GreenHome Institute · Manual v4
The GreenStar Homes Standard
A residential green-building certification with a specialty most programs lack: it works as well for the home you already own — renovations, retrofits, rehabs — as for new construction. Four progressive tiers — Certified, Silver, Gold, Platinum — plus optional achievement badges for projects that go further.
- Tiers
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- Pillars
- 0
- Requirements
- 0
- Badges
- 0
New here? Start this way
There are two ways through the standard — by pillar (what a green home is made of) and by tier (how far a project goes). If this is your first visit, take them in this order:
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Step 1
Understand the program →What the certification is, who it helps, and how the process works.
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Step 2
See what Certified asks →The entry level is the clearest picture of the standard's expectations.
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Step 3
Go deep where you care most →Browse by pillar — air quality, energy, water, moisture, or materials.
Homeowner wondering where your own house stands? Take the two-minute scorecard first.
Certification tiers
Four progressive levels
Each tier requires all requirements from the tiers below it.
Pillars of green
A green home is all of these things
"Green" isn't one feature — it's five systems working together: air that's healthy to breathe, energy the home barely needs, water it doesn't waste, a structure that stays dry and lasts, and materials that didn't cost the earth to make. Every requirement in the standard belongs to one of these pillars, and the badges are organized the same way.
Achievement badges
0 optional badges
Any certified project can add badges by meeting additional criteria.