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Green Home Certification Programs

Posted on 13. Apr, 2010 by Kimberly Madrigal in Real-World Ideas

In most markets it may be difficult to justify the return on investment for green home certification for existing houses, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t something to be learned from these programs.  If it turns out the property owners are not interested in, here we will outline the big three national green certification standards.

National Green Building Standard provides certification through the National Association of Home Builders or NAHB.  With some restrictions, The Standard can be sought for additions and/or renovations to single family homes or conversions of non-residential structures to residential uses.  It requires accredited verification, offers four levels of green building and covers the following areas:

• Lot Design, Preparation, and Development
• Resource Efficiency
• Energy Efficiency
• Water Efficiency
• Indoor Environmental Quality
• Operation, Maintenance, and Building Owner Education

LEED for HOMES, offered through the US Green Building Council or USGBC, is another popular rating system; however, it requires, at minimum, a “gut rehab” in order to qualify for certification at one of four levels.

• Innovation & Design Process
• Location & Linkages
• Sustainable Sites
• Water Efficiency
• Energy & Atmosphere
• Materials & Resources
• Indoor Environmental Quality
• Awareness & Education

Home Performance with ENERGY STAR – while not currently a certification system – has become more robust in recent years and may provide a glimpse into the future of a national home rating system.  Using approved contractors, the program focuses on lowering utility bills, increasing comfort and reducing global warming through an emphasis on:

• Whole-house Integrated Design
• Air Sealing
• Insulating
• Heating and Cooling Effectively
• Upgrading Lighting and Appliances

Each of these programs emphasizes an integrated design approach, energy efficiency and properly sized HVAC systems.  Although the government’s Energy Star program seems to omit water conservation, the Department of Energy is working through its many WaterSense ‘partners’ to standardize and increase the availability of water saving fixtures.

In the end, there is no one-size-fits-all answer as to whether or not property management professionals should recommend green home certification.  If the property owner is considering resale value in their calculations, of course, this would be a plus. If the property owners isn’t ready to make big improvements there are also some cheaper and easier ways to get started. It may still be worthwhile to consider following certification guidelines as part of an asset improvement effort, however, as they do improve quality of life for renters and reduce utility bills.

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Tags: Energy Efficient, ENERGY STAR, Green Certification, NAHB, USGBC, Water Efficiency