Site

The Site assessment area measures the building’s ecological impacts, including how the construction process and building use will affect soil erosion, urban heat islands, light pollution, and stormwater runoff. The Site category also provides guidance and awards points for environmental enhancements, such as pervious pavements for stormwater management, vegetated roofs to combat urban heat island effect, and xeriscape landscape design and gray water irrigation systems to reduce water demand.

Water

Like the Energy assessment area, the Green Globes for New Construction Water assessment area also evaluates both performance and prescriptive criteria. The program awards points for water conservation through the integration of EPA Water Sense high-efficiency plumbing, fixtures, fittings, appliances, and equipment. Additionally, because water demand varies widely based on a building’s function, the water area contains several sections that accommodate these differences. The water section encourages consideration of opportunities for water performance improvement over a baseline. Suggestions may include alternate water sources or recycling, metering and submetering options, and water-saving irrigation design methods.

Materials and Resources

The Materials and Resources assessment area also allows the use of a performance path or prescriptive path to evaluate the project’s sustainable attributes. Furthermore, the Building Assembly (core and shell) and the Interior Fit-Out (finishes, furnishings, partitions) are assessed separately, allowing different approaches (performance or prescriptive) to be taken for each. The performance path employs life-cycle assessment (LCA), whereas the prescriptive path employs the use of EPDs or other third-party certifications. The Materials area encourages multi-attribute approaches, use of the Athena Impact Estimator, use of locally sourced materials (within 500 miles), and construction and use-phase waste reduction.

Emissions

The Emissions assessment area evaluates comprehensive heating equipment and refrigerant management practices. The section also places an increased emphasis on reducing Global Warming Potential by following the steps outlined in the EPA’s GreenChill program. GreenChill is a joint program between food retailers and the EPA to reduce refrigerant emissions and their negative impacts on the ozone layer.⁵

Revisions are Underway

Through revision of the ANSI/GBI 01-2010 standard, GBI is anticipating changes to the rating system that will likely include the elimination of the Emissions Assessment Area as a separate category and the additional requirement that buildings earn a minimum of 20 percent of applicable points in each of the environmental assessment areas. Other innovations include addressing owner risk issues, such as resilience and life-cycle costs.

Green Globes Certification for Existing Buildings, Interiors, and Federal Government

In addition to Green Globes for New Construction, GBI offers assessment programs for existing buildings (including health care), sustainable interiors, and federal government buildings.

Green Globes for Existing Buildings (EB) assessment involves a single review by a third-party assessor as opposed to the two separate reviews required for NC. During this review, the assessor visits the site to meet with the project team, tours the building, examines the facility management documentation and utility bills, and verifies the client’s online survey responses using all the information collected. The assessor then writes a detailed report that includes the final Green Globes score and rating as well as recommendations for future improvement as capital funds become available. This report establishes a benchmark and evaluates new opportunities for energy efficiency and overall reduction of environmental impacts. The report integrates corporate goals and practices and guides ways to improve performance.

Like Green Globes NC, the EB program is based on a 1,000-point system with no prerequisites and requires a minimum overall score of 35 percent for certification.

Green Globes for Sustainable Interiors (SI) is very similar to Green Globes NC but has a more narrow focus that is limited to the Interior Fit-Out (finishes, furnishings, partitions) of a tenant space. SI is designed to assist interior architects and interior designers in achieving their sustainability goals for a fit-out project.

GBI also offers an assessment program specifically tailored to existing healthcare facilities as well as specialized Guiding Principles Compliance programs for federal agencies to measure their compliance with Executive Order requirements. As with all GBI programs, these are designed to streamline the management and documentation process and minimize the amount of time and effort project personnel spend on the assessment process. More than 500 federal buildings have been assessed using GBI programs.

CASE STUDY: THE JOSEPH ARNOLDS LOFTS

Seattle’s First Green Globes Certified Residential High-Rise Earns Three Green Globes

“We designed with several certification systems in mind, and, at the end of design development, we committed to Green Globes,” recalls Holly Gardner, vice president at The Schuster Group, developer of The Joseph Arnolds Lofts, a multiuse high-rise located in Seattle.⁶

© Benjamin Benschneider

The Joseph Arnold Lofts feature 12 floors of 132 residential units above 2,250 square feet of retail, bicycle parking, and 70 below-grade parking stalls, including electric vehicle charging stations. Tenant amenities include a common area, fitness center, board room, and a landscaped rooftop deck with a community garden.

HIGHLIGHTED SUSTAINABLE FEATURES

• Electric submetering for all apartments
• A variable-refrigerant-volume (VRF) system that is more efficient than an ASHRAE 90.1 minimally complaint air-cooled chiller
• Water-saving calculations that demonstrate a water consumption target of less than 11,000 gallons/apartment/year through low-flow fixtures and ENERGY STAR appliances
• Durable, low-maintenance materials and life-cycle assessments performed for major building assemblies, cladding, and windows
• The use of environmentally preferable refrigerants, low-NOX condensing boilers, pest minimization practices, and separate hazardous materials storage areas

PERSONALIZED HELP: THE GAME CHANGER

“I could speak with an actual person when I had questions. You can’t get that kind of responsiveness elsewhere. When a subcontractor asked if a particular material qualified, I was able to get the answer in real time. The assessor is a game changer,” Gardner reports.

The team also appreciated that the assessor walked the building and made scoring judgments based on real-life applications and the intent of the strategies rather than reviewing pages of documentation.

© Benjamin Benschneider

“I could tell the story to the assessor during the walk-through, and they recognized the value of what we did do. That’s huge because it motivates you to go further. It got us asking, “Where else can we innovate to get where we need to be?”

Gardner took the assessor’s report and suggestions for improvement to the team to examine costs and payback periods, and to determine which items made sense to pursue post design. The team is using the final assessment as guidance for the Walton Lofts—the planned Joseph Arnold Lofts “brother” tower—and including the suggestions that can be incorporated upfront for a reasonable cost.

According to Gardner, Green Globes can also be a cost-efficient, easier certification system for those just entering the green building realm. “One of the biggest encumbrances to getting more professionals involved in greening their projects is that if it isn’t easy, it won’t become widespread. Having a competent assessor to turn to helps people who are learning because they don’t have to interpret every strategy themselves. Hopefully, that will help change the marketplace.”

© Benjamin Benschneider

Joseph Arnold Lofts on 62 Cedar St. in Seattle received Three Green Globes with Green Globes for New Construction.