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Check Please

As green building grows in notoriety, how can you be assured that your new home or remodel is truly Green. You need to insist that your Builders or Remodelers claims are checked by an accredited, third-party certifier.

If you happened to read my blog on April 18^th, you know that the Building Contractors Association of Southwestern Idaho (BCASWI) has formed a Green Building Council to encourage builders to adopt the NAHB National Green Building Program which offers innovative, resource-efficient building techniques, while preserving affordability. One key element of NAHB’s suite of green building tools is their green home certification program, which is administered by the NAHB Research Center. The Research Center will accredit home certification program verifiers and act as the sole home certifying body for the National Green Building Program.

The NAHB Research Center is seeking interested, qualified individuals to become green building field verifiers for the program. As the sole certifying body under the NAHB’s National Green Building Program, the Research Center is responsible for training and accrediting eligible individuals to verify that homes across the country meet the criteria of the national certification program.

Verifiers accredited by the NAHB Research Center will, through a process of document review and on-site inspections, independently confirm that all green program requirements and points specified by the Builder or Remodeler are in place before a home is accredited.

If you are interested in becoming a verifier, you must have prerequisite training or experience that provides you a baseline understanding of general home building practices and specific green building knowledge. Specific types of experience that meet this eligibility requirement include:

One year of acceptable professional experience in home building and green building practices (the NAHB Research Center will determine what experience meets the acceptable level), or
At least 12 hours of green training approved by the NAHB Research Center, or
Designation by the NAHB as a Green Building Professional, or
Professional certification from Green Advantage (Green Advantage is a strong supporter of the U.S. Green Building Council and USGBC chapters), or
NARI Green Building Certification from National Association of the Remodelers Industry (NARI), or
RESNET Green Rater Certification, or
LEED Accredited Professional Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council

In order to become accredited by the NAHB Research Center, you must participate in training administered by the Research Center—either in person, via Web cast, or via self-guided online materials—and pass a verifier accreditation test. The course covers the protocol for verifying that a house meets the national certification program requirements and is intended to ensure that all verifiers across the country evaluate homes in a consistent manner. This training does not include developing the green expertise each prospective verifier is expected to have as a prerequisite.

Tad Duby, managing member of On Point Advantage LLC, has already been accredited by the NAHB Research Center. But in order for our local Green Building program to work, we need more accredited verifiers. If you are interested or know someone who might be interested, you can learn more at http://www.nahbgreen.org/Certification/becomeverifier.aspx. Or you can call the NAHB National Green Building Program Hotline at 877-NAHB-GRN.

If you are a consumer and want to learn more about the NAHB National Green Building Program, you can visit the website www.nahbgreen.org. If you are considering building a new Green home or remodeling your existing home to be Green, call me. Tad Duby will be my accredited independent third-party verifier.