Sizing Up Comfort: The Art and Science of Proper HVAC Equipment Sizing

When it comes to achieving optimal comfort and energy efficiency in a home or apartment, proper sizing of HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) equipment plays a pivotal role. Just like Goldilocks searching for the perfect bowl of porridge, getting the sizing just right can ensure that an HVAC system performs at its best, providing consistent comfort and saving you money in the long run.

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HUD Green and Resilient Retrofit Program: Making Affordable Housing More Sustainable

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has launched the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program (GRRP) to help make affordable housing more sustainable. The program provides funding for grants and loans to help owners of multifamily-assisted properties make energy efficiency, water efficiency, and climate resilience improvements to their buildings.

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What Homebuyers Want in 2023

The housing market is constantly evolving, and what homebuyers want is no exception. In recent years, there has been a growing focus on sustainability and environmental impact, and this is reflected in the latest trends in homebuying.

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Maryland & Chicago Say NGBS Green = 2021 IECC for Code Compliance

The 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) provides an alternative compliance option for energy efficiency programs deemed to be equivalent and NGBS Green is gaining as a rigorous and desirable alternative in local and state jurisdictions.

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2022: NGBS Green Year in Review

Now that January is in the books, we’ve all gotten used to writing “2023,” and we are coming up on the middle of the first quarter, I wanted to take some time to reflect on 2022.

Despite lots of ongoing issues related to COVID and disruptions in the supply chain, our NGBS Green certification program had a strong year. While we certified fewer total units (homes + apartments), as shown in the chart below, we certified more buildings than the year before. Certified homes (represented in yellow) also grew year over year.

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Federal Tax Incentives for Energy Efficient New Construction and Upgrades

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 is the most comprehensive and far-reaching federal investment to combat climate change to date, and the incentives for homes and multifamily buildings contained in the legislation can help transform the way we design, build, and renovate our homes and apartments for many years to come.

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Why is it Important the NGBS is Part of the I-Codes?

The National Green Building Standard (NGBS) ICC-700 was developed as a collaboration between ICC and NAHB to create a rating system for homes and multifamily buildings that would be used as voluntary, above-code program. Two aspects of the NGBS were innovative and helped propel NGBS Green to become the most widely used green standard for residentially-used buildings in the United States. First, the NGBS is written in code language, so that everyone on a project team -- architects, specifiers, general contractors, MEP engineers, subs, insulation crews, HVAC installers – can understand it because they all know and understand the building code. Second, the NGBS is designed for a specific type of building occupancy, not type of construction -- it's designed for the buildings where we live. Many experts scoffed at this idea when the NGBS was being developed, but it has come to serve the specific needs of multifamily builders, which differ vastly from commercial builders and developers, much more comprehensively than any green building program that came before it. Find out more about how the NGBS both aligns with and adds value to the building codes.

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Earth Day Reflections: Looking Back on 2021

Today, on Earth Day 2022, everyone is taking rightful stock of the world around them and the impact they have on it. For NGBS Green, that’s not just something we do one day a year – it’s our full-time mission and purpose. But, we figured today was a great opportunity to take a look back at all the NGBS Green certification program did in 2021 to help move the needle further toward creating a better, more sustainable, healthier, and more fulfilling built environment for the places where we all live, both behind the scenes and in the spotlight.

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The SEC Ups the Ante: Greenwashing Riskier Than Ever

New SEC rules will require public companies to report on the climate impacts of their business. The SEC proposal requires companies to disclose climate-related risks – such as how climate might impact their business, operations, or financial condition – in their statements and corporate reports. Companies will also be required to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions, per the new rules. For our NGBS Green certification clients, the proposed SEC rule provides additional validation of your decision to design, build, and own high-performing real property assets, and seek a third-party certification of their conformance to back-up your environmental claims. The SEC rule aligns closely with the value of third-party certification. The NGBS Green mark signifies to investors, consumers, government staff, and other stakeholders that a building’s environmental claims are independently verified.

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The Who, What, How, When, and Why of the NGBS Green Appeals Process

As the NGBS Green independent certification agency, Home Innovation takes the responsibility of granting a green building certification very seriously. NGBS Green certification follows a carefully prescribed process designed to ensure that buildings are designed and constructed to the NGBS’s rigorous requirements, and our 100% third-party verification system requires an independent Verifier to schedule multiple inspections to ensure what the architect designs is what gets built.  But construction can be messy and sometimes, even with the best intentions, the process goes awry. Perhaps the site superintendent forgets to schedule the Verifier’s site visit before the sheetrock contractor hangs drywall in some apartments. Or, maybe the building owner misses a key program deadline. Less common, but also possible, is that an NGBS practice is written unclearly, and real-world compliance is uncertain. The NGBS Green Appeals process can offer administrative relief, or at least consideration of an alternative compliance process, for projects that face such issues.

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