What do green certification programs do?
Green building certification programs exist to promote sustainable practices and changes to our built environment that bring our buildings into closer balance with the limits on our natural resources and planet’s ecosystems. In general, certification programs do this through:
- Education for consumers and builders about green design and building practices
- Structured checklists and scoring systems identifying required green building features and techniques, conveying the relative value of various optional approaches available, and ranking the accomplishments achieved by a given project
- Third party verification of the details of construction. This function (dependent on the level of inspection and verification detail involved) provides assurance that claims that a home or building is green are reliable. Verification of such claims is provided by trained and accredited persons knowledgeable about green labeling criteria, who have no significant economic interest in the sale of a labeled structure, and who have a significant interest in ensuring the veracity of the green label to be awarded.
- Green labeling/certification used for marketing or demonstration/leadership purposes and for verification of a structure’s increased market and societal value.
- Marketing of their green label, certification, or brand to build awareness, brand value, and promote (within the building market/industry) transformation to sustainable building practice as standard practice.
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