U.S. GSA study concludes that GBI’s Green Globes cont. to meet federal green building requirements

The study conducted every five years made its results public in late May, 2019

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Portland, Ore. – The Green Building Initiative (GBI) applauds the conclusions reached in the General Services Administration’s (GSA) recently-completed study on “High Performance Building Certification Systems Review,” which was finalized in March 2019 and made publicly available on the GSA website in late May, 2019. The study was conducted by researchers from LMI, an independent non-profit firm, and third-party reviewed and verified by researchers from the Rocky Mountain Institute.

The study again demonstrates that Green Globes® continues to meet federal requirements. This 2019 study updates the one that preceded it in 2012, which was the basis of a determination letter from GSA to Department of Energy (DOE) that named Green Globes as approved for use by federal agencies, only one of two green building certification programs that met federal requirements. The 2019 version of this study just released is expected to generate a similar determination sometime within the next few months.

“We are pleased to see Green Globes continue to be recognized as a comprehensive and valued rating system,” stated Vicki Worden, GBI president & CEO. “Our certification programs are supported by a collaborative process and outstanding customer service that support teams in making buildings more sustainable, healthy, and resource-efficient regardless of constraints.”

According to Micah Thomas, GBI’s director of program development and compliance, “The updated March 2019 study demonstrates that Green Globes for New Construction fully met federal criteria for consensus-based approaches, transparency, usability, maturity, independence, and verification. Green Globes for New Construction also fully met more of the federal energy efficiency and healthy and effective environments sub-criteria than the other two systems evaluated against federal new construction requirements. This is great validation of our mission.”

Worden concluded, “We’re proud of how our systems have developed and evolved with significant input from users and stakeholders. We are looking forward to launching updated versions of each of our major systems over the next two years with ongoing focus on energy, water, ventilation, materials, resilience, and health and wellness criteria.”

About the Study

Section 436(h) of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) (42 U.S.C. 17092) requires the GSA’s Office of Federal High-Performance Buildings to evaluate and compare high-performance building certification systems (building certification systems) every 5 years. After the review, GSA recommends to the Secretary of Energy the building certification systems most likely to encourage a comprehensive approach to certification of high-performance buildings. This review examines detailed information about how the requirements of each building certification system align with high-performance building requirements used by the federal government. Appendix A of the study includes additional background information, including the statutory drivers that establish the federal building requirements.

The report objectively summarizes the findings of GSA’s building certification system review. The information from this report will inform the development of a recommendation from the GSA Administrator to the Secretary of Energy.

About GBI & Federal Buildings

GBI has third-party certified and/or assessed compliance of federal buildings resulting in a determination of Green Globes certification or ‘compliance achieved’ under GBI’s Guiding Principles Compliance (GPC) program, which is specific to the sustainable federal building and DOD unified facility criteria requirements. Together, using these programs, eight federal agencies (DHHS, DOD, DOE, Dept. of State, GSA, NASA, Dept. of Veterans Affairs, and USDA) have certified or third-party assessed 611 projects using GBI’s programs. GBI has additional building project reviews in progress for a total of 760 federal building reviews completed or in progress. GBI has an exclusive Guiding Principles Compliance Professional (GPCP) training and certification program to assist federal agency staff and their A/E and general contractor vendors with understanding compliance requirements and the third-party assessment process.

GBI is a nonprofit organization and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Standards Developer dedicated to accelerating the adoption of green building best practices. Founded in 2004, the organization is the global provider of the Green Globes® and federal GPC building certification and assessment programs. To learn more about opportunities to become involved with GBI, contact info@thegbi.org or visit the GBI website at www.thegbi.org

[source: https://www.thegbi.org/about-gbi/press-room/article/u.s.-gsa-study-concludes-that-gbis-green-globes-cont.-to-meet-federal-green]


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