About Us
NW EcoBuilding Guild
P.O. Box 58530
Seattle, WA 98138
206-575-2222
info@ecobuilding.org
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions
General Membership- What are the benefits of joining?
- What are the membership levels? How much does it cost?
- How do I join?
- Can I join without an email address?
- Can I pay membership dues by check or credit card?
- How do I update my contact information?
- Can I post details about my personal or professional project?
- How do I renew my membership?
- How do I contact my local chapter leadership?
- Does my local chapter have regular meetings?
- Can I get emails from chapters other than my local chapter?
- What is the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild GPD?
- Can I download a copy of the GPD?
- Where can I get a hard copy GPD?
- How can I get my company listed in the GPD?
- How do I set up my GP Listing online?
- How do I get my category(ies) set up for my GP Listing?
- What is different between a GP Listing and GP Advertising?
- How can I get a Display Advertisement printed in the GPD?
- Can I get additional category listings in the GPD?
- How can I become a GP Supporter or GP Sponsor?
- Can I sponsor a category in the GP?
If your question is not on this list, please send an email to the Regional Membership Coordinator at membership@ecobuilding.org. We will make every attempt to get you a quick reply.
Answers
What is the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild?The NWEBG is a not-for-profit, member-based organization focused on creating environmentally responsible residential and commercial buildings. Our members are on the cutting edge of green building and at the beginning of the learning curve. As a Guild, we work to educate each other and our clients about innovative ways to affordably incorporate green building techniques into every project.
The Northwest EcoBuilding Guild was founded in 1993 by a small group of Puget Sound area residential building professionals who were already incorporating green building ideas into their practices. They formed the Guild for the purpose of networking and exchanging areas of expertise. Since 1993, the Guild has grown to seven chapters around the northwest. Members include national and regional experts in their fields, as well as homeowners and beginners in green building.
The Mission of the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild is to function as an educational forum to facilitate building practices that protect human health and natural biodiversity, encourage sustainable resource usage, and foster long-term economic vitality.
The Goal of the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild is to help its members and the general public implement sustainable building technologies, while helping grow the market demand for sustainable building products and professional services.
Benefits of a membership include:
- Monthly Events.
Monthly meetings and educational events in your area where you can meet and exchange ideas, information, and resources. To find out the locations and times of meetings in your area, visit www.ecobuilding.org/chapters or look in the resources section of the printed Green Pages. - Educational Events.
Educational events feature a variety of speakers, presentations, and roundtable discussions led by local and regional experts. Green building topics include natural construction methods, renewable energy, green building materials, and indoor air quality. Attend hands-on workshops, where you’ll learn cutting-edge green building techniques, such as building with natural building materials and incorporating wind and solar products. - Annual Retreat.
As a member you are invited to our annual weekend Retreat, which takes place in October. We offer three fun-filled days, with a new lineup of speakers every year. The Guild Retreat features locally and nationally-recognized leaders in green building, plus our popular Member Projects’ Slideshow, the 10x10. - Members-Only Web Site.
When you join the Guild, you have access to our Web site’s members-only section, which provides links to Retreat registration, members-only activities, and the monthly calendar. In this section, you can also update your contact information for the Guild database, select Mailing lists to be a part of, and prepare project pages to share with other members and the public at large. - Northwest EcoBuilding Guild Green Pages
The Green Pages is the only Northwest, free-to-the-public, multi-media publication dedicated exclusively to advancing sustainable building professionals, techniques, practices, and products. Many consumers use the Green Pages to select contractors, designers, and other building professionals for project teams. For those members with a professional membership level, we offer an online searchable Green Pages where users can find your company name and contact information under the category you choose. The printed Green Pages are distributed throughout the Northwest at green and sustainable building conferences, seminars, workshops, green building supply outlets, building permit offices, and more.
