North Carolina Green Building Program

The North Carolina Green Builder Program (NCGBP) Task Force has published its checklist for residential certification. Homes may be certified to four distinct levels by achieving a number of prerequisites and earning points in each of eight sections: site; water; energy for (a) building envelope, (b) comfort systems, and (c) appliances and renewables; indoor air quality; materials; and miscellany. A ninth category can be added in communities with their own checklists. The checklist is the foundation of NCGBP, administered by the North Carolina Solar Center with support from the State Energy Office. The first project aiming for certification, an 18-unit neighborhood named Prospect Terrace, is under construction in downtown Asheville. NCGBP hopes to certify 3,000 homes to its standards by 2009. Details and the checklist itself are available at www.ncsc.ncsu.edu.