Rules for Building Green Homes in Illinois

Consult a Green Builder

• Every Illinois county, city and township has its own construction laws, but not every municipal government has boarded the green-home-building train. Find an experienced green builder in your area to oversee the project and explain all of the rules you must comply with to construct it. You may have to use a Chicago-area contractor if you reside in a small Illinois town, but don’t sign with a conventional builder, because most aren't certified to build green homes. "You need someone who knows how sun exposure is affected by nearby buildings, or what kind of wind turbines are more responsive in an urban setting," says Tony Slade, owner of DesignFirst Builders, located in the Chicago suburb of Itasca.

Oversee Preconstruction Preparations

• A preconstruction plan review is required of all Illinois home builders to construct a green home, and that plan must include these documents: a project summary, project checklist, durability evaluation, durability inspection checklist and a complete set of floor plans. In Chicago, all of these papers, plus a guide that lists the rules that must be followed to build a green home, can be downloaded from the City of Chicago’s website by clicking on the Chicago Green Homes Program link. Your contractor must submit these documents to Illinois green home evaluation authorities in your area so that compliance problems or issues are addressed before anyone picks up a hammer.

Register Your Home Project

• The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) must approve your home-building project, via your Illinois contractor. Once architectural and building plans are registered with the USGBC, the final bureaucratic hurdle is over and done with, and you can move on to the construction of your green home, regardless of where it's to be built. Your contractor will be assigned a local “green rater” by the USGBC to keep tabs on the progress of your house, so that building rules related to insulation, energy generation, window and door ratings, solar panels and environmentally compliant roofing are all correctly followed.

Oversee the Building of Your Green Home

• Inspectors certified to evaluate green construction are extremely thorough and conscientious, which is why they maintain such close contact with your Illinois home project crew and contractor. These folks will double-check everything and apply due diligence to completing the four mandated inspections every green home in Illinois must undergo before it can be certified: Drywall, Envelope Leakage, Duct Leakage and HVAC/refrigeration. Once the checklist has been completed, a postconstruction review can be undertaken.

Hang Your Hat and Green Certification

• Illinois green building rules and codes require submission of the following documents with original signatures of the builder, architect or rater to complete your home: an expanded checklist, durability checklist, durability plan and accountability forms. This paperwork is sent to USGBC officials, who will certify your home. You may be unpacked by the time your official green certificate arrives, but whether you live in a little town on the prairie or a big town like Chicago, that credential deserves a frame, so everyone visiting can see it.