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The National Green Building Standard is the first ANSI concensus standard on sustainable green building for residential construction. A collaborative effort between the ICC and NAHB, the Standard provides "green" practices that can be incorporated into new homes, including high-rise multifamily buildings, home remodeling and additions, hotels and motels, and the site upon which the green homes are located.
The green practices include:
- Lot design, preparation and development.
- Resource, energy, and water efficiency.
- Indoor environmental quality.
- Operation, maintenance, and building owner education.
The four threshold levels, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Emerald provide builders with a means to achieve basic, entry-level green building, or achieve the highest level of sustainable "green" building that incorporates energy savings of 60 percent or higher. The Standard can be used by any builder for their individual projects, or be the basis for a local community or state green building program.
ICC 700-2008: National Green Building Standard provides guidance for safe and sustainable building practices for residential construction, including both new and renovated single-family to high-rise residential buildings. This is the first and only green standard that is consistent and coordinated with the 2009 International Codes Series and related standards.
The International Code Council and National Association of Home Builders developed the Standard with broad input from several thousand stakeholders, ranging from code officials and other building professionals to the entire spectrum of the green building community. This new standard provides a practical route to green, sustainable and high-performance construction, especially in communities with little if any green/sustainable buildings or guidelines to build green. The standard also promotes homeowner education for the maintenance and operation of green residential buildings in order to ensure long-term benefits.
The standard's rating system allows builders, designers and communities to choose the levels of high-performance green buildings that best suit their needs. Key provisions include:
- Land conservation.
- Rainwater collection.
- Construction of smaller homes to conserve resources.
- Energy performance starting at 15% above the baseline requirements of the 2006 International Energy Conservation Code.
- The use of low VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) materials and detached garages or carports to improve indoor environmental quality.
- Homeowner education on proper maintenance and operation to maintain its green status throughout its life cycle.
From the Preface
Introduction
In 2004, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) began to develop the NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines, the continuation of green building efforts the association initiated in 1998. The committee that developed the Guidelines represented a broad spectrum of stakeholders involved in the home building and associated industries. The Guidelines were first published in 2005 and are the basis of many green building programs in North America.
Development
In 2006, notification of NAHB's intent to develop the National Green Building Standard was transmitted to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). In early 2007 NAHB partnered with the International Code Council (ICC) to develop the standard and a call for committee members was announced.
The Consensus Committee on the National Green Building Standard, consisting of 42 members, was assembled of those entities and interests that the standard would affect. A working draft, based on the NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines, was released to allow the public to propose changes. The guidelines were expanded to encompass all types of residential construction including single-family, multifamily, the lots and sites upon which the residential buildings are located, and the remodeling of and additions to existing residential buildings. Over the next 10 months and two public drafts, the consensus committee addressed over 2000 suggested changes and public comments. The initial consideration of the proposed changes was vetted through seven Task Groups that specialized in the different criteria contained in the standard. All proposed changes and comments were then acted upon by the full Consensus Committee on the National Green Building Standard. The result of this effort is the first ANSI standard on residential green building.
ANSI Approval
The ICC 700-2008 National Green Building Standard was approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as an American National Standard on January 29, 2009.
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