Pittsfield Program Gets Green Building Grant

EPA awards $15,000 to promote green building techniques.

 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded $15,000 to the Center for Ecological Technology in Pittsfield, Mass., for a program that promotes green building techniques.

 

The Resource Conservation Challenge Grant given out by the EPA’s New England office will help with a program aimed at reaching the top 25 percent of home builders in western Massachusetts. The program will use the newly developed residential construction program of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification system.

 

According to a press release from the EPA, the Berkshire County (Massachusetts) area is experiencing a home building boom. Between 1995 and 2000 new housing starts increased 63 percent, even as the population declined.

 

More information is available at www.epa.gov/epaoswer/osw/conserve/priorities/msw.htm.