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010380 Green Certified units & lots

Residential Renovation/Remodel

The National Green Building Standard™ offers two different paths to have a single-family home or multi-unit building remodeling project green certified. Both paths allow certification at the Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Emerald levels. Explore both paths and evaluate which best meets your needs from the features, performance, and cost perspectives.

Green Remodel Path

The Green Remodel Path is available for homes and multifamily buildings that were built before 1980. These older residential buildings can benefit considerably by measures that improve their water and energy efficiency, and implement specific indoor air quality practices. Renovated homes can be certified depending on the reduction in energy and water consumption that they attain – reductions must range from a minimum of 20% for Bronze to at least 50% for Emerald level. A qualified professional must audit or analyze the water and energy usage before and after the remodel. The same approach to the audit/analysis must be used for both the before and after studies. The verification process will require brief inspections to verify the Chapter 9 practices and review the energy and water analyses.

The Green Remodel path may also be used for renovations with an addition. Achieving a specific level is usually more difficult with an addition as the addition will typically increase energy and water use and meeting the reduction thresholds will be more challenging.

Single-family homes and multifamily buildings that undergo more substantial renovations can also be green certified to the Standard. To be certified, these buildings will essentially follow the same process as a new building.

Until all scoring pathways for Renovations and Additions are incorporated into the Green Scoring Tool, some manual scoring steps may be involved for these projects.

Green Remodel Path Certification Process

Step 1: Before the renovation begins, hire a qualified professional to inspect the home to so that the home's water and energy usage before the remodel can be determined. This professional will also do a similar analysis after the renovation is completed. The same approach to the audit/analysis must be used for both the before and after studies.
Step 2: As renovation begins, hire an NAHB Research Center accredited verifier and schedule rough inspection.
Step 3:

The NAHB Research Center will send a Builders Agreement to all new builders once the verifier has scheduled the rough inspection. The builder should return the following to the Research Center:

  • the completed Program Participation Agreement
  • proof of insurance
  • the certification fee
Step 4: After the renovation is completed, schedule final inspection with verifier and sign off on final Verification Report.
Step 5: Research Center will review the report and issue Green Certified certificate provided that all documentation is complete.

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Substantial Renovation Certification (Green Building Path)

This path requires the remodeler to incorporate a substantial number of green practices as part of the renovation process and is similar to the process for new construction to be green certified. The practices are generally the same as the practices for new construction but some of the practices are modified by Renovation Notes or Addition Notes in the Standard. Green Building Path renovations will require two inspections by NAHB Research Center accredited verifiers for certification.

Green Building Path Certification Process

Currently the online scoring tool will only take a designer thru the practices step by step if the renovation included an addition. Once the home is scored the verification and certification process is the same as for new construction.

Until the scoring pathway for the Green Building Path for Renovation only and addition only is incorporated into the Green Scoring Tool, the following process can be followed:

Step 1: Score the building using the online Green Scoring Tool or the downloadable scoring spreadsheet. Export the Designer's Report as an Excel file if you used the online scoring tool.
Step 2: Review the Renovation Notes in the National Green Building Standard (available for purchase through NAHB's BuilderBooks) appropriate to all the green practices which appear in the Designer's Report.
Step 3: Add a column next to the points claimed column in the Designer's Report and enter any point adjustments (additional points) for green practices implemented in the renovation project. In the next column include any comments that explain what is being done in the renovation to justify the particular adjustment.
Step 4: Review the impact of the Renovation and Addition Notes with your verifier. If there is any concern regarding the proper interpretation of the notes, e-mail the adjusted Designer's Report to VerificationReport@nahbrc.com for review and approval by the NAHB Research Center. In the cover email, note that this is a renovation for design scoring review/approval.
Step 5: Schedule the rough inspection with the verifier to be completed just before the walls are closed up. The verifier will notify the Research Center of the scheduled rough inspection.
Step 6: The NAHB Research Center will send a Builders Agreement to all new builders once the verifier has scheduled the rough inspection. The builder should return the following to the Research Center:
  • the completed Program Participation Agreement
  • proof of insurance
  • the certification fee
Step 7: After the renovation is completed, schedule final inspection with verifier and sign off on final Verification Report.
Step 8: The Research Center will review the final report and issue the Green Certified certificate provided that all documentation is complete.
Step 8: The Research Center will review the report and issue Certified Green Home certificate provided that all documentation is complete.

