text: NGBS™ and Pivotal Energy Solutions Announce Data Sharing Agreement
  Home Innovation Research Labs and Pivotal Energy Solutions are pleased to announce the availability of NGBS Green Certified homes through Pivotal’s Axis energy efficiency data collection and sharing platform.
  Over 85,000 U.S. homes have met the requirements of the ICC 700 National Green Building Standard™ (NGBS) - the only residential green building rating system approved by ANSI as an American National Standard. The NGBS Green stringent third-party verified certification process ensures that homes and apartments are built in compliance with the NGBS and focuses on three highly marketable attributes: healthy homes; lower operating costs; and sustainable lifestyle. NGBS Green homes must achieve high performance metrics in several key areas, including, site design, resource efficiency, water efficiency, energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality, and building operation/maintenance. An NGBS Green Certified home can be awarded a Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Emerald certification level, depending on the number of green practices successfully incorporated in its design and construction. And NGBS Green is the only national green home certification program that requires increasingly higher point thresholds in every category – not merely an increase in the overall points for the home.
  Pivotal's Axis platform is a cloud-based energy rating data and workflow management solution used by HERS Raters and Providers, home builders, and energy efficiency program sponsors to streamline collection and sharing of energy ratings and program certifications. The consolidation of Axis data and Home Innovation’s NGBS Green Certified home data furthers Pivotal’s commitment toward proper valuation of energy-efficient homes by establishing Axis as a trusted data hub that facilitates data sharing within the energy efficiency industry and with multiple listing services (MLS) and other real estate market data systems.
  “We are excited to be working with Pivotal Energy Solutions,” said Michael Luzier, president and CEO of Home Innovation. “We believe this partnership is well-timed to remedy two of today’s most intractable market barriers when it comes to green homes – ensuring green certified homes receive the right valuation, and helping homebuyers and renters find them easily.”
  To learn more about Axis, go to www.PivotalEnergySolutions.com or contact Bob Burns at 800-980-AXIS. For more information about Home Innovation Research Labs or the NGBS Green certification program, go to www.homeinnovation.com/green.