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Guide to Developing Green Builder Programs

PDF file - Adobe Acrobat required Guide to Developing Green Builder Programs 1.3 MB /PDF

April 1999     

When a home builder association or other local organization decides to investigate the development of a green builder program, the first steps are the most important. If the right information is collected and if the implications of early choices are considered, the chances of achieving a well-designed and meaningful program are enhanced.

The steps suggested below are generally sequential but some items may require simultaneous action. At the beginning of any project, there can be a "chicken-and-egg" phenomenon in which it seems as though it’s hard to know where to start on one issue without implications for another. As you follow the steps below, notice is given for actions or issues that may be tied to other elements or features of your program and its development.

Although this guide has been developed primarily for use by home builder associations, other organizations interested in developing programs that promote resource-efficient construction will find it useful as well. The important point to remember is that the most effective programs are those in which both the target industry and local government have significant buy-in from the beginning of the project. If you are using this guide and your organization is not an HBA, be sure that members of the building industry are involved from start to finish. As the steps below suggest, HBAs using this guide should consider, seriously and early in the process, the role that local government can play in program development.

Program development is broken down into eleven steps. Details for each step follow the summary list presented below:

  1. Determine member and home buyer interest in/basic knowledge of green building.
  2. Establish a developmental committee.
  3. Set objectives of the program.
  4. Determine program partners.
  5. Determine program coverage.
  6. Discuss structure of the program budget.
  7. Consider the role of existing programs.
  8. Determine the certification or approval process.
  9. Discuss and establish program resources and activities.
  10. Establish key elements of program structure.
  11. Create program content items.

Prepared for:
US Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Solid Waste and Office of Policy Development

Prepared by:
NAHB Research Center

177 pages