town or city) alongside words like Passive House, LEED, ZNE, Passive Solar, Green Builder, or Green-home builder.

Passive HouseandLEEDare green building certification programs, but even if you don’t want to bother certifying a home, finding a builder that has built a Passive House, LEED or ZNE certified home is a good thing because they'll know and understand the importance of the finishing details essential to a high-performance home.

There are no certified ‘builders’, only certified buildings;

Any builder who has successfully navigated a performance-rating system would be knowledgeable in the area of green home building, so is a good bet when searching for a contractor who knowshow to correctly weather seal & air seal windows and doors, for example, which is an essential part ofbuilding a more efficient home.

Choosing a contractor by doing a web search for ‘green builder’ with your local region will in no wayguarantee质量和体验，但这将缩小搜索范围，因为“绿色”建筑商肯定会以这种方式推销自己(不幸的是，一些阴暗的建筑商也会如此，所以仍要谨慎行事)。除此之外，你可以打电话给当地的建筑商，看看他们建造的是什么类型的房子，并问一些基本的问题，以了解他们的知识水平。

What questions to ask when choosing a Green builder?

Below are a few good questions to start with，你应该从候选人那里听到的许多答案都是超链接的。

The answers you receive will quickly indicate the type of builder you are speaking with; either they will redirect, dismiss or dodge the question, or they will answer with confidence. If you are told any of the following –‘you want your walls to breath’, ‘you don’t want a house to be too airtight’ or‘building code is all you need‘,then you will know you are dealing with a base-level builder who wants to stay the course, not a player in the higher league of performance building.

你可以在我们的网页上做一些关于房屋性能、通风、耐用性等方面的研究，这样当你打电话时就有了一些信息。当你与承包商签订房屋建造合同时，你们就开始了一段漫长的旅程，所以在这一点上，拥有良好的关系是非常重要的。一个好的建筑商应该尊重你在性能、耐久性、空气质量等方面的目标，而不是试图说服你放弃它们。

Basic building science (read more here)不就是一些只有物理学家和工程师居住的混乱世界吗?在很大程度上，这只是我们所有人都能理解的常识。而且，仅仅因为一个人已经建造了几十年的房屋，并不一定意味着他们了解耐久性和房屋性能的所有问题。

Architects, designers and technologists:

Another avenue is to begin with a home designerwho has a experience with performance homes, since they may have local builders they can recommend. The same goes the other way; if you find a builder you really connect with, ask if they have preferred designers they can recommend.

If you find a potential candidate who can’t take on your project themselves, ask for recommendations as local performance builders who have experience with Passive House, LEED, ZNE, Passive Solar Homes often know each other - they've often been on the same training courses.

Follow up on references & ask to visit a showhome

If there's one thing high performance builders love, it's to show off their handyworkand to talk about the design details that make all the difference in a Green home build. Ask potential candidates for the position of "Your Green Home Builder" to put you in contact with former clients and to take you to see their former projects - preferably ones that are 2-3 years old. Remember that building anything is complicated, that there are delays, overage on costs etc etc - but a good Builder will have communicated well with their clients, they will have overcome the obstacles and they often end up friends after a brief period of tension during the "will it ever be finished" phase! If the Green builder seems reticent to show off his work, ask yourself why and perhaps steer clear. You may be dodging a bullet!

If unsure, Ask!

If you end up getting conflicting information from different builders about what you ‘should do’ or what you ‘shouldn’t do’, or different wall systems and confusing quotes, drop us a question on ouradvice pageand we may be able to help sort out the good from the bad.

Further reading for Tips for finding a reliable green home builder: