Page 66 - Green Builder Magazine May-June 2019 Issue

FROM THE TAILGATE By Ron Jones

New Offerings for the Sustainable Minded

[GB MAY/JUNE 19 Tailgate – Irony]

Here’s to a 10-Year Winning Standard

UST ABOUT THIS TIME OF YEAR a decade
ago—yes, it really has been 10 years now—the
Consensus Committee that had been seated
to develop the €rst draft of the National Green
J Building Standard (NGBS, also known as ICC 700)
and special members of the sta‰ of what was then called
the NAHB Research Center (which is now known as the
Home Innovation Research Labs [HIRL], which served as
the secretariat for the project), submitted the work to the
American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for o‘cial
approval.
The committee had toiled relentlessly for the better part
of two years. The 40 or so members, who represented an
impressive cross section of the residential building sector,
were guided by the aforementioned professional sta‰. They
hammered out the draft that became an ANSI Standard in
near-record time. It was formally announced and released
for publication in fall 2009.
I had been given the privilege (some referred to it as
the “punishment”) of chairing that committee. Late in the
evening of the day we received the good news: I got an
email from the man who was, and still is, the president of
HIRL. His name is Mike Luzier and he wrote to say that
“after putting his children to bed, he planned to enjoy a
celebratory glass of single malt, knowing that their future
was brighter for our e‰orts.” He o‰ered his feelings of
satisfaction and appreciation for the success we had all
been a part of.
After re›ecting on that sequence of events, I recently gave him who heads up the program and was €rst to recognize that there was a
a call and we talked for the better part of an hour. I asked him to huge market for the certi€cation in the multi-family arena, something
assess the current state of the NGBS and describe the evolution of most of us had honestly not foreseen.
the standard as it has undergone the mandatory review processes Today there are almost 175,000 NGBS-certi€ed housing units with
and updates in the ensuing years. thousands more in the pipeline. But perhaps more important than
He described the standard as having “matured,” and the success the numbers, I believe the standard helped get sustainability, building
of the program and the certi€cations as “just short of phenomenal.” performance, resource management, healthy indoor environments
He pointed to the fact that the entire initiative had been met with and a host of other issues into the mainstream of the ongoing
extreme skepticism and resistance in some quarters of the industry. evolutionary dialogue of shelter in this country and around the world.
There were powerful elements within the home building community We still have a very long way to go—most especially in the
who didn’t share our belief that a cost-e‰ective yet rigorous and single-family sector, where change is slow to come and incentives
sophisticated program requiring third-party certification could are sometimes vague and elusive. But just like the members of that
penetrate the market. committee and the determined sta‰ of building champions who
He credited part of the resulting success to the fact that the helped us reach the €nish line, we can all continue to push the
program features timely response and certi€cation within 24 hours boulder up the hill and help dads capture a moment of reassurance
of submittal. But most of it came from the wisdom of Michelle Foster, that their kids have a chance at a better future after all. GB

64 GREEN BUILDER May/June 2019 www.greenbuildermedia.com

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