In November 2007, the Green Building Partnership announced that the model homes at Pulte's Timber Creek neighborhood in northwestern Las Vegas became the first homes in Southern Nevada to achieve certification by the program as verifiable "green-built" homes. Inspectors said the models met the program's requirements for resource, energy and water efficiency and indoor environmental quality that exceed government codes and industry standards for new-home construction.

All the homes built at Timber Creek will achieve certification as verifiable green-built homes, Pulte said.

The Southern Nevada Home Builders Association, the largest and oldest trade association representing the local residential construction industry, and the Green Building Initiative of Portland, Ore., formed the Southern Nevada Green Building Partnership in 2005. Together, they developed the program requirements for a green building program to serve the needs of production home building in Southern Nevada.

"Although homes built today are 100 percent more energy-efficient than housing built during the 1970s, the goal is to raise the bar on energy conservation and efficient use of our finite resources. We believe the home building industry is playing a vital role in that effort," said Irene Porter, executive director of the SNHBA, which administers the Green Building Partnership program.