You can find specific details of the various Guild membership level on the benefits page
What are the membership levels? How much does it cost?The non-professional membership levels are:
- $25 - Student (Student ID number and Name of Institution must be provided)
- $45 - Homeowner/Friend of the Guild
The professional membership levels are:
- $80 - Basic Professional
- $215 - Small Business
- $450 - Large Business
- $650 - Corporation
Green Pages Supporter and Green Pages Sponsor memberships are package deals negotiated with the Green Pages Coordinator and have Large Business membership privileges.
How do I join?You can join the Guild online or by mail. An email address is required to complete the joining process, whether you join online or by mail. To join online, click on the “Join the Guild” link at ecobuilding.org and follow the instructions. You can see a preview of the process at ecobuilding.org/membership/joiningprocess. If you would like to join by mail, you can complete a registration form that you acquired from your local chapter or you can use a registration form that can be downloaded at ecobuilding.org/green_pages/gp_documents. Mail the completed registration form and membership dues payment to the address on the form.
Can I join without an email address?Yes, but with major limitations. As the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild limits the amount of information that is sent by mail, an email address is necessary to receive notifications of upcoming events and opportunities from your local chapter and the Regional Guild.
Can I pay membership dues by check or credit card?Yes, you can pay for your membership dues either by check or by credit card. When you join online, you can choose to complete your payment immediately by submitting your credit card information on our secure site when you join or you can indicate that you will pay by check. In either case, you will receive a confirmation email regarding your new Guild membership, along with a statement of your payment selection. If you choose to pay by check, you must submit your check at the address noted on your confirmation email.
How do I update my contact information?You can review and update your contact information at any time online when you log into the Guild Member’s Section. You can refer to the process page, ecobuilding.org/membership/renew, for assistance logging in and navigating to Your Account. From Your Account, simply click on the “Contact Info” link to make changes to the information used by the Guild and its chapters to contact you regarding upcoming events and other Guild information. This information is not shared with the public and is accessible only to Guild Leadership.
To update your contact information for professional inquires by visitors to the Green Pages Directory, click on the “Green Pages Listing” link. The information on this page can be different from that on the “Contact Info” page if you desire. You are able to choose to have Guild information and Professional activities be routed to different people in your business simply by entering alternative data in these pages.
Yes. You can share information about your company and/or projects online through our member Project Pages. Simply log into the Guild Member’s Section and navigate to Your Account (you can refer to the process page, ecobuilding.org/membership/renew, for assistance logging in and navigating to Your Account.).
From Your Account, click on the “Projects” link to open up the window where you can create a personal project page. You are able to include text, pictures, and hyperlinks in your Project Page. We encourage you to provide information of educational value for other Guild members, as well as the public at large. When completed, your Project Page will be displayed in your Chapter’s Project section and will be available for viewing by the general public.
Links from your project page to your own website are allowed when the link is for additional educational material or value. These pages, however, are not intended to be sources of marketing, and any “call to action” or use of the page to directly sell your project or services could result in your page being removed. Please contact your chapter leadership for more information about their Project Page Standards if you have questions.
Here is how to renew online:
- Go to the Guild’s web site, www.ecobuilding.org.
- Click on the Member Login button at the upper right. This will open the Login page for the Guild Member Section.
- You will receive notice upon logging into the Member Section that your membership has expired. Simply follow the instructions and you can renew by credit card or by check.
Here is how to renew by mail in:
If you would like to renew by mail, you can download a registration form at ecobuilding.org/green_pages/gp_documents. Fill in the information requested and mail the completed registration form along with your membership dues payment to the address on the form.
If you have forgotten both the username and password you selected for your Guild membership, please contact the membership coordinator at membership@ecobuilding.org. The membership coordinator will reply by email with the username you selected and a temporary password, since the membership coordinator cannot see what your original password was.
If you remember your username, but forget your password, you can request that a temporary password be emailed to you from the Member Login page.
You are able to change both your username and password once you log on the Guild Member’s Section at ecobuilding.org. Simply go to Your Account, click on the Login tab and edit your Username and Password.
