NGBS-Certified Single-Family Green Homes: Costs and Benefits
Publication: Practice Periodical on Structural Design and Construction
Volume 22, Issue 3
Abstract
The predicted green residential market growth in the coming years and the increasing environmental awareness in society have led to an imperative need for home builders to sharpen their understanding of the additional costs and benefits of green residential practices. To aid home builders in this need, this paper presents some key observations based on a thorough examination of the costs and benefits of green single-family homes certified by the National Green Building Standard (NGBS). These observations were verified via interviews with green home builders and included the following: (1) Climate zones and local codes are the base to determine the additional costs and benefits of green buildings. (2) Additional construction costs to achieve green certification are higher in hot and humid climate zones. (3) After satisfying local code requirements following the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), NGBS bronze or silver certification entails a very low additional construction cost. (4) Payback periods to cover additional construction costs at the NGBS bronze, silver, and gold levels might be as low as 3 years or less. (5) A client base of homebuyers who are willing to buy affordable, smaller, and greener homes exists in today’s market. (6) Prioritizing inclusion of specific green features (e.g., advanced framing techniques) facilitates achieving NGBS bronze, silver, and even gold certification at a potentially very low additional cost. This paper describes the key factors that determine the costs and benefits of green residential projects and presents a framework to facilitate cost–benefit analysis when considering green certification for homes.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This study was made possible by the fellowship of Michigan State University’s Housing Education Leadership Program 2013 grant awarded by the National Housing Endowment.
References
Andrews, C., et al. (2011). “Costs and benefits of residential energy efficiency investments.” Rep. for the New Jersey Association of Realtors, Rutgers Center for Green Building, New Brunswick, NJ. 〈http://rcgb.rutgers.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/NJAR-Final-Report-July-2011_submitted.pdf〉 (Sep. 23, 2015).
ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA (American National Standards Institute/American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers/Illuminating Engineering Society of North America). (2007). “Building envelope climate criteria.” ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2007, Normative Appendix B, ANSI, Washington, DC.
Cincinnati American Institute of Architects. (2010). “Comparison of U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED for Homes First Ed. 2008 and National Association of Home Builders’ National Green Building Standard TM ICC 700-2008.” Rep. for City of Cincinnati Office of Environmental Quality, Cincinnati. 〈http://www.aiacincinnati.org/community/leed_nahb_final.pdf〉 (Sep. 23, 2015).
Circle of Blue. (2015). “Price of water 2015: Up 6 percent in 30 major U.S. cities; 41 percent rise since 2010.” Traverse City, MI. 〈http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/2015/world/priceofwater2015up6percentin30major-u-s-cities-41-percent-rise-since-2010/〉 (Oct. 29, 2015).
Energy Star. (2013). “Energy Star certified homes, version 3 (rev. 07) national program requirements.” U.S. EPA, Washington, DC. 〈https://www.energystar.gov/ia/partners/bldrs_lenders_raters/downloads/National_Program_Requirements.pdf〉 (Dec. 29, 2015).
Energy Star. (2015a). “History of the Energy Star guidelines for new homes.” U.S. EPA, Washington, DC. 〈http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=new_homes.nh_history〉 (Dec. 29, 2015).
Energy Star. (2015b). “The next generation of Energy Star certified new homes.” U.S. EPA, Washington, DC. 〈http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=next_generation.ng_qualified_new_homes〉 (Dec. 29, 2015).
FitzGerald Assoc. Architects. (2011). “Urban green building rating systems cost comparison.” Rep. for Home Builders Association of Greater Chicago, Chicago. 〈http://www.homeinnovation.com/∼/media/Files/Reports/UrbanGreenBuildingRatingSystemsCostComparison.ashx〉 (Sep. 23, 2015).
HIRL (Home Innovation Research Labs). (2014a). “Cost and stringency comparison of 2012 National Green Building Standard ICC 700-2012, LEED-H 2008, and LEED v4 for homes design and construction.” Rep. for National Association of Home Builders, Upper Marlboro, MD. 〈http://www.homeinnovation.com/∼/media/Files/Reports/2012_NGBS_Cost_Comparison.pdf〉 (Sep. 23, 2015).
HIRL (Home Innovation Research Labs). (2014b). “Which costs more, getting third-party verification, or not getting it?” Upper Marlboro, MD. 〈http://www.homeinnovation.com/about/blog/which_costs_more_-_getting_third-party_verification_or_not_getting_it〉 (Oct. 13, 2015).
HIRL (Home Innovation Research Labs). (2015a). “Chapter 7 energy efficiency points analysis.” Rep. (Draft) for Task Group 5 on Energy Efficiency, Upper Marlboro, MD. 〈http://www.homeinnovation.com/services/standards_development/american_national_standards/national_green_building_standard/∼/media/Files/Standards%20Development/NGBS/2015-NGBS/NGBS-Energy-Efficiency-Points-Analysis-Rep.-DRAFT-20150529.pdf〉 (Oct. 14, 2015).
