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Multifamily Builders Await New Green Building Standard
Multifamily builders and developers are eagerly awaiting publication of the National Green Building Standard, the first and only consensus-based standard for all residential construction, renovation and development.
The standard is in the final round of the approval process set by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).
While there are other green rating systems for multifamily and mixed-use construction, NAHB and the International Code Council saw the need for a voluntary consensus standard reflecting state-of-the-art building practices through regular ANSI-approved updates, Carlos Martín, NAHB’s assistant staff vice president for construction codes and standards, told participants at last month’s National Green Building Conference in New Orleans.
The new standard will provide prescriptive paths defining material selection and performance paths describing expected results, which will enhance its flexibility, he said.
Most importantly, the new standard will offer a viable, credible alternative for communities that have resorted to mandates to encourage green building.
“Our efforts stem from a change in the green building conversation,” said Paula Cino, director of energy and environment for the National Multi Housing Council (NMHC) who has been a participant in the standard development process. A number of green building advocates are now pushing a one-size-fits-all solution, and “we are trying to stem this tide of mandates,” she said.
The National Green Building Standard is a more stringent and more all-encompassing document than the NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines, upon which it is based.
The standard can be applied to high- and low-rise condominiums and apartment buildings and to all dwelling and sleeping units in hotels and dormitories as defined by the International Residential Code. It can also apply to the housing in mixed-use projects.
The standard is also more flexible than competing programs, while recognizing the inherent green characteristics of multifamily projects.
The standard offers points for high-density development; proximity to mass transit and commercial resources; and brownfield, grayfield or infill sites, but, unlike programs such as the Green Communities rating system it also recognizes that green multifamily development can occur even on brand-new suburban or rural greenfield sites, Cino said.
There are “a lot of opportunities” for multifamily builders in the proposed standard, agreed speaker Ron Nixon, vice president of building codes for NMHC.
For example, the standard recognizes the importance of “right sizing” heating and air conditioning equipment in multifamily units that typically differ in their exposure to the outside, he said. Points are available for properly sized air ducts and for ensuring a tested, balanced HVAC air flow.
Points also are available if at least 50% of the lighting fixtures and bulbs and 80% of the exterior lighting is Energy Star-rated. Providing the ability to re-use graywater also adds points to the score.
Good building practices combined with the energy efficiency inherent in multifamily construction means that most builders, “if they mind their p’s and q’s, can get to the bronze or even the silver level of the standard,” Nixon said. “But you’re not going to get to gold or emerald without significant alternative or innovative sources of energy. The standard has to be a stretch or else we’re just kidding ourselves.”
For more information, e-mail Calli Schmidt at NAHB, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8132.
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