WASHINGTON - As demand for authentic, verifiable green home construction practices continues its ascent, the National Green Building Standard [tm] is back on the presses for a second printing.

The standard is the first green rating system for new homes, remodeling projects and residential communities to be approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). The first printing was released by BuilderBooks, the publishing arm for the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), in March - and has already sold out.

More than 1,000 home building and remodeling projects are in the process of being "scored" for points accumulated toward energy, water and resource efficiency; lot and site development; indoor environmental quality and home operation and maintenance - the hallmarks of green building. An online scoring tool is available at www.nahbgreen.org, where builders and remodelers can also find NAHB Research Center-accredited verifiers to inspect their green projects.

The standard's four construction thresholds -- Bronze, Silver, Gold and Emerald -- provide builders with a means to green at any level from above-code efficiencies that save water up to the highest level of sustainable green building including energy savings of 60 percent - the minimum required for Emerald - and even higher. Subdivisions and developments can be rated from one to four stars, depending on the environmental challenges of the site.

The first single-family home - in Tucson, Ariz. -- was certified under the standard in January. The first development - in Burns Harbor, Ind. -- was certified in March.

The standard is also applicable to apartments and condominiums, hotels and motels and other residential spaces. Its flexibility encourages home builders and home buyers to make green choices based on climate and geography as well as style preferences and budget. It can be used for individual projects or be the basis for a voluntary green building program: 90 state and local home building associations include the standard as a rating system choice as affiliates of the NAHB National Green Building Program.

The National Green Building Standard is available for purchase ($31.95 NAHB member/$35.95 retail, ISBN 978-0-86718-641-3) at www.BuilderBooks.com or by calling 800-223-2665. For additional information on The National Green Building Standard, visit www.nahbgreen.com.


ABOUT BUILDERBOOKS: BuilderBooks publishes inspirational and educational products for the housing industry and is the official bookstore for the National Association of Home Builders, offering a variety of books, software, brochures, and more in English and Spanish.

ABOUT NAHB: The National Association of Home Builders is a Washington-based trade association representing more than 200,000 members involved in home building, remodeling, multifamily construction, property management, subcontracting, design, housing finance, building product manufacturing and other aspects of residential and light commercial construction. Known as "the voice of the housing industry," NAHB is affiliated with more than 800 state and local home builders associations around the country. NAHB's builder members will construct 80 percent of the new housing units projected for 2009.