The exploding market for sustainable, environmentally friendly and recycled building products, along with the greater availability of educational opportunities for builders, has accelerated green building’s acceptance rate in the marketplace. It is the role of the National Association of Home Builders to prepare members for such shifts with programs addressing education, recognition, and market awareness.
The Green Building Subcommittee was established by NAHB in 1998, and the first National Green Building Conference was held in 1999 for builders, remodelers and developers. In early 2004 NAHB convened a group of builders, researchers, environmental experts and designers to write the NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines. Published in 2005, the voluntary Guidelines cover seven areas, including lot preparation and design, resource efficiency, energy efficiency, water efficiency and conservation, occupancy comfort and indoor environmental quality, and operation, maintenance and homeowner education, and can be customized to reflect local geographic and climate conditions. Building upon the success of the NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines, the NAHB National Green Building Program (NAHB Green) launched at the 2008 International Builders Show. The national initiative includes an online scoring tool and a wealth of educational tools and resources for home builders and home buyers.
Local home building associations (HBAs) also saw the increased role green building played in the marketplace, and developed green building certification programs for their members. Of the more than 60 programs in existence in late 2007, 30 are administered in cooperation with state and local HBAs, 24 of which are based on the NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines. Dozens more are in development. See the local programs listings for more information.
Also in 2007, the NAHB and the International Code Council (ICC) partnered to form a national consensus committee in accordance with the requirements of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). The goal was to establish a much-needed nationally-recognizable standard definition of green building. The resulting National Green Building Standard (NGBS) is expected to be approved in mid-2008 and is planned to include single and multifamily homes, residential remodeling projects and site development projects. It also includes a new level, Emerald, to denote the pinnacle of achievement in residential green construction.
NAHB expects the ANSI standard to bolster the success of member's efforts and to facilitate green's growth to the mainstream. For information on the standard development process, see www.nahbrc.org/gbstandard.