The NGBS Green Promise
According to NGBS, a home or multifamily building can attain one of four performance levels — Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Emerald. For a building to attain any level of NGBS Green certification, all of the applicable mandatory provisions must be correctly implemented.
You can rest assured that any home with an NGBS Green Certified mark on it is green, top to bottom. But the NGBS allows four certification levels – Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Emerald – so builders can provide options based on market preferences, homebuyer budgets, and other regional or cultural influences. NGBS Green is the only residential green certification program that requires increasingly higher point thresholds in ALL categories in order for a home to reach the next level of certification.
This NGBS difference ensures that, no matter the certification level, the home is green in all aspects; not just extremely energy efficient, for example, with little regard for indoor environmental quality or how the home relates to the surrounding community and amenities.
The Value of Third Party Certifications
Lots of builders claim their homes are green. But without a NGBS Green Certification issued by Home Innovation Research Labs, you have to take the builder’s word that the green features are installed correctly. Independent, third-party certification is your proof that a home or apartment building is, in fact, NGBS compliant and truly green.
Every NGBS Green Certified home is inspected in-person at least twice by an experienced NGBS Green Verifier; an inspector independent from the builder who has been accredited by Home Innovation. Before a verifier can award the home points for the green practices claimed by the builder, he or she must visually inspect nearly every one of the green practices, products, and technologies to ensure they are installed correctly. Verifiers conduct an inspection of the home before the drywall is installed so they can verify all the green practices, such as insulation installation, inside the wall. Then they come back for a final inspection when the home is complete to ensure all the green practices installed after their first inspection are correct. Home Innovation reviews every single verification report to ensure it is complete and accurate before the NGBS certification is issued.
