2011 Media Releases & Alerts

For Immediate Release
Contact: Anne Holtz Schmick

NAHB Research Center Announces Consensus Committee, Task Group Members for National Green Building Standard 2012 Update

March 1, 2011, Upper Marlboro, Md. - In cooperation with the International Code Council (ICC) and National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the NAHB Research Center recently announced appointments to the Consensus Committee for the next version (2012) of the National Green Building Standard™.

The development of the standard must follow an ANSI-approved process, and the NAHB Research Center will again act as the secretariat, or administrator, of the standard development process. The Research Center issued a call for Consensus Committee members last November and applications were received through January 16, 2011.

Similar to the make-up of the original committee convened to develop the 2008 version of the Standard, the committee for the 2012 updated version includes government officials, advocacy groups, home builders, product manufacturer association representatives, and other affected industry stakeholders in residential construction. The organizations represented on the Consensus Committee and their primary representatives are:

• Air Barrier Association of America, Inc., Laverne Dalgleish
• Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute, Frank A. Stanonik
• American Gas Association, Ted Arthur Williams
• American Institute of Architects, David S. Collins, FAIA
• American Wood Council, Kenneth Bland
• Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, Matthew Brian Williams
• BOMA International, Ron Burton
• Bruce G. Boncke, Bruce G. Boncke
• C. F. Evans & Company, Adrian "Rusty" Ross
• CECS of MI, LLC, Donald L. Pratt (Committee Chair)
• City of Denton, TX, Kurt Hansen
• City of Keene, NH, Medard Kopczynski
• City of Longmont, CO, Chris Allison
• City of Scottsdale, AZ, Anthony C. Floyd
• ConSol, Michael G. Hodgson
• Edison Electric Institute, Steven Rosenstock
• Enterprise Community Partners, Emily Mitchell
• Environmental Solutions Group, Steven Armstrong
• Forest City Land Group, William Sanderson
• GREENGUARD Environmental Institute, Josh Jacobs
• Habitat for Humanity International, Matt Clark
• Memphis Land Bank, Inc., Molly A. Beard
• National Multi Housing Council, Ron Nickson
• North American Insulation Manufacturers Association, Charles C. Cottrell
• NVR Inc., Christine A. Phillips
• Plastic Pipe and Fittings Association, Michael Cudahy
• Portland Cement Association, Donn C. Thompson, AIA, CGP, LEED
• Ray Tonjes Builder, Inc., Ray Tonjes (Committee Vice Chair)
• State of California - Department of Housing and Community Development, Doug Hensel
• State of New Jersey - Division of Codes and Standards, Darren Molnar-Port
• Steel Framing Alliance, Maribeth S. Rizzuto
• Steve Easley & Associates, Steve Easley
• U.S. Army, Deborah Reynolds
• U.S. Department of Energy, Robert Dewey
• U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development, Stockton Williams
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Lee S. Sobel
• U.S.D.A. Forest Service - Forest Products Laboratory, Michael A. Ritter
• Verdatek Solutions LLC, Matthew Belcher
• Vinyl Siding Institute, Inc., Matthew Dobson
• Winchester Homes, Inc., Randall K. Melvin
• Window & Door Manufacturers Association, Jeff Inks

The Committee will be chaired by Don Pratt of Auburn Hills, Mich., who has nearly 40 years of experience in the home building industry, is a Registered Building Code Official, a voting member of the ICC, and chaired the Michigan Construction Code Commission for 10 years. Ray Tonjes of Austin, Texas, who has been an energy-efficient, high-performance home builder for more than four decades, was one of the first Energy Star builders in Austin, and has been an active member of the country's oldest green building program since its inception, will serve as vice chairman.

The committee members have also been assigned to Task Groups, each focusing on a different area of the Standard — such as energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality, or lot and site development. The Task Group appointments were supplemented with other interested parties who expressed an interest in participating in the standard development process. A complete list of all Task Group appointments is available online at www.nahbrc.com/ngbs.

The entire Consensus Committee will hold three meetings at the National Housing Center in Washington, D.C., in 2011:

• The first meeting, scheduled for March 29-30, 2011, will serve to orient all participants on the process, initiate Task Group review of the proposed changes, and discuss options for direction on several key areas covered by the Standard.

• At the second meeting, scheduled for June 2011, members will review all proposed changes to the Standard and decide the formal committee action on each of them. After balloting on the committee actions has been completed, a draft of the 2012 standard will be released for public comment.

• At the third meeting (dates TBD), Consensus Committee members will consider, discuss, and then take formal action on the public comments submitted on the draft standard.

Once the committee has completed its work, the newly updated National Green Building Standard will be submitted to ANSI for approval in 2012.

Initiated originally in 2007 by the International Code Council and NAHB, the 2008 National Green Building Standard was developed by a 42-member Consensus Committee and approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in January 2009, making it the first point-based rating system for green residential construction, remodeling, and land development to be approved by ANSI. As an ANSI-approved standard, the document is subject to periodic updates as a way to ensure that advances in building codes, technology, and other developments can be considered for incorporation.

For additional information and for all future updates on the 2012 NGBS development process, visit www.nahbrc.com/ngbs.

03/11