June, 2009

NAHB + Green Regulation

The typically anti-regulatory group is embracing the green building revolution—because green is about building the bottom line.

By John Wagner

TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE STIMULUS PACKAGE. There are now billions of dollars, yes billions, available to consumers and builders (and state programs and utilities). But how can dealers take advantage of these dollars? That’s the topic of a “webinar” I am putting on, jointly sponsored by Certified Green Dealer™ and LBM Journal. Look for an ad in this magazine, to get the dates and times. The webinar will cover how much money is out there by category, and how you can access it through networking and some crafty marketing. I’ll also show you the websites where actual stimulus projects are listed. Join us, and get your share!

It would be an understatement to say that NAHB resists regulation. (Just think how they fought residential sprinkler systems for so long.)

But given who they are, who can blame NAHB for fighting regs? They don’t want their builder members to be required to comply with regulations, if the cost of compliance can’t be recovered. And that’s the key to understanding NAHB: If the builder can’t recover the money he puts into a project when complying with regulations, it eats directly into his bottom line, and that’s the kind of regulation NAHB has traditionally fought.

Needless to say, more than a few heads were turned when NAHB started going so heavy into green a few years ago. In 2004, NAHB allowed the Model Green Home Building Guidelines to be issued, and it didn’t seem so extraordinary. The Guidelines were non-binding, and NAHB got some good PR for its efforts.

But when the Model Green Home Building Guidelines morphed into the National Green Building StandardTM (NGBS), NAHB was finally dabbling in potentially binding building regulation that might require builders to pay extra to comply with. Then, when NAHB started conversing with the ICC and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), it looked even more serious. Now, NAHB’s National Green Building Standard, also known as ICC-700, has been formally approved by ANSI. With this approval, NAHB has allowed third-party certification of the building practices in its new green standard.

So, you have to ask yourself: Why the change of heart from NAHB? Why would an organization that has so fiercely fought regulation suddenly act as though they’ve found green religion in a new building standard that will cost builders money?

Part of the reason is that NAHB wants their own (decidedly pro-builder) green standard to be the green standard for building new homes, instead of other potentially more onerous and costly standards from other organizations, like the Federal government or USGBC. Since the LEED for Homes program—a.k.a. “LEED-H”—really isn’t taking off, NAHB’s efforts look all the more likely to define the de facto standard for green, single- family homes. (Note to self: prepare for irate letters from USGBC PR dept.)

But something more is going on here.

NAHB has done a great job of vertically integrating its green brand. You can now be an NAHB Certified Green Professional, who builds homes certified by NAHB’s green standard, which uses certified green products, scored by the NAHB Research Center. NAHB is essentially allowing builders to brand themselves and their homes as green using NAHB’s own rules and institutions. Why? It may be out of the goodness of NAHB’s heart, but it is also (and more likely) about the builder’s bottom line. By enabling builders to brand their homes as green, and to provide evidence of third-party green verification, the builder can recover the premium he puts into his green projects…hopefully at a profit, if he’s shrewd about marketing his projects. In the end, NAHB looks great because they have been proactive in addressing green, which consumers like. Moreover, NAHB has provided a vehicle for its members to recover investments they make in green projects (third-party verified homes), all the while driving realtors and buyers away from (finally!) the square-footpricing method of valuing homes that has done so much damage to our industry.

Today, 4,000 projects have been verified using the National Green Building Standard’s online system. And no matter what NAHB’s motives, I welcome the outcome: certified, green, high-performance homes.

The prize-winning author of many books about residential construction and a frequent contributor to the industry’s leading trade magazines, JOHN D. WAGNER is a sought after speaker on green topics at industry events. Contact: www.JohnDWagner.com