Portland, Ore. — As part of its commitment to provide a better way to build, the Green Building Initiative (GBI) has released a new and improved interactive platform for its Green Globes environmental assessment and rating system.

The updates reflect feedback from hundreds of users, including architects, engineers and graduate architecture students at Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley, and include several user interface changes to streamline the design entry and review process.

Following are three examples of additions made to improve the site’s optimization:

• A “Project Dashboard” that shows users exactly where they are in a project and what remains to be done.
• A “Running Total” stage status box, which indicates the score that users have achieved as they move through the questionnaire.
• A new navigation aid on project pages, which allows users to move easily between projects, stages, sections, questionnaires and reports.

In addition, the interactive platform features a new project list that allows users to see all of the projects a firm has entered into the system, as well as a user forum where questions can be answered by GBI technical experts and users can exchange ideas and best practices.

“This is just the first step in our efforts to continually optimize our tools and resources to leverage the best science and technology available,” said Vicki Worden, vice president, commercial programs and product development for the GBI. “We want to provide interactive solutions that make even the most sophisticated processes practical and accessible, and we think these revisions to Green Globes make the tool even more comprehensive, flexible and user-friendly.”

Green Globes is a web-based green management tool that includes an assessment protocol, rating system and guide for integrating environmentally-friendly design into commercial structures. It features modules for New Construction and the Continual Improvement of Existing Buildings and facilitates recognition of completed projects through third-party verification. Suitable for any size project, it’s a real-time, interactive and affordable approach to environmental design.

For more information, visit www.thegbi.org.