Built Green Certification Program: Everything You Need to Know

When most people think about green building standards or certification, the first thing that comes to mind is the LEED program, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. LEED is the most widely used green building rating system globally, with over 94,000 projects in 165 countries relying on this sustainable and flexible green rating system. LEED's framework is applicable in different areas globally and has become the most widely recognized symbol of sustainable construction.

While having a national or global standard for green construction certainly has its merits, several areas across the country have developed localized green building standards designed to reflect the specific environmental, climatic, and contextual considerations of the bioregion where they are developed. Built Green is one of the most advanced regional and sustainable building certification programs in the country. It provides a helpful example of how other communities and regions can design their accreditation programs to reflect how green buildings interact with the local environment and society.

As of 2018, the Built Green program had certified over 32,000 residential housing units, mainly in the Puget Sound area of Northwest Washington and other regions across the state. In 2016, over half of all new homes built in the Seattle area received some level of Built Green certification.

The Built Green Checklist

The Built Green Certification program includes hundreds of varied criteria related to overall home sustainability. These criteria have been developed precisely for the specific climatic, environmental, and social context of the Pacific Northwest. The categories included in the Built Green Checklist include:

• Site and Water Considerations: Specifically, Built Green homes must opt for water-smart home landscapes with plants with low irrigation needs. Built Green also demands that homes save water through the most efficient faucets, showerheads, and toilets on the market. Higher levels of Built Green certification also require porous pavement for stormwater management and rainwater catchment systems.
• Energy Efficiency considerations: While the Built Green certification program has different levels that require different intensities of energy efficiency, all of the levels need some efficient lighting and appliances within the home, advanced framing, and high-quality insulation, and advanced air sealing.
• Health and Indoor Air Quality Considerations: Built Green certification requires home builders to use only low VOC (or zero VOC) paint and varnish for all interior home finishing. The program drastically reduces the amount of formaldehyde that is present within the home. Mechanical ventilation solutions are also required for homes that obtain high-quality building envelopes.
• Materials Efficiency Considerations: The Built Green program also requires homes to achieve at least a minimum recycling rate of 50 percent by weight. In practice, this means that home builders and homeowners are encouraged to purchase recycled, salvaged, or upcycled products for their homes, such as recycled plastic lumber.

Built Green Certification Process

For homeowners in the state of Washington who want to either build a new house that achieves Built Green status or retrofit their existing home for maximum energy efficiency, the certification process for Built Green accreditation follows a simple course that we detail below.

1. First, you need to Join Built Green which you can do here.
2. Secondly, you need to enroll in your project and subsequently receive a project ID number. You can do this here.
3. Next, you will need to hire an independent, third-party verifier who will accompany you along with the certification requirements. You can find a list of third-party verifiers here. Your verifier will then help you decide on green building strategies and features that follow the Built Green checklists and also back up your checklist claims with receipts and an energy model for your home. You and your verifier will also take pictures of all pertinent processes during the construction process to document and prove what you have claimed.
4. When you are done with your verifier, you will sign the checklist, and your verifier will submit the certification packet for review by Built Green.
5. Once Built Green reviews all of the pertinent documentation (usually in about two weeks), you should be awarded a certificate for the Built Green Star Level that you achieved.

This Built Green certificate is a great tool to share with your neighbors and real estate agents if you are trying to sell your home. It will prove that your home has achieved certain levels of energy efficiency and sustainability. It is also a guarantee that you will be living in a healthy, sustainable, and environmentally friendly home.

Article by:

Tobias Roberts

Tobias runs an agroecology farm and a natural building collective in the mountains of El Salvador. He specializes in earthen construction methods and uses permaculture design methods to integrate structures into the sustainability of the landscape.