Earlier this month, the USGBC awarded LEED Silver certification to the Resonance House, a project designed and built by the collaboration of Design Lab Inc. and University of Kentucky College of Design.  Of note, the Resonance House is the first and only Kentucky home to be certified by the USGBC at the time of certification.  It’s a 4,400 sf home with contemporary finishes and energy efficient elements.  Located at 151 Old Georgetown Street in Lexington, the five-star plus Energy Star home has a small operating cost of 2.8 cents per sf, or ~$125 per month.

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The venerable HuffPo just posted a list of what they call the "Best Green Twitter Feeds."  It’s an okay list, but when you name streams like @Sprig (13 total updates and nothing in 7 days), @globalwarming (sporadic tweets with nothing in 7 days), and @greennews (sporadic tweets and nothing in 12 days), it’s tough to take the list seriously.  No offense Sprig, GlobalWarming, and GreenNews.  HuffPo’s list includes some stalwarts, don’t get me wrong, but when you assume the title of "Best," you have to bring it.  You have to name more than sixteen or seventeen Twitter* feeds.  Right?

Anyway, here’s my list (not a "best" list, just a list) of environmental and green related twitter folks that you might be interested in following.  To clear the air, we’re @jetsongreen.  Some of the following are no different than straight blog feeds.  Some are mixed blog feeds with conversation.  Others are pure conversation. 

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I’ve been intrigued by ZEDfactory ever since I first started seeing their homes and designs.  The three letters "ZED", which stand for Zero Energy Development, seem to show up in all ZEDfactory designs.  But I must admit: their designs have a certain whimsical, if not playful, look.  That’s no big deal, though, because future solutions are going to look different.  Certainly, ZEDfactory is serious when it comes to pushing the envelope towards sustainable housing options.  The above and below RuralZED was on display earlier this year at EcoBuild in Earls Court, London.  To be clear, RuralZED is more than a house, it’s a system for developing zero carbon, zero energy, healthy homes. 

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The NAHB rolled out its Certified Green Professional ("CGP") program earlier this year and already 1,000 builders, remodelers, and other members of the home building industry have earned the CGP educational designation.  Potential CGPs must complete 24 hours of classroom training, of which, 16 hours must be qualified green building instruction.  In addition, potential CGPs must have two years industry experience, sign a code of ethics, and commit to fulfilling continuing education requirements.

[+] Find a local CGP
[+] Become a CGP

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Keep your eyes out for the newest tool designed to rate cities in their efforts to push environmental stewardship.  The STAR Community Index is like LEED, but it’s designed to rate local governments.  With myriad green city rankings and websites trying to calculate the sustainability of local governments,* it’s high time for a highly respected, standardized formula for measuring a community’s sustainability.  According to ICLEI, the STAR Program will create a process, not unlike LEED, to bring in leaders in the field toward the goal of establishing shared measures and processes for greening communities.  STAR will have tiered levels, with the aim to accomplish the following:

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