Green Globes
Green Globes Design is both a guide for integrating green design principles and an assessment protocol. Using confidential questionnaires for each stage of project delivery, the program generates comprehensive on-line assessment and guidance reports. Using Green Globes helps to design a building that will be energy and resource efficient, will achieve operational savings and be healthier to work or live in.
- The Green Building Initiative recently launched Green Globes for Continual Improvement of Existing Buildings (Green Globes-CIEB) as a complement to their Green Globes for New Construction. This is a web-based tool that allows building professionals to create a baseline of their building’s performance, to evaluate interventions, to plan for improvements and to monitor success.
The program uses a questionnaire divided into six main categories that define sustainability, namely:
- Energy
- Water
- Resources
- Indoor environment
- Environmental management
- Emissions, effluents and other impacts
The questions can be answered yes or no and the entire questionnaire can be completed in less than 3 hours. Once completed, the system generates a report that identifies strengths and weaknesses, suggests opportunities for improvement and provides an interim score based on a total of 1000 possible points. Buildings that achieve a minimum score of 700 receive a Green Globes rating, but they then must be audited and inspected by a qualified third party before being promoted as being Green Globe certified.
The Green Globes CIEB program was piloted in the US during 2008.
- The Green Building Initiative completed its first ANSI public comment period for its proposed standard for commercial green Buildings, known officially as the “GBI Proposed American National Standard 01-200XP: Green Building Assessment Protocol for Commercial Buildings.”
The proposed standard incorporates a Green Globes LCA Credit Calculator for building assemblies. This incorporates a full life cycle assessment into the system. The standard also includes a water consumption calculator to allow users to project the water consumption of the building.
The GBI hopes to complete the ANSI process in 2009.
- GBI announced the signing of a formal memorandum of understanding with ENERGY STAR. As part of the agreement, GBI will work with ENERGY STAR to:
- Encourage GBI members to join the EPA ENERGY STAR partnership
- Measure and track the energy performance of buildings using tools from both programs
- Support the ENERGY STAR Challenge, a national call-to-action to help improve the energy efficiency of America’s commercial and industrial buildings by 10% or more
GBI partnered with NewHomesDirectory.com which features information on the benefits of green homes, including energy savings and improved indoor air quality. Builders who have had a home certified as green through the NAHB National Green Building Program, or through a local program offered by a partner, are eligible to post free listings on the website. The new partnership will allow GBI partners to list their green homes on the site.