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Home Innovation Insights

Understand what you're buying when you contract for third-party green home verification.

Which Costs More - Getting Third-Party Verification, or Not Getting It?

August 8, 2014
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When compared to other national third-party green certification programs, Home Innovation’s NGBS Green Certification fees are remarkably affordable for single-family green homes, and even more so for green multifamily buildings. The “bricks and sticks” costs to comply with the NGBS are also relatively affordable for most projects, mostly due to the standard’s expansive point-based system to achieve green certification. So, verification costs end up being the biggest bucket of “added cost” for projects seeking NGBS Green Certification.

For some builders and developers, the cost of verification is their barrier to seeking green certification. But, probably with very few exceptions, our experienced NGBS Green Partners will attest to the benefits and value that independent, third-party verification provides green projects.

What does verification cost?

The cost of verification depends on a number of factors. Each verifier’s scope of services is different, and each project and project team is different. Therefore, you will need to decide what verification package best suits your project’s needs. Home Innovation encourages our certification clients to request bids from multiple verifiers. Like any fee-for-service provider, our NGBS Green Verifiers are diverse in their experience, services offered, fees, and personality. We want you to find the right verifier for your project, at the right price.

Of course, every verifier must perform certain minimum requirements for all projects that will be part of his or her bid.

What else factors into the cost? 

Once the minimum number of inspections is covered, here are a few other things that are likely to factor into a verifier’s proposal:

Is it really worth the added cost?

The simple answer is yes. The overwhelming verdict of builders and developers nationwide is that they value the benefits they accrue as a result of the third-party inspections our NGBS Green Verifiers and NGBS Green Certification in general provide. Tangible benefits like a larger pool of investment funding, faster entitlement processes, Federal Trade Commission-safe marketing, superior construction quality, buildings chock-full of the sustainable qualities that buyers and renters are seeking, and, perhaps best of all, a potentially higher property valuation on resale.

Verification costs are inevitable for projects seeking NGBS Green Certification. But as a percentage of total construction costs, verification costs are small. Once you consider all the benefits inherent with third-party verifications, we believe you’ll find them to be a worthy investment.

Let me know if you have any questions about the NGBS Green Certification process, or deciding if it’s right for your company.

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Comments

Fadi Braiteh
June 20, 2016 9:04 PM

"I am not sure if you can help
I am building a custom designed house, with high end finsihes,, and supposedly green house, paying almost 500 USD/ SQF.
I am looking to hire a third aprty evaluate that the QUALITY of completion is up to standard, since the quality , even in teh eyes of non expert as myself, looks shady. Whom should I hire? This is not jsut about Green hosur, but all inclsuive"