Washington, D.C. — The National Green Building Standard, known as ICC-700, was approved Jan. 29, 2009, as an American National Standard. The new standard provides guidance for safe and sustainable building practices for residential construction, including both new and renovated single-family to high-rise residential buildings. This is the first and only green standard that is consistent and coordinated with the code council’s family of I-Codes and standards.

The International Code Council and National Association of Home Builders developed the standard with broad input from several thousand stakeholders ranging from code officials and other building professionals to the entire spectrum of the green building community.

The standard’s rating system allows builders, designers and communities to choose the levels of high-performance green buildings that best suit their needs. Key provisions include:

• Land conservation;
• Rainwater collection;
• Construction of smaller homes to conserve resources;
• Energy performance starting at 15 percent above the baseline requirements of the 2006 International Energy Conservation Code;
• The use of low-VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) materials and detached garages or carports to improve indoor environmental quality; and
• Homeowner education on proper maintenance and operation to maintain its green status throughout its life cycle.

Visit www.iccsafe.org/700 for more information.