NAHB and LEED for Homes Equivalent Except on Energy, Says Report

As the report attests, LEED for Homes requires site-tested minimum energy performance, while NGBS does not. At the same time, the report notes that NGBS is less expensive (by about $800) than LEED for Homes and certification generally takes less time. However, the report notes that to make the systems roughly equivalent on energy, you would have to add Energy Star certification to NGBS—and that eats into the cost difference. Ann Edminster, a residential architect and the principal author of LEED for Homes, told

EBN, “In effect, the cost difference is tied to the performance differences, which makes perfect sense. Set a higher bar and it will cost more, both to achieve it and to verify it.”