April 14, 2014: ASHRAE, NAHB, ICC to Develop New Edition of National Green Building Standard

This Is Third Edition of the Standard and First Time That ASHRAE Has Partnered in Its Development

WASHINGTON — ASHRAE, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), and the International Code Council (ICC) have agreed to jointly develop the 2015 edition of the ICC/ASHRAE 700 National Green Building Standard. This is the third edition of the residential green building standard and the first time that ASHRAE has partnered in its development.

“ASHRAE’s participation is welcome news for the home building industry,” said Kevin Kelly, NAHB chairman. “This cements the position of the National Green Building Standard as the preeminent green standard for residential construction.”

In 2007, NAHB and ICC convened a consensus committee of home builders, code officials, product manufacturers, building science and energy-efficiency specialists, and governmental representatives to develop the standard. It was approved in 2009 by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as a national green standard for residential construction, development, and remodeling.

Now known as the ICC 700 National Green Building Standard (NGBS), it was updated in 2012 by a subsequent consensus committee and again approved by ANSI. NGBS has been used to certify more than 32,000 single-family and multifamily homes and residential developments for reaching its established benchmarks for energy, water, and resource efficiency, indoor environmental quality, homeowner education, and site development.

“As one of the nation’s leading societies for building technology, ASHRAE brings years of experience and knowledge to the table, particularly in the areas of indoor environmental quality and energy efficiency,” said ICC Board President Stephen Jones, CBO, and CEO Dominic Sims, CBO, in a joint statement. “ASHRAE’s welcome involvement will help position the ICC/ASHRAE 700 National Green Building Standard even further ahead as the leading consensus standard in the industry.”

“ASHRAE is pleased to stand beside NAHB and ICC as a co-sponsor of ICC/ASHRAE 700,” said Bill Bahnfleth, ASHRAE president. "This collaborative agreement provides a path forward for ASHRAE to contribute its technical and standards expertise to support one of the most important sectors of the built environment — our homes. We look forward to this joint effort to promote sustainability in the residential sector.”

For more information about ASHRAE, visit www.ashrae.org. For more information about the NAHB, visit www.nahb.org. For more information about the ICC, visit www.iccsafe.org.

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