M Squared Builders & Designers is proud to announce that the company has recently been named a Home Innovation NGBS Green Partner of Excellence for 2017. NGBS Green, which is based on the National Green Building Standard™ (NGBS), has certified more homes than any other national green home certification program. Being one of an elite group of Home Innovation’s green certification participants to be recognized validates the commitment M Squared Builders & Designers has made to providing homebuyers with increased value, comfort, durability, and efficiency through its NGBS Green Certified homes.

“What a year!” said Home Innovation Vice President Innovation Services Michelle Foster. “NGBS Green celebrated its 100,000th NGBS Green Certified home in March 2017, and less than a year later we have certified an additional 28,000+ homes. In 2017 we also marked the first 2015 NGBS Green Certified home; started development of the 2018 NGBS, which will now cover mixed-use multifamily buildings; and Home Innovation was selected as ENERGY STAR MRO for high-rise multifamily buildings. We could not have attained all these milestones – while at the same time continuing to provide an affordable, rigorous certification program that provides value to the entire residential construction industry – without dedicated partners like M Squared Builders & Designers.”

M Squared Builders & Designers certifies all new construction homes to the NGBS standards. These certified homes include energy and resource-conserving features such as SEER 15 heat pumps, hybrids of spray-foam and formaldehyde-free wall insulation, and sealed, insulated crawl spaces, all contributing to lower monthly operational costs. Fresh air filtration systems, sealed duct work, sealed exterior building shells, and no/low VOC paint and cabinetry contribute to the superior air quality in homes by M Squared Builders & Designers, which also    meet or exceed ANSI (American National Standards Institute) standards. M Squared Builders & Designers also utilizes recycled and/or natural products and water-efficient plumbing fixtures to ensure M Squared environmental friendliness. These inclusions only name a very few of the healthy green practices employed by M Squared Builders & Designers; these healthy green practices can be viewed and explained in more detail in the M Squared 2018 Spring Green Home Tour entry at 710 Claytor Drive in Hillsborough on April 28 – 29 and May 5 – 6, noon – 5 PM.

“I’m honored that my company has been recognized by Home Innovation,” Michele Myers, President of M Squared Builders & Desingers, Inc. stated. “From the inception of my company I’ve been an advocate of healthy and green high performance construction. I know it’s the best and the right way to build homes; I wouldn’t build them any other way.”

To earn certification to the National Green Building Standard, a home must meet rigorous criteria in six categories – Lot & Site Development; Resource Efficiency; Energy Efficiency; Water Efficiency; Indoor Environmental Quality; and Homeowner Education. There are mandatory practices in each category that every NGBS Green Certified home must meet, and there are a wide range of additional optional practices in each category that a builder can select based on the applicability to buyers or renters in their market. There are also mandatory point minimums in every category in order for a home to attain the next level of certification, which is a more stringent requirement than in any other national certification program.

Since January 2009, when the National Green Building Standard (NGBS) became the first residential green building rating system to be approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), Home Innovation Research Labs has certified nearly 130,000 green single-family and apartment homes, and more than 1,650 lots within green residential land developments. (For more details on current certification numbers, visit www.homeinnovation.com/ngbsgreenstats.) For more information on NGBS Green Certified homes and Home Innovation’s NGBS Green Partner home builders and remodelers, visit www.NGBS.com.

For more information on M Squared Builders & Designers, visit www.msquaredbuilders.com or call 919-620-8535.

ABOUT M SQUARED BUILDERS & DESIGNERS: M Squared Builders & Designers is an award-winning company dedicated to creating healthy green living environments for new homebuyers and existing homeowners in ways that enhance individual health with the least impact to our natural environment. The company offers services in new home construction, major remodeling and kitchen renovations. 

ABOUT HOME INNOVATION RESEARCH LABS: Home Innovation Research Labs, located in Upper Marlboro, Md., is a full-service research, testing, and consulting firm determined to improve the quality, durability, affordability, and environmental performance of single- and multifamily homes and home building products – in short, we aim to perfect the home. Founded in 1964 as a subsidiary of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), our team has been integral in solving many of our client’s most difficult product and technology issues, and helping to introduce some of the most groundbreaking innovations in residential construction. Through an interdisciplinary research approach – including market research, building science analysis, laboratory testing, and standards development – we help to find a home for innovation in the residential construction industry.