Green Building Components - Tools

CalGREEN

The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) developed A Guide to the California Green Building Standards Code, for residential green building standards for new low-rise residential construction. Download the Guide and view related publications. 

A Tool Kit for Affordable Home Developers to Go Solar

The New Solar Homes Partnership and Housing California have released a new tool kit including incentives, resources and case studies. The pdf version can be downloaded from the New Solar Homes Partnership website, along with other helpful tool kits and reports.
The Value of Green Infrastructure: A Guide to Recognizing Its Economic, Social and Environmental Benefits,

A new guidebook has been released that's aimed at helping planners and city officials to know which types of green infrastructure are worth investment.

The Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) and American Rivers produced the new guide, titled "The Value of Green Infrastructure: A Guide to Recognizing Its Economic, Social and Environmental Benefits."

Download the Guide

Benefits Toolkit

LEED Certification

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable green-building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria. The US Green Building Council (USGBC) launched LEED in 2000. It offers four levels for award, based on points earned in multiple categories: certified, silver, gold, and platinum.

GreenPoint Rated

GreenPoint Rated is a third-party rating system for homes designed by Build It Green, a California non-profit membership organization whose mission it is to accelerate the adoption of green-building practices.  The program has separate systems for new homes, existing homes and multi-family development.  Each is based on a set of green-building measures used to evaluate a home's environmental performance that includes energy efficiency, resource conservation, indoor air quality, water conservation and community benefit.  
The website includes Green Building Guidelines for each program and also offers Certified Green Building Professional (CGBP) and Certified GreenPoint Rater Training for New and Existing Home certification.  A Certified GreenPoint Rater evaluates a home's green features.  Build It Green’s Green Building Guidelines and/or GreenPoint Rated Program are used by 70 local government policies, and are endorsed by California Energy Commission, the Association of Bay Area Governments, and the Home Builders Association of Northern California.

California Home Energy Rating System (HERS)

California Energy Commission oversees the California Home Energy Rating System (HERS) program.  Commission-certified providers conduct field verification and diagnostic testing of duct sealing, thermostatic expansion valves (TXVs), refrigerant charge, airflow measurement and building envelope sealing measures. A HERS rater inspection is required where a Title 24 report mandates inspection of installation in the building or where an energy-efficiency incentive program requires verification of appropriately installed energy-efficiency measures, whether or not the actual verification and/or diagnostic test is mandated by the Title 24 report. HERS raters must complete a training course and pass a certification exam, to be certified as independent, third-party inspectors. The Residential and Nonresidential Field Verification and Diagnostic Testing Regulations Manuals, which cover testing and verification protocols, are on the website:HERS raters can be located through:

• California Certified Energy Rating & Testing Services (CalCERTS)
• California Building Performance Contractors Association (CBPCA)
• California Home Energy Efficiency Rating System (CHEERS)

Building Commissioning

California Commissioning Collaborative (CCC) offers an online database and library, commissioning training and tools

Building Commissioning Association (BCA) offersnational guidance on improving performance of operations maintenance without rigid commissioning process. 

Toolkit for In-House Commissioning of Small Projects [50,000 square feet or less]

Green Building Action Plan - California Energy Commission 

California Commissioning Guide: New Buildings

California Commissioning Guide: Existing Buildings

Green Globes
Affordable building assessment system originating from Canada, built around a series of steps for integration of sustainability into design and management and onsite rating of commercial buildings. Third party certification from a Green Building Initiative authorized verifier