Although life will settle into a new normal post-COVID, the experiences of 2020 will resonate for years to come. Consumers are realizing both the physical and mental benefits of a high-performing home, and many will seek these features in their next new home or remodel.
Customers will likely focus on comfort, wellness and efficiency — high-performance
trends already on the rise prior to the pandemic, according to the
2020 Green SmartMarket Brief and the
2019 What Home Buyers Really Want survey.
You can translate these qualities into concrete options for home buyers and home owners using some of the practical applications and strategies below:
| Customer Want: Comfort |
High-Performance Strategies |
| No drafts |
- Continuous building envelope (confirm with a blower door test)
- Weatherstripping around windows and doors
|
| Consistent indoor temperatures |
- Smart thermostat
- Weatherstripping around windows and doors
- Continuous building envelope (confirm with a blower door test)
- High R-value insulation in floors, walls and ceilings
|
| Quiet |
|
| Customer Want: Wellness |
High-Performance Strategies |
| Healthy indoor environment |
- Balanced ventilation
- Fresh air intakes
- Kitchen range hood that vents directly outdoors
- Bathroom exhaust fans
- HVAC filtration — high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) or high MERV rating
- Low volatile organic compound (VOC) materials
|
| No odors |
- Kitchen range hood that vents outdoors
- Balanced ventilation
- Low VOC materials
|
| No mold |
- Bathroom exhaust fans that vent outdoors
- HVAC systems with sensors and automation
- Moisture-resistant barrier in building envelope
- Leak detection system
|
| Natural light |
- Double- or triple-pane window with lower solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) and U-factors
|
| Customer Want: Efficiency |
High-Performance Strategies |
| Lower energy bills |
- Smart thermostat
- High R-value insulation in floors, walls and ceilings
- Continuous building envelope (confirm with a blower door test)
- ENERGY STAR appliances
|
| Lower water bills |
- WaterSense-labeled fixtures
- Minimize pipe runs (distance from water heater to fixtures)
- Leak detection system
- Landscaping with drought-tolerant plants
- Smart irrigation systems
|
You can also find tips and resources for talking to customers about these must-have qualities at
Home Performance Counts, a joint initiative between NAHB and the National Association of REALTORS.
Third-party green certification programs, such as the
ICC700-2020 National Green Building Standard® (NGBS), can help building professionals realize their customers' high-performance must-haves in both new homes and for remodeling projects. If you are just getting started with green certification, the
NGBS Bronze cookbooks provide roadmaps to the most commonly incorporated practices in NGBS Green Certified homes. Visit
nahb.org/ngbs for more information on how to certify a project to the NGBS, or purchase a hard copy or download a free pdf of the reference standard.
For more information about NAHB's sustainable and green building programs, contact Program Manager
Michelle Diller. And to stay current on the high-performance residential building sector, follow NAHB’s Sustainability and Green Building team on
Twitter.
