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About the NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines
First published in 2005, the NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines were written by a group of builders, researchers, environmental experts, and designers to provide guidance for builders engaged in or interested in green building products and practices for residential design, development, and construction. The Guidelines were also written to serve as a "baseline" so that NAHB members could easily develop local green building programs. Divided into two parts, the Guidelines cover seven areas, or guiding principles: Lot Design; Resource Efficiency; Energy Efficiency; Water Efficiency, Indoor Environmental Quality; Homeowner Education; and Global Impact. The Guidelines offer three levels of green building- Bronze, Silver, and Gold.
Part One of the Guidelines contains a checklist of all these items; builders navigate through the checklist, assigning point values for each line item completed. At all levels, there is a minimum number of points required for each of the seven guiding principles to ensure that all aspects of green building are addressed to some degree and that there is a balanced, whole-house systems approach. After reaching the point thresholds, an additional 100 points must be achieved by implementing any of the remaining line items. Part Two is a User Guide that helps explain each concept of the checklist, including intent, how to implement, and additional resources.
The Green Scoring Tool allows scoring a building to the Guidelines (as well as the National Green Building Standard), and includes all of the Checklist items and their respective points from Part One, plus all of the User Guide information from Part Two.
Local green homebuilding program guidelines may be available. Use the Find a Local Program feature to locate local programs and guidelines in your area.