KSMU‘s Missy Shelton reported July 1 on Green Building efforts in the Greater Springfield area. She intereviewed HBA Builders Brett Godfrey and Scott Kisling, as well as HBA Executive Officer Matt Morrow on the subject. To listen to the radio news story, click here. Following is a partial transcript:
July 1st, 2008Going Green Series: Green Building: This month, we continue our look at what it means to “go green” and protect the environment. In this report, KSMU’s Missy Shelton talks with local builders about green homes and the demand from buyers for green homes.Meet Scott Kisling, president and owner of Uptight Construction, Incorporated. He’s a certified green builder.Kisling also looks at ways to get some life out of used materials.There’s often a cost to going green. Kisling says using insulated concrete forms to make homes more energy efficient comes with a cost.Kisling’s own home is made with insulated concrete forms, something you’d never suspect just by looking at it. And he says he’s seen tremendous savings on his energy bill.As good as that might sound to homeowners looking to cut back on their energy costs, energy efficient features and other green building features are just starting to catch on in the Ozarks.Matt Morrow is Executive Director of the Home Builders Association of Greater Springfield.People have heard of going green but may not know exactly what that means, especially as it relates to homebuilding.Morrow refers to recent research done for the HBA.Since there is some confusion about what green building is all about, Morrow offers a definition.And in a tight housing market, those can be important selling points.Brett Godfrey is president of Built by Brett, Incorporated and is building green homes like this one in south Springfield.For homes that are going on the market (in other words, they’re not custom homes), builders have to make some tough choices: how many energy efficient and green features to include in the home. Godfrey says it’s a question he has to tackle.Godfrey and other home builders in the area are banking on homebuyers being enticed to hand over more green for features that are green.