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Housing Expert Sees Green Building As Growth Area
Small Businesses Are Among Those That Benefit
A housing industry expert told lawmakers yesterday
that while home builders are suffering from the nation's
current economic downturn and housing crisis, hope may
be at hand in the form of energy efficient construction
and green building.
Michael Hodgson, the owner of consulting firm ConSol,
who testified on behalf of the National Association
of Home Builders before the House Small Business Committee,
noted that small businesses dominate the home building
industry. Sixty percent of the association's members
build fewer than 25 homes per year and nearly 90 percent
have less than $5 million in annual receipts, he said.
Members of the builders' association currently build
about 80 percent of all new units in the United States
and, "by 2010, green could make up about 10 percent
or more of the housing market depending on the right
mix of incentives and consumer education," said
Hodgson in a Thursday morning hearing examining the
role of small firms in stimulating the nation's economy.
According to the Partnership for Advancing Technology
in Housing, the majority of green-home builders and
manufacturers of green building technologies are small
businesses. "This is a significant and important
fact because housing comprises 16 percent of the U.S.
gross domestic product," he said.
Hodgson asked lawmakers to take multiple steps to
help the growth of green building and energy efficiency
throughout the nation.
First, he pushed for an extension and increased dollar
amount of a $2,000 energy-efficient credit for home
builders that is currently included in the tax code
but is set to expire at the end of this year. "Although
the House recently passed H.R. 5351, and the Senate
also passed an amendment to its housing stimulus legislation
that extends this credit, there is still no agreement
between the chambers over the appropriate offsets,"
he said.
Hodgson also urged a keen focus on a national green
building standard and noted the association's campaign
for consumers and businesses on a national green building
program.
Source: The Washington Post,
April 25, 2008
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