New Construction

The New Construction (NC) Standard provides a method for assessing commercial buildings relative to the tenets of integrated design and contemporary best practices for high-performance green buildings. This assessment method addresses the design and construction of buildings with respect to reducing life cycle resource consumption, waste, and global/regional/local environmental impacts contributing to human and ecological system health and provides performance feedback to owners and communities on indicators such as energy and water performance.

The NC Standard applies to a broad range of commercial building types, including offices, multifamily, health care, schools, universities, labs, industrial, retail, etc., as well as to major renovations. 

The Standard includes a points-based assessment rating system that allows users to identify solutions that earn points for actions likely to achieve levels of performance commonly valued as having desirable environmental and related efficiency outcomes.

The six Assessment Areas within the Standard include Project Management, Site, Energy, Water Efficiency, Materials, and Indoor Environment.

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Senior Project Manager, EPA, Office of Air and Radiation

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New Construction Standards Documents