You can find the chapter leadership information for you chapter online by clicking on the Chapters link and selecting the chapter in your area. Contact information can be found on the Board page or the Steering Committee page.
There is also information about the chapter and its leadership in the Resources section of the printed directory.
You can find the meeting dates and times for your chapter online by clicking on the Chapters link and selecting the chapter in your area. Information about meetings is often on the front page, otherwise, refer to the Chapter Events page.
There is also information about the chapter and its leadership in the Resources section of the printed directory.
Yes. You can select to be a part of the email list of any of the Guild chapters. Simply log into the Guild Member’s Section and navigate to Your Account (you can refer to the process page, ecobuilding.org/membership/renew, for assistance logging in and navigating to Your Account.). From Your Account, click on the “Mailing Lists” link to open up the window where you can add or remove yourself from Regional and Chapter emailing lists.
What is the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild Green Pages Directory?The Green Pages is the only Northwest, free-to-the-public, multi-media publication dedicated exclusively to advancing sustainable building professionals, techniques, practices, and products. The Green Pages is printed annually in the Spring and distributed throughout the Northwest at green and sustainable building conferences, seminars, workshops, green building supply outlets, building permit offices, and more.
Can I download a copy of the Green Pages Directory?Yes. The Green Pages Directory is also available online for download in PDF format at ecobuilding.org/green_pages/gp07_dwnld.
Where can I get a hard copy Green Pages Directory?Copies of the Green Pages Directory are sent to each of the chapters right after they are printed in the spring. Please contact your chapter leadership for more information about getting a copy locally.
There are several distribution centers where members and non-members can get hard copies of the Green Pages Directory:
- In Seattle: Environmental Home Center, ReStore, Dunn Lumber, Sustainable Ballard, both Seattle Home Shows in multiple locations
- In Eugene: The Energy Outlet
- In Portland: Environmental Building Supplies and The ReBuilding Center
- In Olympia: Master Builders Association
- In Bend: Environmental Building Supplies
- In Spokane: Eco Depot
By joining the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild at one of the many Professional Membership levels, receiving a Green Pages Listing in the Green Pages Directory is a benefit of your Professional Membership. After joining, you simply need to complete the Green Pages Listing set up online and send your category selection(s) to the Guild Membership Coordinator at membership@ecobuilding.org. For more information on setting up your Green Pages listing, see ecobuilding.org/membership/setup.
How do I set up my Green Pages Listing online?Setting up your Green Pages listing is easy and is required in order to appear in the online and printed directory. You can see a preview of the process at ecobuilding.org/membership/setup.
Go to ecobuilding.org and log in to the Member Section by clicking on the Member Login button at the upper right. Once you log in, click on the "Your Account" button on the left side column. Within Your Account, select “Green Page Listing” from the row of options at the top. Click on "Edit your Green Pages Listing." Be sure to check the box next to "Yes, I want my listing to appear online." To avoid the need to re-enter your contact information, you can check the boxes that say "Please use my current contact information" under Contact and Address. You are also able to enter information that is different from your personal contact information if you want. If you are a Guild member at the Small Business membership level or greater, this is also where you can add a 75-word description. When finished, click on the Save Changes button at the bottom of the page.
Please send an email to the membership coordinator at membership@ecobuilding.org with your category selection(s). Basic Professionals receive one category at no cost. Other professional membership levels can select three categories for their Green Pages Listing to be printed under; be sure to indicate which category you want to have as your primary category when you send in your selections. The primary category is where your 75-word description will appear in the printed directory. Large Business and Corporate membership levels receive additional categories in the online directory, however, only three categories are used in the printed directory. See the benefits page for more details at ecobuilding.org/membership/benefits.
What is different between a Green Pages Listing and Green Pages Advertising?A Green Pages Listing is a benefit of your Professional membership status. Your Green Pages Listing will be published online in the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild searchable directory and in the annually printed directory publication. In your Green Pages Listing, the contact information of your company will be listed in the category or categories of your choice.
