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The new National Green Building Standard will maintain the flexibility of green building practices while providing a common national benchmark for builders, remodelers and developers--another big step for the green building movement, said panelists at a news conference during the International Builders' Show in Orlando, FL, U.S.
The first and only true consensus-based standard for residential green building is in its final comment period and almost ready for prime time, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
The National Green Building Standard is expected to be approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and published by NAHB and the International Code Council (ICC) early this spring, a panel of builders and those involved in the standards process told reporters. The ANSI process ensures that the best technical reviews were used to create the standard.
The standard is based on the three-year-old NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines, but enhanced to include residential remodeling, multifamily building, and lot and site development--also the first of their kinds in the country. It also reflects advancements in requirements in the International Residential Code and other changes that serve as indications of the nature of green building. Like the Guidelines that they are based on, the standard requires builders to include features in seven categories: energy, water and resource efficiency; lot and site development; indoor environmental quality, and homeowner education. It also adds the higher Emerald Level to the Bronze, Silver, and Gold certification levels for the Guidelines.
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