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One big difference between Pima County's proposed "green"-building rating system and those developed nationally is that Pima County's gives you points for what you don't do.

Don't lay carpet? Get a point.

Don't paint the walls? Another point.

No garage? No swimming pool? Two points each.

You can pile up more points by omitting mist sprayers, fountains and garbage disposals — or really run up the point total by not building that additional suite of rooms.

The rating system, recently approved by a joint city-county green-building subcommittee, gives you a point for each 200 square feet under 2,300 — the average-sized house in Pima County. You lose points for exceeding 2,800 square feet at the rate of a point for each additional 200 square feet.

Compile enough points and you get to brag to potential home buyers that the house you built has been certified by the county at one of four levels: Bronze, Silver, Gold or Emerald.

The size penalty is a departure from the code being developed by the National Association of Home Builders, which doesn't penalize larger homes.

That partly explains how the showcase home at the International Builders Show in Orlando, Fla., earlier this month earned a Gold rating for green building, despite being a 6,725-square-foot, plantation-style house that included a second full kitchen outside and double two-car garages.

Don't judge the national association's code by that house, said Tucson green builder John Wesley Miller, who helped to develop the code. The 25th annual "New American Home" was built, as these homes always are, to showcase new developments in building materials and appliances.

"They're getting a lot of manufacturers involved in those shows," Miller said. "Everybody needs space to show their products."

The National Association of Home Builders code is "not a whitewash," Miller said. "It's a green program that will have teeth in it," he said.

Miller, developer of Armory Park del Sol, organized the first Solar Parade of Homes for the Southern Arizona Home Builders Association 27 years ago. He was building green homes when they were a fad. Now, he said, "it's everywhere. It's not a trend anymore."

Miller supports the county's effort to develop a green-rating program and hopes his organization (SAHBA) will endorse it.

That's been the goal all along, said Yves Khawam, chief building code official for Pima County.

Khawam is seeking endorsement of the county's regionalized program from SAHBA and from the local committee of the U.S. Green Building Council, which has developed its own residential green code.

Alex Jácome, SAHBA's governmental liaison, expects his executive committee to endorse the county program, despite some "push-back from the production builders" who fear it will make it more difficult to deliver an affordable level of housing.

"The key is that it's voluntary," Jácome said. "It's the wave of the future, and most of these builders are already building green. The market is going to drive that. It's like buying a hybrid car. It's going to cost a few bucks more, but it's going to drive the quality of construction up."

Builders want consistency in codes, even voluntary ones, said Susan Buchan, the county's green-building program manager.

In addition to embracing the guidelines of the home builders and the Green Building Council, the county awards automatic points to energy-saving programs certified by local utilities.

The city of Tucson, meanwhile, is looking at its own set of green-building standards, said Leslie Liberti, director of the city's Office of Conservation and Sustainable Development.

It may require builders to equip homes for easy connection to solar panels for heating water and generating electricity, she said.

"The county's program is completely voluntary, and there are some elements that our council has already indicated they would like to mandate," Liberti said.

Those things aren't incompatible with the county green program, said Khawam, who added that it would make no sense to have a county program if other jurisdictions didn't embrace it.

Khawam predicted that builders will sign up for the voluntary program, noting that half did when Scottsdale introduced its green code.

Buyers are beginning to pay close attention to energy costs, building health and living green, said Richard Barna, project manager for Pepper-Viner's Civano North Ridge subdivision.

Barna, a member of the county's green-building subcommittee, said the guidelines he and his colleagues devised include a bunch of regional features not included in the national codes.

Barna said he was disappointed when officials with the National Association of Home Builders told him their program could not be tailored to the region, despite earlier promises that it would recognize regional differences.

The program developed for the county places greater emphasis on local climatological needs, such as water conservation and passive solar orientation, he said.

Jácome said the county's program "is practically the NAHB with some regional considerations, because we don't have the same problems they have in the Panhandle of Florida or the Upper Peninsula of Michigan."

The county has also applied to be a certifier for the residential LEED building program, Khawam said.

The U.S. Green Building Council originally developed LEED — Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design — for larger buildings.

The residential program is new and, according to Miller, is not attractive to production builders, partly because it costs money to hire an outside certifier.

Rich Michal, who is on the U.S. Green Building Council's core committee on LEED for homes, said Pima County's program will save builders at least $2,500 in costs charged by the regional LEED certifier.

Though he helped develop the LEED residential program, Michal said, it "has a lot of room for improvement with regards to recognizing regional constraints. I think the county does a better job than LEED for homes, or NAHB."