Green Pages Advertising refers to Display Advertisements and is available for an additional fee to any of our professional members. Display Advertisements are published only in the annual print version of the Green Pages Directory, and are currently not available for online publication.
For complete information about your Display Advertisement choices, download the current Green Pages Media Kit, which presents the available options of sizes and their prices. Download the Media at ecobuilding.org/green_pages/media_kit or contact the Green Pages Coordinator by email at greenpages@ecobuilding.org or by phone at 425-670-1342.
Can I get additional category listings in the Green Pages Directory?Yes. Additional categories are available at an additional cost of $40 per category. Additional category listings can be purchased at any time of the year. The additional category will be linked to your online Green Pages listing and will be included in the next printed publication. Additional category listings are valid until the expiration date of your Guild membership. You will also need to renew your additional category listing when you renew your membership for them to remain active for consecutive directory publications. Please contact the Membership Coordinator at membership@ecobuilding.org with your additional category selections and payment method.
How can I become a Green Pages Supporter or Green Pages Sponsor?Green Pages Supporter and Green Pages Sponsor membership levels are Special Advertising Package Deals that provide unique options for you and your company. Both packages receive the same premium membership benefits as a Large Business Guild member, along with a number of special advertising and listing options that make your company stand out online and in print. The details and cost of the final package is based on choices made in agreement with the Green Pages Coordinator. Refer to the Green Pages Media Kit for more information about advertising and listing options to select from, online at ecobuilding.org/green_pages/media_kit. Please contact the Green Pages Coordinator at greenpages@ecobuilding.org or by phone at 425-670-1342 if you like to become a Green Pages Supporter or a Green Pages Sponsor.
Can I sponsor a category in the Green Pages?Stand out among your peers. Select to be an exclusive sponsor in your category.
Any Professional Guild member can request to sponsor a category in the next upcoming printed version of the Green Pages. The cost to sponsor a Green Pages category is $100.00 per category (please refer to the latest Green Pages Media Kit for any pricing updates, which may not be reflected in this FAQ). Contact the Green Pages Coordinator at greenpages@ecobuilding.org if you want to have your Green Pages Listing stand out amongst your peers in your selected category.
As we can only have one sponsor per category, category sponsorship is first come, first served. As a category sponsor, your Green Pages Listing in the sponsored category will be highlighted in Guild Green to highlight your company in that category.
The following is the process for starting a new Guild chapter:
- Step 1
You need to contact the Regional Guild President of the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild, currently Bruce Millard, Architect, at president@ecobuilding.org or 208-263-3815 (Sandpoint, ID). The President will be able to give you details about the activities and responsibilities of the regional Chapters and the relationship between the Guild Board and the Chapters. You should talk about how much time you have, and how long you can work on it development, not only forming, but getting a chapter up and running. You should also contact other chapter presidents to discuss how their chapter functions. To find out about local meetings and presentations so that you can see how a local chapter operates, contact one of the current chapter presidents by email, such as the Central Puget Sound Chapter at cpschapter@ecobuilding.org. You can find the contact information for all the chapter presidents at ecobuilding.org/chapters. Ask them about the dates to attend a chapter board meeting or two and sit in on a planning meeting. These will be very useful meetings to get the feel of the Guild process. - Step 2
The Regional Guild President will send you (or have sent to you) a copy of the Guild Bylaws, the Board of Directors list and the names of Guild members in your region for you to review and discuss with others. - Step 3
When you get serious and start finding members, a copy of the Chapter Bylaws template can be emailed to you, along with some Green Pages and membership forms. - Step 4
When you have 8 paid members, you will need to decide on the reasons your chapter is forming in order to guide its direction, then write a draft of your chapter's bylaws, and agree on the boundaries of the chapter with the Board of Directors Executive Committee. Then submit a copy of your chapter's bylaws, signed by all 8 members, to the Guild's President to be reviewed by the Executive Committee and then approved by the full Board of Directors at the next board meeting. Once approved, you are then a chapter.
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