Green Building in Baltimore

Ruppert Homes, Inc. and its commitment to Quality and GREEN Construction

Ruppert Homes, Inc. and its commitment to Quality and GREEN Construction

Since 1994, when Ruppert Homes, Inc. first began building homes, we have been committed to building at a high level of quality. That commitment means that we continually strive to improve the way we build our homes and the building materials and products that we use in building those homes.

In 2001, we decided to become an Energy Star New Home Partner in order to let our homes standout in the market place. This program includes rigorous testing by third party auditors. Homes that are successfully certified as an Energy Star Qualified New Home are at least 15% more energy efficient than homes built to the current building code. In addition to having lower utility bills, our homes also provide their future owners with improved indoor air quality and comfort due to the improved building methods and higher quality building materials and products necessary in order to achieve the Energy Star Qualified New Home certification.

While we had decided to incorporate the Energy Star Qualified New Home certification as a quality feature, the program also became the first incorporation of green construction principles to our homes. Over the years, we have continued to use building science, building material and product choices to add more green construction principles to our homes in order to further improve the quality, efficiency and comfort of the homes that we build.

In order to be better prepared to implement green construction principles, Ruppert Homes, Inc. personnel have successfully completed several education and training programs. These include the Green Advantage Residential Certification training, the Earthcraft Virginia Builder Training and the National Association of Home Builders Green Building for Building Professional program. Additionally, Ruppert Homes, Inc. is a member of the Maryland Residential Green Building Council at the Home Builders Association of Maryland.

The National Green Building Standard

The National Green Building Standard (NGBS), also known as ICC-700-2008 National Green Building Standard, was developed in 2007 as a program to address green building in new construction single- and multi-family, residential remodeling and site development projects.  The NGBS was developed as a result of an ANSI approved process led by the International Code Council and the National Association of Home Builders.  This nationally recognizable standard definition of green building addresses the following areas as they relate to the above described types of projects:

  • Lot Design, Preparation and Development
  • Resource Efficiency
  • Energy Efficiency
  • Water Efficiency
  • Indoor Environmental Quality
  • Operation, Maintenance and Homeowner Maintenance


Within each of these areas, a project must earn certain levels of points in order to earn certification levels of Bronze, Silver, Gold or Emerald.

Click the following links to learn more about green construction:

Energy Star Qualified New Home program

National Green Building Standard

Maryland Residential Green Building Council

Carpet and Rug Institute Green Label Plus Program

Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association

EPA WaterSense Program