How NGBS Green +WELLNESS Can Help You Target Key Home Buyer Preferences

Today’s homes are multifunctional, doubling as workplaces, wellness centers, recovery environments, and places to learn and grow. As people spend more time in their homes, more buyers — especially on the high end of the market — are focusing on how the home lives and functions through above-standard certifications such as water efficiency, indoor air quality and energy efficiency.

The 2025 National Green Building Standard’s (NGBS) Green +WELLNESS certification provides a path for recognizing new and remodeled homes and buildings that are higher performing across multiple categories of design and construction that influence human health. In addition to meeting the baseline requirements of the NGBS, the Green +WELLNESS certification recognizes those homes that go “above and beyond” to improve the occupant’s physical, mental and behavioral health and overall wellbeing.

The growing interest in wellness-focused home design provides designers, architects, builders and remodelers opportunities to capitalize on practices that can improve occupants’ health and comfort, increase the durability of the home and enhance overall buyer satisfaction.

“Buyers are now starting to demand [health and wellness] components and practices to be in their homes,” said Marla Esser Cloos, an NGBS green verifier and former NAHB Healthier Homes and Communities Subcommittee chair. “A lot of things that [builders] do to support energy efficiency measures have a component practice that helps to support health and wellness, or it may be the same practice that supports both.”

NGBS Green +WELLNESS requires steps to address:

Active & Universal Design

Active design incorporates planning for access to an active lifestyle including proximity to indoor and outdoor amenities that focus on physical activity, as well as access to mass transportation and walkability of the local area. Universal design in residential spaces fosters accessibility and inclusivity for individuals of all ages and abilities.

Materials

The chemical composition and moisture content of a home can significantly impact its indoor air quality. Drawing attention to moisture management and low-emission products minimizes the negative effects and exposure to harmful mold and dangerous chemicals that may exist in a home.

Pollution Prevention

Inhalation of indoor air pollutants can lead to a variety of poor health and wellbeing outcomes. Reducing combustion-related pollutants, construction pollutants, insufficient ventilation and air filtration helps prioritize the health of residents.

Resident Comfort

Resident comfort focuses on eliminating common sources of physiological disruption and distraction, such as lighting, sounds, humidity and irritation, and allows occupants to control their individual needs and preferences.

Education & Awareness

Education and awareness are essential for occupants to use and maintain wellness features; for builders and developers to properly construct or design these practices; and for building staff to be trained to sustain these health and wellness features over time.

By outlining an array of strategies to choose from, designers and builders can select and install the wellness features that best meet their client’s needs — whether that’s improving accessibility, focusing on indoor air quality, prioritizing functionality or selecting natural materials.