Green Building Update - 06/24/2008 (Plain Text Version)View Graphical Version | Subscribe
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Editor... In this issue: New Toolkit Spells out NAHB Green Options for HBAsNAHB has a new "how-to" manual for local home building associations interested in starting a local green building council and encouraging their members to certify their projects through the NAHB National Green Building Program. The manual includes information on adminstration, marketing and sponsorship and also spells out how the NAHB Research Center’s National Green Home Certification Service works so that HBAs can incorporate the national certification into new and existing local green home building programs. "This manual is a great tool for getting our members to go green. It's not only a guide to national certification, but it also helps ensure that all our HBAs are aware of the green educational resources NAHB has to offer in addition to the scoring tool and rating systems," said Ray Tonjes, NAHB Green Building Subcommittee chair. Even HBAs in markets where a local green home building council is premature can direct individual members to the Research Center's certification services. Any single-family builder can score new homes to the NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines using the NAHB Green online scoring tool. Soon, remodelers, multifamily builders and developers can score projects to the upcoming National Green Building Standard, now being reviewed by the American National Standards Institute. A Guide to Certification Services The manual is an attempt to demystify the ways that individual builders and local home building associations arrange to certify homes to the NAHB Green rating systems. Depending on how a home building association chooses to affiliate, it can sound complicated — so the manual provides extensive detail. HBAs adopting the National Green Home Certification service work with the Research Center to build up a group of local trained verifiers, who inspect the homes seeking certification and document their findings. They can also add regional guidance or minimums specific to their own markets to the national requirements, but NAHB Green certification is based on the national scoring system only. The Research Center can train verifiers either in person or in online classes, and must certify all candidates interested in joining the ranks. The Research Center also audits verifier performance and is in charge of keeping records of verified homes. Existing local verifiers can also serve as national verifiers if they qualify, and local programs can also contract with approved national verifiers to document compliance with local programs standards. A local program cannot add fees to the national certification — now set at $200 for NAHB members -- but is encouraged to offer corollary services like training — such as the Green Building for Building Professionals class — and may continue to charge local certification fees. The manual offers guidance on how HBAs can develop educational and state or local program sponsorship agreements as revenue sources. A survey of current local programs suggests that having the Research Center take charge of certification while the HBA provides corollary local services -- like education and networking -- is the business model with the greatest revenue-generating potential for local associations and can help builders certify their projects at the lowest possible cost. For a copy of the new HBA toolkit, contact NAHB Green Building Program Manager Emily English at 800-368-5242, ext. 8366. For more information or to contact us directly, please visit www.NAHB.org | ©2008, National Association of Home Builders |