Green Ratings Programs

Homebuilding may be at a standstill across much of the country, but there's no slump in the business of creating green building guidelines. If you lost your scorecard along the way, here's where the major national programs stand at the close of the year:

LEED for Homes

A final version of U.S. Green Building Council's LEED for Homes ratings program was approved by membership in December; an updated version of the ratings system will be posted on the USGBC website early in 2008. At the same time, the organization is working to boost its roster of LEED for Homes providers-the local organizations that train builders in the program, coordinate raters and certify LEED homes-from the original 12 to 42 by the end of January. USGBC will also offer LEED for Homes certification training for raters at the February RESNET conference. Expanding the provider and rater base, as well as reining in the cost of certifying projects, is seen as crucial to widespread adoption of the program. Some 400 homes have been certified under the program's pilot phase, which began in 2005.

For more information: http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=147

REGREEN Residential Remodeling Guidelines

December also marked the close of the public comment period on the first draft of the REGREEN Residential Remodeling Guidelines, released in November by USGBC and the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID). The guidelines, which are based on a whole-house, systems-thinking approach, provide green strategies keyed to various remodeling projects, including kitchen, bath, bedroom, living area and basement remodels; weatherization; major additions; gut rehabs; energy retrofits; and outdoor living spaces. While REGREEN guidelines share many of the same standards used in USGBC's LEED for Homes program, it is a strategy tool, not a rating or certification system. The final version will be released in March at ASID's Interiors '08 conference in New Orleans.

For more information: http://www.regreenprogram.org

NAHB National Green Building Standard

With revisions completed in early December, an updated draft of the National Association of Homebuilders National Green Building Standard will be posted for a second 45-day-long round of public comment beginning Dec. 21. Anyone may comment on the document, which will be available on the website of the NAHB Research Center. More than 2,000 comments were submitted during the first public review, which closed in September. The standard is expected to be completed by March.

For more information: http://nahbrc.org/technical/standards/greenbuilding.aspx

NAHB National Green Building Program

Aside from its work on the national standard, NAHB is inviting anyone interested in their National Green Building Program to "test drive" a new online certification tool based on their Model Green Home Building Guidelines. Though still under development, the tool allows builders and planners to track potential points their project may earn for certification under the program. The tool, found at www.nahbgreen.com, is also being evaluated by home builders associations and individual builders piloting the NAHB program, particularly with regard to the program's verification process. "We need to decide where that balance is between the appropriate level of verification and too much paperwork and expense," said NAHB spokesperson Calli Schmidt. The pilot review concludes Dec. 31, after which recommendations will be considered for the final program, scheduled to launch Feb. 14 at NAHB's International Builders Show. More than 100,000 homes have been certified under the program.

For more information: http://www.nahbgreen.com