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Select your type of remodeling project to see the steps for certification.

Renovation of a Building Built before 1980

There are two possible paths to green certification for renovations of buildings with a building permit issued prior to January 1, 1980:

Both paths allow certification at the Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Emerald levels for either single family or multifamily homes. Explore both paths and evaluate which path best meets your needs from a features, performance, and cost perspective.

Green Remodel Path

The Green Remodel Path (Section 305.5 of the Standard) is available only for homes and multifamily buildings constructed before 1980. This path has only 3 required elements:

  1. achieving a certain reduction in energy usage
  2. achieving a certain reduction in water usage
  3. complying with 5 mandatory indoor environmental quality practices (from Chapter 9)

The reduction in energy and water consumption must range from a minimum of 20% for Bronze to at least 50% for Emerald level. A qualified professional must audit or analyze the water and energy usage before and after the remodel. The same approach to the audit/analysis must be used for both the before and after studies. The verification process will require two very brief inspections to verify the Chapter 9 practices and a review of the energy and water analysis.

Instructions for the Green Remodel Path for Renovations

Step 1 Complete the scoring of the building using the Green Scoring Tool.

Hire a qualified professional to audit or analyze the water and energy usage before and after the remodel. The same approach to the audit/analysis must be used for both the before and after studies.
Step 2: Export final Designer's Report from Green Scoring Tool and save as an Excel file.
Step 3: As construction begins, hire an accredited verifier.
Step 4: Forward Designer's Report to selected verifier and schedule rough inspection.
Step 5: Meet with verifier after rough inspection to sign off on the correct version of the verification report which will be sent to NAHB Research Center for review.
Step 6: Receive invoice for green building certification fee.
Step 7: Complete Program Participation Agreement and return to Research Center with required evidence of insurance. Documentation is included in a builder's application packet, available by contacting us via e-mail.
Only one Agreement is required for each builder regardless of how many buildings are ultimately submitted for certification.
Step 8: Schedule final inspection with verifier and sign off on final Verification Report including certificate information.
Step 9: After final report review and receipt of the certification fee, the NAHB Research Center will issue the green certification.

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Green Building Path

All residential buildings are eligible to use the Green Building Path to have a renovation or remodeling project green certified. This path requires the remodeler to incorporate a number of green practices as part of the remodeling process and is very similar to the process for new construction to be green certified.. Each practice earns points and/or meets certain mandatory requirements toward certification. There are minimum threshold points in each of 6 green building categories (Chapters 5-10) as well as an overall total for each certification level. The practices in this path are generally the same as the practices for new construction but some of the practices are modified by Renovation Notes. The Renovation Notes often times provide additional points. There are also a number of mandatory practices on this path including some optional new construction practices which are made mandatory by a Renovation Note. Green Building Path renovations will require two inspections by verifiers for certification.

Instructions for the Green Building Path for Renovations

Until the scoring pathway for the Green Building Path for Renovations is incorporated into the Green Scoring Tool, the following process can be followed:

Step 1 Complete the scoring of the building using the Green Scoring Tool.

Score the building as if it was new construction. Export the Designer's Report as an Excel file.
Step 2 Obtain a copy of the National Green Building Standard at www.builderbooks.com. Review the Renovation Notes appropriate to all the green practices which appear in the designer report.
Step 3 Add a column next to the points claimed column in the Designer's Report and enter any point adjustments (additional points) in that column for green practices implemented in your renovation project. In the next column include any comments that explain what is being done in the renovation to justify the particular adjustment.
Step 4 E-mail the adjusted Designer's Report to VerificationReport@nahbrc.org for review and approval by the NAHB Research Center. Include in the cover e-mail that this is a renovation for design scoring review/approval.
Step 5 The Research Center will review the report and adjustments and make any additional adjustments as needed. The Research Center will e-mail the reviewed report back to the builder.
Step 6 Hire an accredited verifier to inspect the green practices (both rough and final). The verifier will use the approved designer report to record the inspection results.
Step 7 After final report review and receipt of the certification fee, the NAHB Research Center will issue the green certification.

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