Applying the ICC 700 National Green Building Standard to Single-Family Projects

The ICC 700 National Green Building Standard™ (NGBS) is the only green building rating system created exclusively for homes and multifamily buildings that has been approved by ANSI, the American National Standards Institute, as an American National Standard. The NGBS provides practices for the design, construction, and certification of new single-family homes and renovations.

Under the NGBS, single-family homes have two compliance choices. For a home to attain any certification level, all applicable mandatory provisions must be correctly implemented. Homes can earn the Certified level if they comply with all applicable green practices from Chapter 12 of the 2020 NGBS. This streamlined yet rigorous certification path requires homes to be designed and constructed to be more efficient than 2018 IECC code-compliant homes, and to include important building practices that ensure the home provides for a healthier indoor environment, is more water efficient, and is more durable.

Alternatively, homes can earn Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Emerald certification. In addition to the mandatory provisions, to earn these certification levels a home must include sufficient green building practices in each of the six categories to meet the category minimums.

As an ANSI-approved green building rating system, the NGBS provides builders and consumers with a credible definition of green building. Since it provides a flexible system for certification, it offers home builders an affordable process to build green, sustainable homes that are appropriate for their specific climate, appropriate for the home’s location, and meet the needs of their particular market and home buyers. The NGBS provides builders, developers and investors with an affordable and credible green building certification to meet their company-wide ESG goals for their residential real estate portfolios.