Now, these experienced associations and individual builders and another group of HBAs and home builders that are either new to the green building certification process or are already using other successful programs are preparing to try out the tools that will help the association launch the NAHB National Green Building Program .

The pilots begin Oct. 15 and should be finished by the end of the year, leaving "NAHB Green" on track to launch in February 2008 at the International Builders' Show.

The NAHB Research Center is administering the pilot programs and will assist the HBAs and builders as they work through the process.

In addition to making sure a number of types of green building programs were represented, the Research Center sought participants from a number of regions and distinct climate areas. They include:

HBAs with an existing Guidelines-based program. The HBA of St. Louis and Eastern Missouri, the HBA of Durham, Orange and Chatham Counties in North Carolina, and the Home Builders Association of Bucks and Montgomery Counties  in suburban Philadelphia all have volunteered to try the new program.

HBAs with other existing programs. The HBA of Florida works in concert with the Florida Green Building Coalition. The Master Builder Association of Kings and Snohomish Counties has a chapter of Built Green Washington, a cooperative of local programs that has been certifying green homes since the 1990s. The Pennsylvania HBA is expanding Comfort Home, an energy  program. These HBA will compare their current programs with the national scoring tool and verification process and provide feedback.

HBAs with no existing program.  The HBA of Greater Chicago, the HBA of Greater New Orleans and the Northern Virginia BIA will use the draft certification and verification tools to see how they work in programs that are just launching.

Builder volunteers. Veridian Homes in  Madison, Wisc., Barratt American Homes in Carlsbad, Calif.,  Mitchell & Best  in Rockville, Md., and a division of  K Hovnanian based in Red Bank, N.J. will test the new program.

The pilot volunteers will test the verification process using at least two different kinds of verification -- for example, independent consultants or utility representatives -- and the online certification tools and make suggestions for improvements.

NAHB wants to make sure the new program is intuitive, eases administrative burdens for local HBAs, and is simple to navigate, so the Research Center will gather information on topics such as

• The online scoring tool
• The proposed NGBP verification process
• The proposed NGBP certification process
• The proposed process for integration and/or accreditation of a local HBA green building program 
• The proposed affiliate program operational processes, including HBA review of the HBA operations manual and requirements)

The intent is to make sure that the entire scoring tool is collectively tested during the pilot: The Research Center will ensure that everyone in the pilot does not choose the prescriptive-based approach to energy in Section 3, for example. It is important to test as many categories and line items as possible.

Because of the limited length of the pilot period, builders may use a combination of data from different houses in different stages of construction to test the scoring tool. Especially for production bulders, this will expedite the evaluation of the process of scoring a design, and completing pre/post drywall inspections. 

Using the volunteers' experience and responses, the NAHB Research Center will finalize the development of the green scoring tool and the certification and verification process so it can best be implemented and administered locally and nationally. 

Pilot participants will be first in line for National Green Building Program application status once the tool and process are finalized, although all existing green building programs can apply in 2008.  Similarly, successful pilot verifiers will have the advantage of experience with the verification and certification process and be in a position to be approved as a part of the February 2008  launch.

The Research Center will conduct conference calls and pay field visits to selected participants during the pilot process.