10/26/08

Sun Valley was the hot spot this week for the 2008 Sustainability Conference.

One of the growing trends is the green phenomenon. Throughout the two and a half day conference —– speakers discussed the legal issues for building green – teaching realtors how to buy and sell green homes – among other issues.

In Hailey – neighborhoods such as the Sweetwater village was featured on the sustainability tour which is growing in popularity.
Sharon Patterson, owner of Om Your Home… "There's a lot of awareness in Sun Valley. Especially with something like the Sustainability Conference we're seeing general public come out, industry leaders come out, builders come out, architects, designers, real estate agents, all different people who are concerned with doing the right thing."

Kerry Noble, from Connecticut says "I absorbed enormous amount at the Conference in 2006 and incorporated a great deal of what I learned here. I then got Energy Star Status on the house and it's very efficient and we're very pleased to be back here."

Officials say that there are more and more architects along with builders going green and using LEED standards. LEED is a US green Building Council technique for constructing green homes and businesses.

Vanessa Crossgrove-Fry, executive director of Citizens for Smart Growth says "Building a LEED certified building is an extensive process but in the long run, although you might pay for the certification itself, the efficiency you are going to get out of your structure is going to be significant, you'll see that in the values you earn."

Rocky Mountain hardware in Hailey is one business that is a LEED certified facility.