ANSI Approves National Green Building Standard™

The National Green Building Standard™ for all residential construction work, including single-family homes, apartments and condos, land development and remodeling and renovation, was approved on January 29 by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

Joe Robson, a home builder in Tulsa, Okla., and chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), says the standard defines what green practices can be incorporated into residential development and construction and how homeowners can operate and maintain their green homes.

"The National Green Building Standard is now the first and only green building rating system approved by ANSI, making it the benchmark for green homes," says Ron Jones, who chaired the consensus committee charged with developing the standard.

"The standard provides homebuilders and remodelers with a much more expansive third-party rating system that they can use to achieve green certification under NAHB Green and the National Green Building Certification Program," adds Mike Luzier, chief executive officer of the NAHB Research Center.

The Research Center provides certification for NAHB Green projects, which until now have only included single-family homes.

As part of the ANSI process, NAHB and the International Code Council gathered an inclusive and representative consensus committee composed of a broad spectrum of builders, architects, product manufacturers, regulators and environmental experts. The work of the consensus committee was administered by the NAHB Research Center, an ANSI Accredited Standards Developer.

The consensus committee deliberated the content of the standard for more than a year, held four public hearings and evaluated more than 2,000 public comments in the development of the standard, according to the NAHB.

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