|
Momentum Grows for NAHB Green Building Program
Introduced during Green Day at the 2008 International Builders’ Show, the NAHB National Green Building Program is continuing to gain strength as it enters its sixth month of operation.
Since the program was launched, homes have been certified in Florida, Indiana, Illinois, Delaware and Virginia. Significantly, the Delaware and Virginia homes are among the first projects completed in subdivisions where the builder plans to certify the balance of the development.
Scheduled inspections by NAHB Research Center-accredited verifiers are scheduled for another 27 homes. Two inspections are required for the homes to be certified — one before the drywall is installed and another when the home is finished.
A whopping 2,644 users have created passwords to access the scoring tool at www.nahbgreen.org. There are 2,618 projects in some stage of development on the scoring tool — but it’s difficult to determine how many of these projects were entered so the builder could practice using the design and scoring tool and how many will ultimately be certified.
Almost 200 NAHB state and local home builders associations have established green building committees, councils and working groups, representing a 400% increase from one year ago. Some associations are continuing to certify homes to local or existing green building programs, while others plan to add on the National Green Building Certification or make it the sole certification. All will continue to concentrate on networking and educational initiatives for their members.
Meanwhile, the NAHB Research Center is continuing to work on enhancements to the online scoring tool that will enable it to be used when the National Green Building Standard for residential building is released. The new standard covers single-family and multifamily homes, residential remodeling and lot and site development.
The 134 trained and registered NAHB Green verifiers will be invited to return for additional training on the new standard, so they can certify projects to either rating system.
“NAHB Green is going like gangbusters,” said Green Building Subcommittee Chairman Ray Tonjes, a custom builder and remodeler in Austin, Texas. “Builders and home buyers are ready to go green, and this voluntary program with third-party certification will be the way to go for them.”
For more information, e-mail Calli Schmidt at NAHB, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8252.
|
