National Green Building Standard™

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In 2007 the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the International Code Council (ICC) partnered to form to establish a much-needed and nationally-recognizable standard definition of what is meant by “Green Building.”

A consensus committee was formed to develop this standard in compliance with the requirements of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). The resulting ANSI approved ICC-700-2008 National Green Building Standard defines green building for single and multifamily homes, residential remodeling projects and site development projects while still allowing for the flexibility required for regionally-appropriate best green practices.

Similar to the NAHB Model Green Homebuilding Guidelines, a builder, remodeler or developer must incorporate a minimum number of features in the following areas: energy, water, and resource efficiency, lot and site development, indoor environmental quality, and home owner education. The more points accrued, the higher the score.

The Standard, however, includes more mandatory items and suggests that higher thresholds be met in several categories. A new threshold – “Emerald” – was added to denote the highest achievement in residential green construction. The following tables highlight the point values required in each area for green buildings and subdivisions.

Threshold Point Ratings for Green Buildings

Green Building Categories			Performance Point Levels (1) (2)
			BRONZE	SILVER	GOLD	EMERALD
1.	Chapter 5	Lot Design, Preparation, and Development	39	66	93	119
2.	Chapter 6	Resource Efficiency	45	79	113	146
3.	Chapter 7	Energy Efficiency	30	60	100	120
4.	Chapter 8	Water Efficiency	14	26	41	60
5.	Chapter 9	Indoor Environmental Quality	36	65	100	140
6.	Chapter 10	Operation, Maintenance, and Building Owner Education	8	10	11	12
7.		Additional Points from any category	50	100	100	100
Total Points			222	406	558	697
(1) In addition to the threshold number of points in each category, all mandatory provisions of each category shall be implemented.
(2) For dwelling units greater than 4,000 square feet (372 square meters), the number of points in Category 7 (Additional Points from any category) shall be increased in accordance with Section 601.1. The “Total Points” shall be increased by the same number of points.

Threshold Point Ratings for Site Design and Development

Green Subdivision Category		Performance Point Levels
		One Star	Two Stars	Three Stars	Four Stars
Chapter 4	Site Design and Development	79	104	134	175

Many of the mandatory measures found in The National Green Building Standard are consistent with the International Code Council’s I-Codes. Additionally, the baseline for energy savings has been updated to IECC 2006. To qualify for “Bronze” in the energy efficiency chapter of the Standard, a home must be at least 15% better than the 2006 IECC (ENERGY STAR™ equivalent). Below is a rough breakdown of the energy efficiency differences between thresholds and illustrates the percentage above ENERGY STAR™ requirements needed to achieve higher thresholds within the Green Building Standard’s Energy Efficiency performance path.

The Green Scoring Tool allows scoring a building to the Standard (as well as the NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines), and includes decision support materials such as how to verify, intent, how to implement, resources, and Green Approved Products.

For more information see ANSI National Green Building Standard