HIRL (Home Innovation Research Labs). (2015b). “Current NGBS certification activity.” Upper Marlboro, MD. 〈http://www.homeinnovation.com/ngbsgreenstats〉 (Dec. 29, 2015).
HIRL (Home Innovation Research Labs). (2016). “2015 National Green Building Standard ANSI standard revision process.” Upper Marlboro, MD. 〈http://www.homeinnovation.com/greenscoring〉 (Oct. 3, 2016).
HIS & HERS Energy Efficiency. (2015). “Eight strategies to pass the 2012 IECC code.” Northampton, MA. 〈http://hhefficiency.com/blog/2014/1/2/8-strategies-to-pass-the-2012-iecc-code〉 (Dec. 21, 2015).
Hiser, S. R. (2011). “LEED vs. Energy Star: A cost/benefit analysis of sustainability labels for commercial buildings.” Master’s thesis, Duke Univ., Durham, NC. 〈http://www.dukespace.lib.duke.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/10161/3571/MP%20Report_Hiser_FINAL.pdf?sequence=1〉 (Sep. 23, 2015).
ICC (International Code Council). (2006). “2006 international energy conservation code.” Washington, DC. 〈https://law.resource.org/pub/us/code/ibr/icc.iecc.2006.pdf〉 (Nov. 1, 2016).
ICC (International Code Council). (2009). “2009 international energy conservation code.” Washington, DC. 〈https://law.resource.org/pub/us/code/ibr/icc.iecc.2009.pdf〉 (Nov. 1, 2016).
ICC (International Code Council). (2012). “2012 international energy conservation code.” Washington, DC. 〈https://law.resource.org/pub/us/code/ibr/icc.iecc.2012.pdf〉 (Nov. 1, 2016).
ICC (International Code Council). (2015). “2015 international energy conservation code.” Washington, DC. 〈http://codes.iccsafe.org/app/book/toc/2015/I-Codes/2015%20IECC%20HTML/index.html〉 (Nov. 1, 2016).
ICC (International Code Council). (2016). “Overview of the international energy conservation code.” Washington, DC. 〈http://www.iccsafe.org/codes-tech-support/codes/2015-i-codes/iecc/〉 (Nov. 1, 2016).
IMT (Institute for Market Transformation). (2015). “International energy conservation code.” Washington, DC. 〈http://www.imt.org/codes/iecc〉 (Oct. 16, 2015).
Index Mundi. (2015). “U.S., average household size, 2009–2013 by state.” 〈http://www.indexmundi.com/facts/united-states/quick-facts/all-states/average-household-size#map〉 (Oct. 29, 2015).
Jackson, J. C. (2014). “An exploratory study of three paths to green homes: Energy Star homes, LEED for homes, and the National Green Building Standard.” Master’s thesis, Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI. 〈http://www.spdc.msu.edu/uploads/files/Programs/CM/Housing_Education_and_Research_Center/mastersreport_greenhomes_JawandaJackson_abridged_101414.pdf〉 (Sep. 23, 2015).
Kats, G. (2003). “Green building costs and financial benefits.” Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, Boston. 〈http://www.dnr.sc.gov/marine/NERR/present/highperf/Green%20Building%20Costs_Kats.pdf〉 (Oct. 1, 2015).
Kats, G., Alevantis, L., Berman, A., Mills, E., Berkeley, L., and Perlman, J. (2003). “The costs and financial benefits of green buildings.” Rep. for California’s Sustainable Building Task Force. 〈http://www.usgbc.org/Docs/Archive/General/Docs1992.pdf〉 (Sep. 23, 2015).
Kats, G., Perlman, J., and Jamadagni, S. (2005). “National review of green schools: Costs, benefits, and implications for Massachusetts.” Rep. for the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. 〈http://www.azdeq.gov/ceh/download/natreview.pdf〉 (Sep. 23, 2015).
Laquatra, J., Pillai, G., Singh, A., and Syal, M. M. (2008). “Green and healthy housing.” J. Archit. Eng., 94–97.
Lstiburek, J. W. (2010). “The perfect wall.” 〈http://buildingscience.com/file/5311/download?token=zmZBCkbM〉 (Oct. 24, 2015).
Mayank, S. (2015). “A field study: Verification of literature findings on cost and benefits of NGBS-certified single-family homes.” Independent study, Construction Management Program, Michigan State Univ., Lansing, MI.
McGraw-Hill Construction. (2014). “Green multifamily and single-family homes: Growth in a recovering market.” SmartMarket Rep., McGraw-Hill Financial, New York. 〈http://www.menckwindows.com/wpcontent/uploads/2014/08/GreenMultifamilySingleFamilyHomesSMR2014.pdf〉 (Sep. 23, 2015).
NAHB (National Association of Home Builders). (2013). Student guide: Green building for green professionals, Washington, DC.
