A Market Alternative

The major green building standards and rating systems have more similarities than differences. However, the Green Globesâ„¢ system has several unique characteristics that make it attractive to those seeking a flexible, practical, affordable option.

In addition to an assessment protocol and rating system, Green Globesâ„¢ serves as a design tool, suggesting improvements and guiding the integration of green principles throughout the design process. Web-based and fully interactive, the system allows users to update online information for a year, and compare multiple buildings within a portfolio. As more buildings are Green Globesâ„¢ rated, point scores will be aggregated in an anonymous database, enabling users to analyze how projects perform against the median as well as buildings that are similar in size, type, and region.

As with other ratings and standards, Green Globesâ„¢ enables projects to be recognized as environmentally superior through third-party verification. In 2006, each Green Globesâ„¢ assessment costs $500. To have a building third-party verified, there is an average additional cost of approximately $4,000 to $5,000, which includes a conditional verification at the construction documents stage and final verification following an on-site inspection.

ANSI Accreditation

GBI was the first green building organization to seek and receive accreditation as a standards developer by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), and has begun the process to establish Green Globesâ„¢ as an official ANSI standard. This effort is expected to be completed by 2008. The ANSI process is consensus-based and will involve further development of the system through a multi-stakeholder technical review. As per ANSI rules, the first 15 members of the technical committee were selected by the GBI board of directors and asked to self-populate to 30. Details on the committee, which functions independently of the GBI board and staff, are available at www.thegbi.org.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

As the ANSI process proceeds, GBI has initiated a process to further incorporate life cycle assessment (LCA) into the Green Globesâ„¢ system. The intent is to simplify sustainable practices by suggesting alternatives with scientifically based choices. The system currently incorporates LCA in the resource section. As sustainable practices become widely accepted, rating systems should evolve away from prescriptive (subjective) scoring, towards a greater reliance on quantitative and objective data, giving rise to systems that reward performance results, instead of the means to achieve them.

As a first step, GBI has commissioned an engineering firm to assess and rank building assemblies, such as complete wall or roof assemblies, using established LCA methodology. The intent is that design teams will be credited within the Green Globesâ„¢ system for using highly ranked assemblies. The UK's BREEAM system uses this approach successfully by drawing upon assembly rankings in its Green Guide to Specifications.

Another objective of the LCA incorporation is to establish a relative basis from which progress can be measured. Green Globesâ„¢ incorporates benchmarking for operating energy and water use, with a score based on how well a building performs against the benchmark. A similar capability will be established for comparing and scoring LCA results.