Builders, Buyers Have New Set of Green Standards
My Office Manager recently enjoyed a vacation to Cancun, Mexico where the weather was perfect while Virginia enjoyed a lingering winter. While on her trek, she took the excursion to the ancient city of Chichen Itza on the Yucatan peninsula where the Mayan civilization enjoyed many years of growth and prosperity.
Although extremely intelligent and innovative, legend has it that they starved themselves by destroying their landscape in the interest of building a self-serving empire.
While today's "Green" carries many definitions, I think the American people are waking up to the fact that we need to be more responsible to protect the world that we enjoy so freely. Reckless greed, irresponsible actions or even ignorance need to be exchanged for accountability and thoughtful planning.
As an executive member of the Northern Virginian Building Industry Association (NVBIA) I am pleased to announce that the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has approved the long anticipated National Green Building Standard for all residential construction work including single-family homes, apartments and condos, land development, remodeling and renovation.
The approval signals a new era for the nation's builders, remodelers and developers and also provides an extra measure of reassurance for home buyers, said Joe Robson, a home builder in Tulsa, Okla., and Chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
"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," said Ron Jones, who chaired the consensus committee charged with developing the standard.
"The standard provides home builders and remodelers with a much more expansive third-party rating system that they can use to achieve green certification under NAHBGreen and the National Green Building Certification Program," said Mike Luzier, CEO of the NAHB Research Center.
The Research Center provides certification for NAHBGreen projects, which until now have only included single-family homes. "Consumers are looking for authentic, verifiable green building practices, and now they'll find them with a true industry consensus standard for residential green building," Luzier said.
The standard defines what green practices can be incorporated into residential development and construction and how home owners can operate and maintain their green homes.
But the National Green Building Standard also provides for flexibility - allowing home builders and home buyers to make green choices based on climate and geography as well as style preferences and budget.
As part of the stringent process required by ANSI, NAHB and the International Code Council gathered a fully 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.
Nationwide housing starts turned upward for the first time in eight months this past February, posting a 22.2 percent gain. Building permits, which can be an indicator of future building activity, rose 3 percent overall to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 547,000 units.
Encouraging news but perhaps only so if we, home buyers and home builders, use this opportunity to build better, smarter, greener homes.
The Builders Association led the way with a "Greener" approach, education, certification and legislation in Richmond. The time is ripe for all builders to be accountable through membership and participation - conducting all business with integrity and honesty.
Do your part - make sure your builder is a member of a building industry association in support of a Green Building program.
While building to standards and guidelines set forth by building programs such as NAHBGreen, EarthCraft of Virginia, and Energy Star, the building industry is showing true leadership.
Through understanding green principals such as site design, resource efficiency, indoor air quality, accessibility, and education NVBIA and its members are building affordable, attractive, safe, well-planned and environmentally-sensitive residential and business communities - with the National Green Building Standard we now have a tool by which our products can be certified.
Remember, if Green is the way to go for your next project, just "Ask a Builder."
Please use our contact form to send your questions, or write to "Ask a Builder" at P.O. box 294, Catlett, VA 20119.
Barkman is president of the Fauquier Chapter of The Northern Virginia Building Industry Association.
On behalf of its members, NVBIA works to create an economic and political climate in which the building industry is able to effectively meet the demand for affordable, attractive, safe, well-planned and environmentally-sensitive residential and business communities.
NVBIA membership includes membership in HBAV: Home Builders Association of Virginia, which focuses on issues on the state level, and NAHB: National Association of Home Builders, which concentrates on Capitol Hill and other federal agencies.
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