Government Standards for Making a Home Green

Posted under environment by Adam Ciboch

What does it take to make a home green? For some people, the answer is simple. Using recycled materials and finding ways to lower your energy bill are all ways people assume get their house the green label.

Some things aren’t that simple. USGBC, also known as the United States Green Building Council consists of the nation’s leaders in various industries and also controls different practices that are considered sustainable throughout the country. Encouraging environmentally friendly building projects for people to live and work in is its main goal. Performing a few sustainable practices in your home is just the beginning to getting your home considered green, according to USGBC.

Instead, USGBC launched the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program, also known as LEED, a comprehensive rating system to determine how green a building is. It has been in operation now for about 12 years as a home rating system whose main goal is to encourage green homes in both design and construction. In order to determine whether or not a house is green, its rating system employs eight separate categories. Within each category is a certain number of credits which are added up based on a point system. LEED gives each United States home a point-based certification rating as a result.

You’re probably curious what the categories are, right? Your house can receive points on the basis of innovation and design process. A home’s location as it relates to a surrounding community can also be the basis for points. Sustainable and fully used sites also garner points. Ways your house can gain additional points are through categories in water efficiency, materials and resources and energy and atmosphere. Your house can also receive points in the latter category for how much energy is saved. One last way to earn your house points is by having the homeowner or any resident living in the building receive relevant education.

You now have a basis from which to judge the accuracy of statements made when someone tells you their home is green. Maintaining a few sustainable practices is not enough to make a home green. The more balanced and impartial set of standards, in particular, come from the USGBC and LEED ratings to ensure just that.

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