Green Building Standards

Standards for rating a building's "greenness" have been established by several organizations, using point systems to rate energy, water use, materials, design and more.

Some green building programs are sponsored by state or local governments, and others are administered by homebuilding industry associations or by other voluntary groups.

We support voluntary, consensus-based green building standards that incorporate life-cycle assessment and specify wood products from certified sources.

We encourage state and local governments to adapt a variety of model green building standards for their needs, including:

NAHB MODEL GREEN BUILDING GUIDELINES

The National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) Model Green Building Guidelines are voluntary standards designed for mainstream homebuilders. These guidelines recognize the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), the American Tree Farm System (ATFS), the Canadian Standards Association (CSA), the Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) Schemes, and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification programs. Innovative design credits can be obtained by using a life-cycle assessment tool to compare building materials and using the analysis to determine the most environmentally preferable product for that building component.

NAHB NATIONAL GREEN BUILDING STANDARD APPROVED

The American National Standards Institute has approved the NAHB National Green Building Standard, making it the first green building standard to receive such approval.

The development of the National Green Building Standard was a joint effort between the International Code Council and the NAHB. The standard, referred to as ICC 700-2008, applies to all residential construction work in the United States, including single-family homes, apartments and condos. It gives credits for wood and wood-based materials and products certified to all credible third-party forest certification programs, including the SFI program.

ANSI approval of the National Green Building Standard followed a stringent process involving an inclusive and representative consensus committee made up of builders, architects, product manufacturers, regulators and environmental experts. The committee deliberated the content of the standard for more than a year, held four public hearings and evaluated more than 2,000 comments. The new standard provides guidelines for residential designers and builders to address issues such as water conservation, material use, energy efficiency, indoor air quality and homeowner education in the homes.

GREEN GLOBES

Green Globes is a web-based green building performance tool used in Canadian and U.S. nonresidential building markets. It can be customized for specific needs and provides design guidance that can be used for self-assessments or verified by third-party certifiers for use of the Green Globes logo and brand. The 2006 version fully incorporates life-cycle assessments into its assessment building assemblies and materials. Green Globes recognizes the ATFS, SFI, CSA and FSC certification systems as certified sustainable sources for wood building materials.

LEED

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, is a rating and third-party certification system for new and existing commercial buildings, high-rise residential buildings and neighborhood development. The current version of LEED does not give credit to most U.S.-produced wood products because it excludes SFI and CSA, the most widely used certification systems in the United States.