Tour of the NAHB Research Center

Friday the Home Builder’s Green Building Council was treated to a tour of the NAHB Research Center in Maryland. Nearly 30 members - builders, associates, and Kent County inspectors attended the tour. The first part, conducted by President Mike Luzier and Green Director Michelle Desiderio was to learn about the numerous services the Research Center provides besides green home certifications, including state of the art market research and focus groups for housing and housing product clients. We learned that the Research Center’s independence from NAHB and non-biased results are without dispute as they hold many accreditations from independent national testing certification bodies.

Then Bob Hill, Director of Laboratory Services, hosted our tour of the 45,000 square foot, 4-story indoor testing facility which can evaluate all parts of housing product components - weatherization of walls, materials, and insulation, osb strength, thermal characteristics, plumbing fixtures, etc.

The Research Center congratulated our HBADE with implementing the Green for Green homebuyer rebate program which rewards new home buyers of certified green homes with cash rebates. Mike cited it as an example of a win-win partnership in Delaware between the State DNREC and SEU and HBADE. He commented that other States are looking to implement the program nationally.