A certified home meets certain construction standards that should translate into increased energy conservation, healthy indoor air and lower operating costs. There is not, however, a single government or private agency that doles out certifications—and that’s where it can get confusing.

One of the oldest rating systems is the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Star program, which recognizes houses (as well as other products) that save energy. An Energy Star house must be at least 15 percent more energy efficient than homes built to the 2004 International Residential Code and 20 percent to 30 percent more efficient than standard construction. Some states have their own energy codes for residential construction.

但是“绿色”超越了能源效率，因此想要认证的温室的买家应该寻找具有更全面方法的计划。

The best known is probably LEED for Homes. LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the brainchild of the U.S. Green Building Council. It’s a highly structured rating system in which points are awarded to houses in a number of areas (site selection, the use of recycled materials, and energy and resource conservation, to name a few). LEED relies on independent inspectors, so builders can’t give their own houses a certification. LEED accreditation is also time consuming and expensive, so not all builders think it’s worth their time. It doesn’t necessarily mean their houses aren’t just as good.

全国房屋建筑商协会拥有自己的一套绿色建设指南（NAHB模型绿色房屋建筑指南），其范围与LEED计划的范围一样广泛。一个很大的区别是，建造者而不是第三方检查员负责签署许多施工要求。

The newest big national initiative is the ANSI National Green Building Standard (NGBS). The National Green Building Standard, also known as ICC-700, grew out of NAHB’s earlier Model Green Building Guidelines and was approved in early 2009 by the American National Standards Institute.

These are not the only green-building guidelines that builders and homeowners can turn to, and each program is going to be slightly different. Program guidelines are easily accessible on the Internet. Even if the language can get technical, anyone who spends some time studying program requirements should pick up a general idea of what that particular green designation means.

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要了解更多，请参阅Green Rating Systems
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