New Jewel in the National Green Building Certification Crown: First Emerald-level Green Certified Single-Family New Home

PA Home Built by RGB Custom Homes Captures First Top-Level Certification for NAHBGreen Program

Upper Marlboro, MD - April 23, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) — Coinciding with the 39th annual celebration of Earth Day, the NAHB Research Center today issued the first Emerald-level green home certificate under its National Green Building Certification. Emerald is the highest level of certification a home can achieve when scored to the National Green Building Standard™ rating system.

Builder Robert G. Brown of RGB Custom Homes says he’s a very competitive person and knew from the onset that he wanted to shoot for the highest level of certification available. He achieved that by building a very green, 1,900-square foot home in East Stroudsburg, Pa., that scored 724 points based on the Standard. This “Davidson” model home will allow RGB Custom Homes to showcase for its customers the full range of green options they provide.

As a member of one of NAHB’s Builder 20 Clubs, Brown said he kept hearing from his peers how he had to start building green because that’s where everything in residential construction was heading. While known for building larger custom homes, Brown says his company had seen the growing demand for smaller, more efficient homes in their market as well. “We had never tagged our company as being a ‘green builder’ before,” says Brown, “but we found out through this process how much of what we were already doing put us in a great position to take this home to the highest level of green.”

Brown said while there was a decent learning curve for both his company and his trades, he thinks they could now easily replicate the process for future green homes thanks in part to the available resources such as the Green Scoring Tool. He also said the stringent third-party verification process they went through with accredited verifier Frank Malpere really helped everyone on the jobsite understand the reasons behind the green practices. Having Malpere visually inspect and/or test every point claimed by the builder was a real eye-opener and an education for the construction team.

Malpere advises other builders seeking certification for their homes to create a partnership with an accredited verifier right from the start. “There’s a lot of misinformation out there among builders and consumers that you have to spend a lot of extra money to create a green home,” he says. “But by working with an accredited professional throughout the construction process, you can understand where you can make the most practical and effective choices for your project without breaking the bank.”

For more information on National Green Building Certification and the National Green Building Standard, visit the NAHBGreen website.

ABOUT THE NAHB RESEARCH CENTER: Located in Upper Marlboro, Md., the NAHB Research Center promotes innovation in housing technology to improve the quality, durability, affordability, and environmental performance of homes and home building products. Created over 40 years ago as a subsidiary of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the NAHB Research Center has established itself as the source for reliable, objective information and research on housing construction and development issues. Through its various testing and certification services, the Research Center seal is internationally-recognized as a mark of product quality and an assurance of product performance.

Contact: Anne Holtz

Tagged as: green, green building, NAHBGreen Program, new home