National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)

NAHB (National Association of Home Builders) is a national program designed to provide a green certification for those areas of the country that have not designed their own green program. It has 3 levels of green; Bronze (237 points), Silver (311 points) and Gold (395 points) and 7 categories (Lot Design Preparation, and Development; Resource Efficiency; Energy Efficiency; Water Efficiency; Indoor Environmental Quality; Operation, Maintenance, and Homeowner Education; and Global Impact). Achieving an Energy Star certification is not required under the current Guidelines.
GETTING STARTED

The builder begins the green certification process by scoring the home via the Green Scoring Tool. The builder certification procedure from the NAHB Green website is listed below. All documents mentioned in this list are easily accessible from NAHB Green Home Certification Process. This website is loaded with excellent information. It’s worth reviewing.

You may want to review the Builder Agreement which is part of the builders application packet before beginning this process to make sure you don’t have any problem signing this document.
Builder Process for Having a Green Home Certified

(From NAHB WEB Site)

* Score home to be certified using the NAHB Green Scoring Tool
* Export final Designer’s Report from Green Scoring Tool and save as an Excel file
* Select an accredited verifier
* Forward Designer’s Report to selected verifier and schedule rough inspection
* Meet with verifier after rough inspection to sign off on Verification Report which will be sent to NAHB Research Center
* Receive invoice for $200/home certification fee
* Receive Program Participation Agreement from NAHB Research Center; complete Agreement and return to Research Center with required evidence of insurance
o Only one Agreement is required for each builder regardless of how many homes are ultimately submitted for certification
* Schedule final inspection with verifier and sign off on final Verification Report including information as to where to send certificate
* If all is in order with final Verification Report and certification fee has been received by the NAHB Research Center, receive Certified Green Home certificate

The Standards for homes, developments, multi-family, and remodels are scheduled to be released in the future. The builder will be able to choose either the Guidelines or the Standards for an unknown period of time. Eventually the Guidelines will be eliminated.

NAHB and FGBC are working toward a co-branding agreement.