What Makes a Home Green
| What Makes a Home GREEN? |
| Home builders and home buyers across the country are increasingly interested in green building. But what exactly makes a home green? Building green means incorporating environmental considerations and resource efficiency into every step of the home building and land development process to minimize environmental impact. That means that during the design, construction, and operation of a home, the following must be taken into account: energy and water efficiency, lot development, resource efficient building design and materials, indoor environmental quality, homeowner maintenance, and the home’s overall impact on the environment. Although we cannot avoid affecting the environment when a house is built, green building can work toward minimizing that environmental impact. The concept isn’t new; our great-grandparents built climate-appropriate homes using locally-available materials. Today’s green homes incorporate not only climatic considerations, but are resource and energy efficient, safer for occupants, and often less expensive to maintain.
Most builders are using green building practices in their homes as part of their current standard practices; ENERGY STAR® windows and appliances, recycled content materials, and water-conserving fixtures are all important parts of a green built home. Additionally when you see the ENERGY STAR designation, it means these homes have had their energy efficiency independently verified by an inspector known as a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) rater. These professionals advise builders how to select the most appropriate energy-efficient features for a home, inspect and test the home during construction, and then verify that the home meets EPA’s strict guidelines for energy efficiency. To move to the next step of sustainable building, the builder should consider a whole-house systems approach. The home is composed of several independent components which, when planned and fully considered, can work together to increase performance and efficiency. For example, making a home’s building envelope tighter through air sealing and quality building techniques can affect the way the builder designs the home’s ventilation system. It is through such a forward-thinking process that builders can gain cost efficiencies for homeowners. The NAHB Green Home Building Guidelines and/or the National Green Building Standard are ideal places to start. The guidelines consist of a variety of items that a builder and home owner can choose from in creating a green home, organized into seven guiding principles: • Lot Design, Preparation & Development • Resource Efficiency • Energy Efficiency • Water Efficiency • Indoor Environmental Quality • Operation, Maintenance & Homeowner Education • Global Impact Homes built to the NAHB Green Home Building Guidelines or the National Green Building Standard can now be CERTIFIED GREEN by a third party administrator through a verification process. Builders must work with energy raters and verifiers that will inspect and validate items within the guidelines. To delineate different levels of green building, the guidelines include three thresholds. The first level, Bronze, features items that demonstrate the builder paid special attention to a project’s environmental impact. The next two levels of green home building, Silver and Gold, include additional items that place increasingly greater emphasis on green practices. Within the Standard, is a fourth and highest level of certification – the Emerald level. Building GREEN is not new to many area builders…however now that National Association of Home Builders has introduced the NAHB GREEN certification process, you will begin to see more and more homes in our community earn the CERTIFIED GREEN designation. This designation will ensure you that these homes have been constructed to national guidelines and inspected by independent third party verifiers. Last year the Triad Green Building Council was formed, comprised of builders and other industry professionals throughout Guilford, Forsyth and Alamance counties. One of our key areas of focus is to provide education for our members and area consumers. A great resource for anyone interested in finding out more about green building is NAHB’s website at www.nahbgreen.org as well as the Triad Green Building Council website at www.triadgreenbuilding.org. The future of residential construction is GREEN. Join us as we strive to Green the American Dream.
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