NAHB (National Association of Home Builders). (2015a). “Cost of constructing a single-family home in 2013.” Eye on Housing, Washington, DC. 〈http://eyeonhousing.org/2014/01/cost-of-constructing-a-single-family-home-in-2013/〉 (Oct. 29, 2015).
NAHB (National Association of Home Builders). (2015b). “Green building certification for single-family homes.” Eye on Housing, Washington, DC. 〈http://eyeonhousing.org/2014/07/green-building-certification/〉 (Oct. 29, 2015).
NAHB (National Association of Home Builders). (2015c). “Greenhouse gases and home building: manufacturing, transportation, and installation of building materials.” Washington, DC. 〈https://www.nahb.org/en/research/housing-economics/special-studies/greenhouse-gasses-and-home-building-2008.aspx〉 (Oct. 29, 2015).
NAHB (National Association of Home Builders). (2015d). “Size of new single-family home.” Eye on Housing, Washington, DC. 〈http://eyeonhousing.org/2015/02/new-single-family-home-size-declined-in-2014/〉 (Oct. 26, 2015).
NAHB Research Center (National Association of Home Builders Research Center). (2008). “Green home building rating systems: A sample comparison.” Rep. for National Association of Home Builders, Washington, DC. 〈http://www.hbact.org/Resources/Documents/Files%20D-/GreenHomeRatingComparison.pdf〉 (Sep. 23, 2015).
NAHB Research Center (National Association of Home Builders Research Center). (2012). “An evaluation of affordable housing using the National Green Building Standard.” Rep. for U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, DC. 〈http://www.huduser.gov/publications/pdf/evaluation_of_affordablehousing.pdf〉 (Sep. 23, 2015).
Pacific NW and Oak Ridge National Labs. (2010). “Guide to determining climate regions by county.” U.S. DOE, Washington, DC. 〈http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/publications/pdfs/building_america/ba_climateguide_7_1.pdf〉 (Oct. 14, 2015).
Pacific NW and Oak Ridge National Labs. (2011a). “40% whole-house energy savings in the cold and very cold climates.” Building America Best Practices Series, 12. Building Technologies Program, U.S. DOE, Washington, DC. 〈https://www.mpw.org/webres/File/energy-smarts/cold_climate_guide_40percent.pdf〉 (Oct. 24, 2015).
Pacific NW and Oak Ridge National Labs. (2011b). “40% whole-house energy savings in the hot-humid climate.” Building America Best Practices Series, 15 Building Technologies Program, U.S. DOE, Washington, DC. 〈http://www.pnnl.gov/main/publications/external/technical_reports/PNNL-20768.pdf〉 (Oct. 24, 2015).
Singh, A., Syal, M., Korkmaz, S., and Grady, S. (2010). “Costs and benefits of IEQ improvements in LEED office buildings.” J. Infrastruct. Syst., 17(2), 86–94.
U.S. Census Bureau. (2015). “No. of single-family homes sold and price between 2002 and 2014.” Suitland, MD. 〈https://www.census.gov/construction/chars/pdf/soldpricesqft.pdf〉 (Oct. 20, 2015).
U.S. DOE. (2015). “Status of state energy code adoption.” Building Energy Codes Program, U.S. DOE, Washington, DC. 〈https://www.energycodes.gov/status-state-energy-code-adoption〉 (Dec. 21, 2015).
U.S. DOE. (2016). “2009 International energy conservation code: Residential prescriptive requirements.” Washington, DC. 〈https://energycode.pnl.gov/EnergyCodeReqs/〉 (Nov. 1, 2016).
U.S. Energy Information Administration. (2015). “Average monthly residential electricity consumption, prices, and bills by state.” Independent Statistics and Analysis, U.S. Energy Information Administration, Washington, DC. 〈http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=97&t=3〉 (Oct. 22, 2015).
USGBC (U.S. Green Building Council). (2015a). Green building facts, Washington, DC. 〈http://www.usgbc.org/articles/green-building-facts〉 (Oct. 29, 2015).
USGBC (U.S. Green Building Council). (2015b). LEED v4: Homes design and construction guide, Washington, DC. 〈http://www.usgbc.org/guide/homes〉 (Dec. 21, 2015).
USGBC (U.S. Green Building Council). (2015c). LEED v4 for homes design and construction, Washington, DC. 〈http://www.usgbc.org/sites/default/files/LEED%20v4%20ballot%20version%20(Homes)%20-%2013%2011%2013.pdf〉 (Dec. 29, 2015).
Water Sense. (2015). Indoor water use in the United States, Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC. 〈http://www3.epa.gov/watersense/pubs/indoor.html〉 (Oct. 29, 2015).
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Practice Periodical on Structural Design and Construction
Volume 22 • Issue 3 • August 2017
Copyright
© 2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 26, 2016
Accepted: Nov 4, 2016
Published online: Feb 6, 2017
Discussion open until: Jul 6, 2017
Published in print: Aug 1, 2017
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.