Which Green Building Practices Are Home Builders Using Most?

A recent survey of 250 single-family home builders and remodelers by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) looked at current green building practices and their adoption rates. The resulting report, titled "Building Sustainably: Green & Resilient Single-Family Homes 2024 SmartMarket Brief," presents data based on home builders' and remodelers' use of green building practices in seven categories: energy efficiency, healthier indoor living environments, water efficiency, resource efficiency, resiliency features, operation and maintenance manuals for green features, and green site/green lot design and development.

The findings indicate that of the practices in those categories, the most widely used is energy efficiency (91% of home builders), followed by efforts to conserve water (52%) and to create healthier indoor living environments (49%). For remodelers, energy efficiency also topped the list (86%), with healthier indoor living environments and water efficiency coming in second and third at 51% and 49%, respectively.

Drilling down into specifics for energy efficiency ...

The most predominantly used category, energy efficiency, was broken down further on specific practices used. Respondents were asked which energy efficiency practices they used on more than 50% of homes. The top practices are listed in the chart below by builder level of green engagement.