Defining a Green Home
From hybrid automobiles to Energy Star home appliances, eco-friendly products have generated quite the buzz over the last few years. Green appears to be the new black. But as advertisers and marketers jump on the green bandwagon, consumers should be asking themselves: What makes a product green? While going green is a new concept to many consumers, this eco-conscious movement has been around for decades.
Defining green
With increasing concerns over global warming and ballooning energy costs, many people are looking at the green lifestyle in a new light, and so has the government and other organizations to help define what green should mean.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will have a policy in place defining how businesses can use the term green in advertising which will affect all products, and we will have to see how President Barack Obama's administration will develop its plan for the green industry economy. In the home building industry, there are two major competitors when it comes to setting the standards for what a green home should be: LEED for Homes and the National Green Building Standard.
National Green Building Standard
The National Green Building Standard received a big boost last week when it officially became a standard – ICC 700-2008. This new standard can be applied to all residential construction work including single-family homes, apartments and condos, land development and remodeling and renovation. This new standard has also been approved by the [American National Standards Institute (ANSI). The ANSI is an organization that defines how products are made by setting definitions of the process by which they are produced. The National Green Building Standard is the first green building rating system to be approved by ANSI, making it the benchmark for green homes.
The National Green Building Standard was developed by the International Code Council (ICC) and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The advantage that these set of rules has over LEEDS for Homes standards, is that many communities base their building codes on the codes developed by the ICC in their International Residential Code, and that most builders are members of the NAHB.
LEED for Homes can be a very expensive process, so it is not seen as practical for most builders. Part of this expense is due to the verification process. The National Green Building Standard has its own process using a green verifier program that will rely on independent inspectors (green verifiers) to check on the green claims.
If you visit the NAHB's green Web site, you can see how they will be doing this by rating your own home. If you scroll down the page, you will find a button that says 'Score My Project.' You gain points by meeting the standards. The number of points you garner determines what level of green your home is. The highest is 'emerald,' or it will be once everything is in place now that ANSI 700 has been approved.
So what do these streamlined standards mean for homeowners? It means that production home builders can participate in constructing verifiable green homes. These builders may not all meet the 'emerald' standard, but it is a move that will make eco-friendly homes affordable for the average consumer.
Learn more
A teleconference scheduled for Thursday Feb. 5 at 2 p.m. (EST) will discuss implications of this first-ever green residential standard.
To participate in the teleconference, please dial 1-800-860-2442 and ask for the 'National Green Building Standard' Call.
If you are unable to participate in the teleconference, you may listen to a full replay of the call after the teleconference has concluded by calling 877-344-7529 and entering 427664 followed by the # sign when prompted for the account number. The replay will be accessible beginning at 5:00 p.m. EST on Feb. 5 and will be available until 5:00p.m. on Feb. 19.
Frank Schulte-Ladbeck, is a Houston-based Professional Real Estate Inspector
Equal Housing Opportunity