The 2012 ICC 700 National Green Building Standard, (NGBS) recently approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), is now available for purchase through BuilderBooks.com, the publishing arm for the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) in both print and e-Book formats.

A collaborative effort between the International Code Council (ICC) and NAHB, the ICC 700 National Green Building Standard is the only residential green building rating system approved by ANSI as an American National Standard. The NGBS provides practices for the design and construction of all types of green residential buildings, renovations, and land developments. The green aspects of the NGBS include lot design, preparation and development; resource, energy and water efficiency; indoor environmental quality; and operation, maintenance and building owner education.

"The 2012 edition incorporates several changes that not only make the standard much easier to use, but also expand the offerings for renovations and remodeling projects, and raise the bar on energy efficiency," said NAHB Chairman Rick Judson, a home builder from Charlotte, N.C. "We have seen phenomenal growth in green building in recent years, and the new version of the standard will only help to add to this."

Some of the more notable updates include:

· The Energy Efficiency chapter has been substantially revised with the new more stringent rating levels based on whole-house energy savings above the 2009 International Energy Efficiency Code.

· The remodeling provisions have been incorporated into two new standalone chapters and include options for rating an entire remodeled building or achieving minimum compliance for a remodeled functional area such as a kitchen, bathroom, basement or addition.

· The point assignments for water efficiency practices have been reanalyzed to achieve an improved internal consistency with regard to actual water savings.

· The durability provisions have been reorganized, expanded and compiled into a single section as part of the Resource Efficiency chapter.

The new e-Book format allows readers to download the 2012 ICC 700 National Green Building Standard directly to your computer or iPad, with both options giving you the ability to read offline.

The 2012 ICC 700 National Green Building Standard is available for purchase ($35.95 Retail/$31.95 NAHB Member, ISBN 978-086718-697-0) at BuilderBooks.com or by calling 800-223-2665.  The e-Book is available at ebooks.builderbooks.com ($24.99 Retail/$20.99 NAHB Member)