Why certify a home?

The answer to this question varies from person to person. 

• Most people, whether they are building professionals or owners involved in the construction of a new home, use green building certification programs for help in the design process to ensure that they are considering and incorporating all the green design and building principles appropriate to their home.

• Some, whether occupants or building professionals, are clearly looking for an independent third party verification that their home is achieving green standards.

• Some seek certification as they believe it will be of value economically through reduced operations and maintenance costs and/or because a healthier indoor environment should translate to better health.

• Many feel that incorporating green building practices are important to the health of our planet and to future generations.

• Some believe that, though they might be able to achieve as high a standard of green design and construction without certification, gaining certification provides important leadership to help our society move onto a more sustainable path.

Green building certification program providers all seek to promulgate standards they believe will ensure achievement of at least a minimum acceptable level of movement toward sustainable building practice and hopefully much more.  They also seek to ensure that this minimum level is high enough to be meaningful and avoid criticism as Greenwashing the unscrupulous use of the term green for marketing purposes.