For home-mod enthusiasts & DIYers
You're the person with the heat pump spreadsheet, the air-quality monitor on the shelf, and opinions about insulation. GreenStar is the framework your obsession deserves: 54 published requirements to work through, four levels to climb, sixteen badges to earn, and real third-party certification when you want the accomplishment on record.
You know the feeling
You've done a dozen upgrades but have no structured way to know what actually matters next.
Forum advice contradicts itself; you want requirements written by building scientists.
Your work is invisible; there's no ledger of what you've achieved or proof for the next owner.
Every "smart home checklist" online is a listicle selling gadgets, not a standard.
The path
The two-minute scorecard gives you a baseline across all five pillars and points at your weakest systems. Your quest log begins here.
Take the scorecard →Progress Certified → Silver → Gold → Platinum, then chase badges: Electrified Living, Zero Energy, Peak Load Shaver, Foam-free. Every requirement has published specs and guidance.
Browse the 16 badges →Brett Little retrofitted his own 2002 house to net-zero carbon this way (heat pumps, solar, batteries), financed by a plain refinance. Certification puts your achievement on the record and in the home's value.
Read his build log →Enthusiast-grade builds
All case studies →
10/10 — DOE Home Energy Score, pursuing Zero Carbon
HERS −10 — produces more energy than it uses
HERS 7 — Platinum, net-zero expected
The whole standard is published free — work through it at your own pace, and certify when the house is ready.
Not you? GreenStar also serves homeowners and builders & developers and housing programs and municipalities .
