Green Certification Housing Program Reaches the 50,000 Mark

The green building movement took a major step forward in the housing market with Home Innovation Research Labs announcing that has certified the 50,000th residential property under the National Green Building Standard (NGBS) Green Certification Program.

North Carolina is the home of the 50,000th NGBS Green Certified home, which was built by Saussy Burbank and verified by Southern Energy Management’s Matt Dovenbarger. This milestone designation will be celebrated prior to the start of the 10th Annual Green Home Tour sponsored by the Green Home Builders of the Triangle.

“When we launched the NGBS Green Certification program in January 2009 in the midst of the housing downturn, it may have seemed counter-intuitive to voluntarily build homes to an above-code green standard, and pay to have those homes scrutinized under a rigorous third-party certification protocol,” said Michael Luzier, president and CEO of Upper Marlboro, Md.-based Home Innovation Research Labs. “But forward-thinking builders didn’t see it that way at all. They saw NGBS Green as a way to emerge from the downturn by building better, higher-performing, and more marketable homes. Homes that smart consumers were seeking, and continue to seek today, as evidenced by the volume of homes we’ve already certified and more than ever in our certification pipeline.”

Home Innovation Research Labs is planning additional NGBS Green events in the coming months to call attention to green building practices in residential housing, including military housing projects, affordable single- and multifamily projects, remodeled homes and buildings, and luxury urban high-rises.