North Carolina—5% of New Housing Stock is NGBS Green Certified

Published Friday, March 28, 2014

North Carolina is a national leader in green housing, and the numbers prove it! The North Carolina Energy Efficiency Alliance (NCEEA) has released data detailing the market penetration of voluntary, third-party certified green and energy efficient homes statewide.

The data revealed that 16,360 units—32.3% of the total new homes built in 2013—were certified to a recognized third-party. The certification programs included: National Green Building Standard (NGBS), ENERGY STAR, HERS, LEED, NC Green Built (a local certification option), and ecoSelect.

Among multi-attribute (not just energy efficiency) certification programs, NGBS Green certification was the leader. Five percent of new homes in North Carolina were NGBS Green Certified.

NCEEA suggested several contributing factors for North Carolina’s leadership in green and energy efficient housing. First, North Carolina is home to a well-educated workforce. Many industry professionals, including builders, remodelers, consultants, appraisers, realtors, and utilities, have become informed of the benefits of green and energy efficiency programs. Second, builders are attracted to the voluntary-nature of the certification programs, which allows them to distinguish themselves from their competition. Third, North Carolina’s adoption of the 2012 Energy Code has, according to NCEEA, “created an ‘achievable’ starting point for those seeking to build to voluntary, high performance standards.”

Read more: NCEEA Reporting on 3rd Party, Certified, High Performance Units Built in NC (2013).