Green Education

FROM THE NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE:
In 2007 the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the International Code Council (ICC) partnered to form and establish a much-needed and nationally-recognizable standard definition of what is meant by "Green Building."

A consensus committee was formed to develop this standard in compliance with the requirements of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). The resulting ANSI approved ICC-700-2008 National Green Building Standard defines green building for single and multifamily homes, residential remodeling projects and site development projects while still allowing for the flexibility required for regionally-appropriate best green practices.

A builder, remodeler, or developer must incorporate a minimum number of features in the following areas: Energy, water, and resource efficiency, lot and site development, indoor environmental quality, and home owner education.The more points accrued, the higher the score. And, one can’t “fail” one category and “ace” another.The lowest category score is the highest overall score that one can obtain.

The Standard includes mandatory items and suggests that higher thresholds be met in several categories. A new threshold - "Emerald" - was added to denote the highest achievement in residential green construction. The following tables highlight the point values required in each area for green buildings and subdivisions.

 

Many of the mandatory measures found in The National Green Building Standard are consistent with the International Code Council's I-Codes. Additionally, the baseline for energy savings has been updated to IECC 2006. To qualify for"Bronze" in the energy efficiency chapter of the Standard, a home must be at least 15% better than the 2006 IECC (ENERGY STAR™ equivalent).

Below is a rough breakdown of the energy efficiency differences between thresholds and illustrates the percentage above ENERGY STAR™ requirements needed to achieve higher thresholds within the Green Building Standard's Energy Efficiency performance path.

FROM THE LOCAL AND REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE:
The JCAHBA (Johnson City Area Homebuilders Association) has developed a revolutionary certification for Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. The Northeast Tennessee Green Building Council(originally formed by the JCAHBA) has worked with city officials in Johnson City, Tennessee (and continues to work with surrounding cities and counties) to adopt criteria for permit and tap fee rebates for builders and consumers of certified green homes that is strictly based on the ANSI/ICC National Green Home Standard.

The Northeast Tennessee Green Building Council is in talks with Washington, Carter, Unicoi, and Johnson Counties to establish the National Green Standard as the regional standard for residential green construction that provides each county’s stamp of approval and a rebate for fees associated with a certified green home in the corresponding city/county. The development team for Carolina Cove (headed by Cory Lewis) founded the Northeast Tennessee Green Building Council.  And, Carolina Cove contains some of the innagural homes in the program. Lewis and others are hoping to start with the region eventually grow statewide with a green building standard for Tennessee.  See www.JCAHBAGreen.org for more information.