2020 National Green Building Standard Now Available
The 2020 edition of the ICC-700 National Green Building Standard® (NGBS) has been approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and is available for public use. The NGBS provides the roadmap for residential professionals to integrate green practices and features appropriate for their businesses and local housing markets. As of April 2020, more than 216,000 homes have been NGBS Green certified.
The 2020 edition is the fourth edition of the standard, which reflects significant changes based on evolving market conditions and feedback received over the past decade from those using the standard. This edition expands the application of innovative practices and offers additional options toward achieving certification. Changes include:
- A new Chapter 12: Certified Compliance Path — for Single-Family Homes, Townhomes and Duplexes — that is intended to provide an entry point to certification for single-family builders, particularly production builders.
- An expanded scope that now includes certification for:
- Mixed-use buildings in their entirety as long as the residential portion of the building is greater than 50% of gross floor area; and
- Assisted living facilities, residential board and care facilities, and group homes.
- A new water-efficiency performance path using an index that generates a score relative to a standard baseline home and equates that to an NGBS certification level.
- A substantially revised remodeling chapter that offers:
- An option to utilize a phased approach for multifamily remodeling projects; and
- A choice of prescriptive or performance compliance paths for energy and water efficiency.