Check the Label: A Guide to Green Designations for the Home

Green Homes
What is a green home? While “green” has yet to be given a universally accepted definition, a green home would be defined today as a certified “green” home built to certain specifications and/or a home built by a certified “green builder” that might include any number of green features. Even after choosing one of these two definitions, however, the consumer must select from a growing list of green home certifications or builders claiming green homebuilder status.

The Energy Star label is one of the best known in the residential world. An Energy Star-qualified home is built to energy-efficient standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The guidelines imposed on an Energy Star home address insulation, window performance, construction, and duct tightness, the home’s HVAC systems, and energy-efficient products. Lastly, an Energy Star home has been third-party tested. Although the Energy Star home does not incorporate all aspects of a green home (such as indoor air quality, water efficiency, etc.), its comprehensive approach to energy efficiency sets it apart.

The United States Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Homes (LEED-H) certification has enjoyed a role as one of the building industry’s defining models for green homes. A home built to LEED-H specifications can earn one of four designations: certified, silver, gold, and platinum. To receive the LEED-H label, a home is rated by unbiased third-party testers on eight green-related categories: design, location, being a sustainable site, water efficiency, energy, and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, and awareness and education. 

The National Green Building Standard from the National Association of Home Builders is an industry-accepted standard for green homes, allowing for “flexibility of green building practices while providing a common national benchmark for builders, remodelers and developers.” The standard is based on the NAHB’s Model Green Home Building Guidelines, a two-part builder’s guide to green building first published in 2005 as a resource for the building community and more importantly for local and state home building associations. 

Like the LEED-H label, the Model Green Home Building Guidelines awards more than one certification level (bronze, silver, gold) and gives points in seven guiding principles: lot design, preparation and, development; resource efficiency; energy efficiency; water efficiency; indoor environment quality; operation, maintenance and homeowner education; and global impact.