(Welcome to Nandita, one of our finalists for our Green Architect blogger search. She's writing from Atlanta. Comment away!)
Maybe you missed your chance to win an Olympic medal, but for the go-for-the-gold attitude in us all, there's still the opportunity to get that metallic symbol recognizing you as the paragon of green-ness you are by way of third-party green home certifications. Green home certification is perfect for the competitive type who wants to push to get just one more point in a green rating system, or who wants an edge in the real estate market. National rating systems carry street cred and speak a common green language to a wide audience. The most common national rating systems are...
LEED for Homes:
LEED is a program of the U.S. Green Building Council and is arguably the most recognized green rating system around. The LEED for Homes program provides a reference guide and rating system to help you understand the different aspects for your project that need consideration. If you want your home to be one of the over 3000 LEED certified homes out there, your builder must work with one of the LEED for Homes Providers to make sure things are on the up and up.
- Who will shine:The well-rounded environmentalist
- Cost: $500-$3000 depending on home size and certification level pursued
- Certification levels: certified, silver, gold or platinum
Energy Star and HERS:
Much like your refrigerator, your home can also earn the Energy Star. In order to get that coveted designation, your home must be at least 15% more energy efficient than homes built to the 2004 International Residential Code. Achieving this level of economy translates to a HERS rating of 85. The HERS Index rates the energy efficiency of your home on a scale where 100 is the typical new home and 0 is a zero energy home. Unlike LEED, Energy Star focuses solely on home energy use. To get your score, a Home Energy Rater will do a pre-construction energy analysis using fancy software, as well as on-site inspections when the home is complete.
- Who will shine: The off-the-grid hippie
- Cost: typically, $100-$300 for a HERS Rating
- Certification levels: score from 100 to 0, to get an Energy Star you need an 85 or less.
NAHB National Green Building Standard:
For good or bad, most homes are built by developers these days. Fortunately, the National Association of Home Builders has brought some sustainability comparison tools to the market through their National Green Building Standard. At a minimum, encourage your builder to use the rating system and guidelines found on the website.
- Ideal candidate: The contractor with a conscience
- Cost: $200 per building for NAHB members, $500 for non-members
- Certification levels: bronze, silver, gold, emerald
Check for regional rating systems in your area as well. These may be less expensive, come with knowledgeable local resources, and address environmental concerns specific to your climate. Some that come to mind are EarthCraft (Georgia), Built Green (Washington), and FGBC green home standard (Florida).
-Nandita
Image by Nandita Vyas
Very interesting. How do the regional rating systems (such as those mentioned in the column) compare to the national rating systems that are explained in detail? Are the regional rankings easier to achieve? For instance, how does the EarthCraft system in Georgia stack up against LEED?
Would be interested to hear the thoughts of others around the country as well....
view atlantagreen's profile
I thought 'Contractor with a Conscience' was a contradiction of terms? I kid, I kid. Informative article!
view fowed's profile
Great article! Some other regional resources include:
Arlington Green Home Choice Program:
http://www.arlingtonva.us/Departments/EnvironmentalServices/epo/EnvironmentalServicesEpoGreenHomeChoice.aspx
Minnesota Green Star Program:
http://www.mngreenstar.org/
Dallas Green Building Program:
http://www.greendallas.net/green_buildings.html
Austin Energy Green Building Program:
http://www.austinenergy.com/energy%20efficiency/programs/Green%20Building/index.htm
Tucson Green Building Program:
http://www.ci.tucson.az.us/dsd/CityofTucsonGreenBuildingProgram.pdf
The Green Communities website also has a lot of regional information:
www.greencommunitiesonline.org
view goodmans's profile
I guess if "doing the right thing" isn't reason enough to green your home, an increase in selling price is!
view kristinharp's profile
It would be interesting to see how getting a third party rating is paying off for residential builders and developers. Somewhat related, these grad students at Michigan wrote an interesting paper about the market for residential green building:
http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/50485/1/Residential Green Building - Martin Swett Wein - Full Report for SNRE.pdf
view cek7's profile
Interesting Article. How does one convince or entice landlords to turn their properties into green buildings especially old properties that are out of date? I am pretty sure renters want to go for the gold as well.
view bwngrn's profile
Thanks for compiling everything in one place! So ironic that the NAHB has a green building program when they fight green building standards tooth and nail.....
view environmentga's profile
Great post introducing the different green rating systems out there that are geared towards residential projects. It's important for home owners or potential home owners to know that there are these systems that can act as green building standards that not only apply to the design of the house but also the development and building of it.
view mamri's profile
A very informative article! Is there one resource that provides basic information for an average person with no knowledge of the green build basics?
view nanson's profile
i think we need more adobe walls and thatch roofs and solar panels
view k___h_'s profile
Great article! Thanks for organizing and putting it into layman's terms for the non-green experts. Enjoyed the easy to follow bullets for each rating.
view lci79's profile
Being green is great. If you really wanted to make your house green, go to Home Depot and by green paint. Then take it home and cover the whole house with it. That way you can really say "I live in a green house"
view kevstar's profile
Thanks for highlighting things that everyone, not just the design community, should have access to.
view meganholder's profile
Very informative. Let's go green.............
view rohitvyas's profile
Good overview of residential green certification programs. From my experience, however, your figures on the cost of certification is pretty low. LEED and NAHB required 3rd party verification plus fees paid directly to the organizations. NAHB charges $200-$500 just for the certification, an independent verifier must be hired at an additional cost, ranging from $750 - $1500, very market dependent. LEED has a similar fee structure for registration and certification, plus the cost of the 3rd party provider which tends to run between $1500 and $5000 per house. HERS ratings for ENERGY STAR cost about $500 - $1000 each. These figures are for one-off projects, production builders that repeat plans and have multiple projects running simultaneously can reduce their costs.
This link to a free on line web seminar includes one section that reviews green home certification programs with a focus on remodeling.
http://www.remodelingvirtualconf.com/agenda/
view greencurmudgeon's profile
Just discussing this topic the other day. We always hear about commercial buildings bragging about their LEED certification - cool to know that homeowners can get in on the game as well.
view jwandstrat's profile
This is really great that there are options for homeowners for 'green home' certifications. It just goes to show that there's not a monopoly on one in particular and it will give the homeowner the choice to decide, and market their homes as having REAL value (and not just hardwood floors, fresh paint, and granite counter tops). Having these available, especially in this market should really create a movement for marketable sustainable homes like it has in the commercial real estate market.
view johncantrell's profile
Thanks for the info...I was kind of "green" when it came to being green....ps...love the phrase "off the grid hippy", just need to figure out how to work that into everyday vocab!
view ecollins79's profile
This is really great! Since I hope to buy my first home in the next year or so, this is wonderful information to know initially, so I can ensure we work with our builder to make all the provisions we can to lead us towards more green living. Thanks for the info!!
view lpusateri's profile
Great summary! Though the cost of some of these programs can detract someone whose on the fence about 'going green,' many cities offer incentives for taking such measures (and some cities require it), there is also money and discounts to be found from other government programs.
view jlord's profile
This is great. I'm surprised to see that the starting cost for the process isn't that much. It will be nice to see some examples and details of process and how long they took.
view aungnawa's profile