"Shades of green?" Your home isn't green enough to be called "green"

The green attributes of the existing housing market has always been a debating point for home owners and realtors.  

If every house is a shade of green, then they're all green.  Green Home Certifications and the home owners that paid for the attributes to become a green residential property don't appreciate this notion.  People want to differentiate their homes with green certs and appreciate value.

It's common for green realtors to focus on certain attributes that concern energy use and zero carbon, which when you look at the green home certifications that are common and inline with green scientific analysis from architects and proclaimed builders throughout the world that developed programs such as LEED, BREEAM, Golden Globes, CASBEE, Living Building, NAHB and other non governmental associations, there's little resemblance in the design attributes.  To say that a house is green because the entire home has bamboo flooring, commonly publicized as a sustainable option, doesn't reflect the the overall green-ness of the property, it means it has sustainable flooring, a common trait in green home certifications.  It's the same debate with heat pumps, electrification, and solar panels.  These are only parts of the level of green-ness in a home property.

Energy Star Home Certifications are a part of a world leading green home certifications like the U.S. Green Building Council.  Many of these energy attributes are in the international green building design standards.  Is an Energy Star certified or Zero carbon home really green in comparison to a full LEED prescriptive and performance Platinum level certified home?  Energy ratings and focused certifications are only part of the green spectrum and although they provide a greater level of green to a property, it's not really green enough to call a home property green by full market and environmental standards..  The government has also promoted Indoor Air Quality Plus and Water Sense.  These are also green attributes toward becoming the same level as a Green Home Institute certified Green Star home, LEED, or Pearl certified. A Passiv Haus certification is the most energy intensive certification and possesses many of the same attributes as Energy Star, yet because of the inherent passive design for sustainability, solar, and energy, many PHI certification levels of green-ness are greater than most focused energy or air quality certifications.

Every existing house and the property may have a green attribute according to market certifications and standards.  So, when does the property have enough attributes to get into the "shades of green", solid Green, or Light Green?  The greenest homes are Dark Green on the GAPScore sustainability scale.

 How green is that house you're going to sell?

You'll have to GAPScore verify your house to answer that question for yourself.