Welcome to ED+C's Targeted eNews: GBI Green Globes

It can sometimes be difficult to keep track of all the names floating in green construction's acronym soup. The third-party certifications - for what seems like every industry - alone are enough to overwhelm a newcomer to the field. But what fun would life be without variety?    

While there isn't as much variety within building rating systems, options are available. The Green Building Initiative and its Green Globes tools is one such choice.    

The GBI is a not-for-profit organization whose stated mission is to accelerate the adoption of building practices that result in energy-efficient, healthier and environmentally sustainable buildings by promoting credible and practical green building approaches for residential and commercial construction.    

The organization's Green Globes is a green building guidance and assessment program that includes an environmental assessment protocol using software tools to speed and simplify self-assessment. This system incorporates best practices guidance for green construction and operations from qualified assessors with green building expertise. It all wraps up with a rating/certification once the project is complete.   

This Targeted eNews takes a look at some of what the GBI has to offer. Visit the GBI website for more information.  

Cheers,

Derrick 

Green Globes: Managing Green Performance of Existing Buildings

If you are looking to effectively manage "green" performance within your portfolio of existing buildings, then please join us for any of these free interactive Web Seminars to learn more about the dynamic, cost-effective, design and assessment tool, Green Globes, Continual Improvement of Existing Buildings.

Green Globes helps establish a baseline, prioritize and plan the right improvements, monitor success and compare multiple buildings within your portfolio.  

Time:
10 a.m. PT | 1 p.m. EST

Dates:
Tuesdays: March 17, March 24, March 31
Thursdays: March 19, March 26

Presented by Sharene Rekow, vice president of Marketing & Sales, Green Building Initiative.  

Who Should Participate: Building Owners/Managers, Facility Managers, Sustainability/Environmental Directors. For more information: info@thegbi.org.  

ASHRAE, GBI Pledge to Collaborate to Promote Building Sustainability
Through a new memorandum of understanding, ASHRAE and the Green Building Initiative (GBI) will work together to accelerate the adoption of sustainability principles in the built environment. 

The agreement was approved by ASHRAE and by the GBI Board of Directors during their winter meetings. "ASHRAE supports a wide variety of programs that encourage the sustainable design and operation of buildings," Bill Harrison, ASHRAE president, said. "Tools such as GBI's Green Globes rating system help to provide metrics through which building owners and operators can gauge a building's sustainability performance. Pushing forward the built environment to improve sustainability will require a collaborative effort among a myriad of organizations. ASHRAE looks forward to collaborating with GBI and other organizations." ...

Practice Makes Perfect
In 2000, RB+B Architects, of Fort Collins, Colo., won a design competition for a prototype elementary school for the state's Poudre School District (PSD). The school was to be designed and built to the newly introduced "Sustainable Design Guidelines" that the district had drafted in the late 1990s. The result of the design effort became Zach Elementary School, which opened in 2002.

Seven years and three prototypes later, PSD, through prudent management of its 2000 bond funds, leveraged its resulting funds to build a fourth iteration of this prototype. In fall 2008, Bethke Elementary School opened as the first school in the nation to achieve a Green Globes rating and Gold certification through the LEED for Schools program. ...

Increase Focus on Goals and Measurement
While the green building movement has a great deal to look forward to, there is an elephant in the living room - downplayed in some quarters as the product of worrying minds - that we need to address head on, and that's the risk of liability.

One of our most pressing issues is the fact that some buildings designed to be green fail to live up to expectations. And in business, as we all know, where there are failed expectations there are lawsuits. The good news is that this period of increased legal action, or the threat thereof, will in fact motivate the kind of clarity and measurement that both reduces liability risks and results in better buildings. ...