March is National Designation Month, and the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) are shining the spotlight on industry professionals who go the extra mile. By pursuing additional training and educational opportunities, those industry professionals are able to obtain professional designations that signify their specialized knowledge.

Receiving a green building designation has become more important than ever, as more and more home buyers are looking for homes that are constructed with local materials to use less energy and save water. When a home buyer chooses to use a builder or remodeler who holds the NAHB Certified Green Professional (CGP) or Master Certified Green Professional designation, they know that their chosen contractor will possess the latest knowledge of these high-performance practices.

Industry professionals that have receive these green building designations have studied the interplay between energy efficiency and indoor air quality, they understand the principles of environmentally sustainable design and they are trained to help buyers make decisions that will result in their home being as green as they want it to be.

Many of these same certified professionals also turn to other certification programs, such as the ENERGY STAR and whole-house programs, as well as those based on the ICC National Green Building Standards (NGBS), a nationally accredited rating system that forms the foundation for their training.

A new survey conducted by the firm GuildQuality shows that green home buyers are happy home buyers, and are overwhelmingly glad that they decided to purchase a NGBS-certified home. Of the home buyers surveyed, 94 percent said they would recommend a green home to a friend and 92 percent said they would purchase another green home. Other findings from the study include:

• 55 percent of buyers knew their home may have cost more than a non-green home, but they believed the benefits outweighed the cost.
• 71 percent believe that green homes are a higher quality of home.
• 90 percent of green home buyers were satisfied knowing that they “did the right thing” by buying a green certified home.

The consumers questioned in the survey were looking for a home that was built specifically to provide simpler maintenance, lower utility bills and better energy-efficiency. When these respondents were asked which aspects of their green home that they were least satisfied with, the overwhelming majority listed “none.”

In order to be certified to meet National Green Building Standards, a builder must meet and exceed requirements that incorporate resource, energy and water efficiency, as well as indoor environmental quality and less intrusive site development practices into the construction of the home.

To learn more about green building standards, visit www.NAHB.com