?The following is a guest post by our good friend Miles Dyson of Inspection Connection.  Miles is Las Cruces, New Mexico’s foremost expert in home inspection, energy rating, and green certification.

Build Green New Mexico is a voluntary program established in 2006 by the Home Builders Association of Central New Mexico. According to BGNM, the purpose of the organization was, and is, to encourage New Mexico and Las Cruces home builders to use technologies, products and practices that:

  • Provide greater energy efficiency and reduce pollution
  • Provide healthier indoor air
  • Reduce water usage
  • Preserve natural resources
  • Improve durability and reduce maintenance
green home las cruces icf
McGinley Construction recently completed this Build Green New Mexico home in the Las Alturas area. Photo by Las Cruces Bulletin.

Early in 2009, BGNM adopted the new American National Standards Institute National Green Building Standard. This ANSI – international code Council 700 – 2008 “standard” raised the bar for green building in New Mexico.

BGNM is a statewide program for certifying green residential building and is now housed under the authority of the Foundation for Building (FFB), a nonprofit that also supports affordable housing and builder education. BGNM is recognized in several local and state residential construction codes and can qualify certified homes for substantial state tax credits of up to $22,000 per home.

The list of home builders in our area who have completed BGNM certified homes or who currently have active projects reads like a “who’s who” of respected Las Cruces, NM custom home builders.

Several of these builders exhibited their BGNM homes in our recent Building Industry of Southern New Mexico Spring Showcase of Homes.

build green new mexico logoBIA-SNM has further recognized the significance of the BGNM program as demonstrated by the recent ground breaking for this fall’s Green Street Parade of Homes. This event will showcase new BGNM certified homes in a single site, infill subdivision setting with each home featuring solar photovoltaic electric generation at mid-range price points. One of the most recently certified homes was completed by McGinley Construction in the Las Alturas area of Las Cruces, NM for Al and Laurie Keaton. This project integrated McGinley and his crew’s trademark insulated concrete form (ICF) wall construction with a “gut and rehab” of an existing wood frame structure.

This mix of new high-performance window, wall and mechanical systems incorporated to use existing framing on an infill site achieved a silver level BGNM rating and a Home Energy Rating (HERS) score of 57.

The HERS energy rating predicts a savings of more than $800 per year on utility costs for the Keaton home compared to a standard reference house. The BGNM certification earned the project more than $11,000 in state tax relief through New Mexico’s Sustainable Building Tax Credit.

Many local builders are beginning to follow BGNM practices, including the use of insulated concrete form wall construction.  Local Build Green New Mexico builders include:

Contact Picacho Mountain today at 575-523-2500 for more information on building your energy-efficient, green home in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Miles Dyson is the owner of Inspection Con­nection LC – Professional Home Energy Rating and Home Inspection Services in Mesilla Park and can be reached at 202-2457. Dyson is a RESNET certi­fied Home Energy Rater and ASHI certified Home Inspector.

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