The home certification program of the High Performance Building Council of the BIA of Central SC is the Certified High Performance (CHiP) Home Program. This program is based on the ANSI-approved National Green Building Standard™ (ICC 700-2012). The first certification was awarded on April 24, 2012.

In the CHiP Home Program the house is certified, not the builder.  Each house has to reach minimums across seven different areas to qualify for the certification. The builder has flexibility in how to reach each of these goals, which lends to affordability and ease of use. However, the work must be checked by a third-party verifier before the home is certified.

Certification comes in different levels, as well.  The first level is Bronze, then Silver and Gold, and the highest certification level is Platinum. The lowest level reached in any of the seven areas is the level of certification. For example, if the builder attains Gold status in six areas but Bronze in one area, the certification level is Bronze.

The program is designed for any builder to be able to download and use on any project.  See who’s already building CHiP Homes or direct your builder to this page so they can download the CHiP Tool and get started on your home. We also have the NGBS-2012 printed version available for purchase at our Columbia office.

Keep up-to-date on local High Performance Building Council news and information at our CHiP Facebook Page and our High Performance Building Council Facebook page. We also post news items to our High Performance News page, here. 

Contact us via e-mail or call (803) 256-6238.