Applying the ICC 700 National Green Building Standard to Land Developments

The ICC 700 National Green Building Standard™ (NGBS) is the only residential green building rating system approved by ANSI, the American National Standards Institute, as an American National Standard. The NGBS provides practices for the design, construction, and certification of all types of residential construction and remodeling, and also allows for the certification of green residential land developments. ANSI-approved and consensus-based, the NGBS provides a menu of land development practices for planners, landscape architects, engineers, and developers to plan the living environment for residents and reduce the project’s environmental impacts.

The NGBS offers four levels of green certification for residential and mixed-use land developments: One-Star; Two-Star; Three-Star; and Four-Star. To be certified, a land development must implement a minimum number of green practices. Practices can be selected at the planning, design, and construction stages.