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Green Building Standards
We have a choice of
whose Green Building Standards to build from.
Nationally, there are three major standards.
The
one that's been around the longest is Energy
Star. Energy Star has been certifying our
electrical appliances for decades and are now
providing a program for energy efficient homes.
Building Green is more than energy efficiency
but Energy Star is a great program to get your
home energy efficient.
Next,
there is the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED
(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)
standard. LEED was originally written for
commercial properties and residential has been
recently added to their program.
Thirdly, there
is the National Association of Home Builders,
NAHB, Green Building Program and is totally
focused on "Home" Building. Here in North Texas
we have the Green Built North Texas program
(soon to be renamed Green Built Texas) which is
the NAHB program. Check with your local building
department or Home Builder's Association to see
if they have a program to build by.
If you
choose to build a Green Built Home, you would
want to have it verified and registered with one
of these programs to receive credit. After you registered your Green
Built Home you can take advantage of several tax
and electrical rate incentives.
All of these national standards
are built around 6 principles and
these principles are:
Continue
to:
Green Building Principles |
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