The Green Building Initiative (GBI) is the developer and administrator of the Green Globes green building certification system. Last month, as GBI celebrated their 20-year anniversary, I had a chance to sit down with Megan Baker, VP of Engagement, to learn more about this system.
Though perhaps not as ubiquitous as LEED, the green building certification developed by United States Green Building Council (USGBC), Green Globes offers an important alternative option in the market of green building certifications. Green Globes is a popular choice especially for federal projects, but for a wide variety of other project types, Green Globes offers several appealing advantages. In fact, Salas O’Brien has over 20 certified Green Globes projects, most recently, Parq Fulton Apartments, Artis Senior Living Wilmette, and IMPRINT.
I was curious to learn more about which features of Green Globes provide the most allure to projects that end up selecting this standard to certify their sustainable buildings.
“We like to describe Green Globes as ‘rigorous but not rigid,’” explained Ms. Baker. The standard accomplishes a balance between equivalence and flexibility, allowing for projects to earn recognition according to their unique project’s sustainability goals and attributes. As a rigorous standard, projects must achieve some points in each Environmental Assessment Area (Project Management, Site, Energy, Water, Materials and Resources, and Indoor Environment), and starting with the latest version of the standard (2024), there is a requirement for reduced energy consumption.
The “not rigid” aspect of the standard is achieved in a few ways. First, there are no “one size fits all” prerequisites. Additionally, for many criteria, especially those heavy-hitters that have a high points potential, many pathways are offered. For example, there are six paths available for documenting energy performance improvements in Green Globes for NC ‘24. Projects may follow a performance path according to several standards options, such as ASHRAE Standard 90.1, Appendix G (versions 2010 through 2019) or International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). Projects may also follow a prescriptive path.
Another unique feature of Green Globes that reduces rigidity is allowing N/A as an option for many criteria. For criteria that do not apply to a project building (because of location, property type, etc.), the associated potential points are reduced from the denominator, effectively customizing the standard to individual projects, ensuring that teams are not penalized for criteria that are not relevant. For example, a building without elevators would deduct the points available for energy-efficient elevator measures.
Megan was proud to share another feature of Green Globes that sets their standard apart. GBI is an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Standards Developing Organization, which signifies that the procedures used by GBI meet ANSI’s requirements for openness, balance, consensus and due process. As such, Green Globes standards are in continuous maintenance at all times. GBI is in a continuous state of assembling committees that meet and publicly publish their minutes. The standard is updated at intervals typically of 2-3 years, developed as a consensus process and incorporating multiple public comment periods. ANSI accreditation also means that GBI is required to review and respond to every single comment that comes in, ensuring a high degree of accountability.
I found it impressive that GBI accomplishes all of this with a staff of 25 employees, who are fully remote. I was curious how GBI got its start.
“Green Globes developed out of BREEAM, a framework that began in Europe and came to Canada in 2000,” explained Ms. Baker. “The creators of Green Globes recognized an appetite in the marketplace for an alternative whole building green rating system option and founded the organization in 2004.” The initial standards development process kicked off in 2005 and resulted in the ANSI/GBI 01-2010: Green Building Assessment Protocol for Commercial Buildings, the underpinning protocol for Green Globes for New Construction (NC) 2010. In 2017, the GBI was awarded global rights to certify Green Globes buildings worldwide.
Project certification thresholds range from One to Four Green Globes. Having personally consulted on projects achieving a maximum of Two Green Globes, I had to ask: What does it take for a project to get certified to Four Green Globes? Megan agreed that Four Green Globes is a massive achievement.
“It requires getting started at the beginning by clearly setting the goals and following an Integrative Design process, assigning roles and responsibilities and monitoring progress. Projects that can find strategies that overlap across criteria, such as natural ventilation and energy reduction, or materials and indoor air quality, may find a path to Four Green Globes.”
In celebration of their 20-year anniversary, the month of October was busy. On social channels and blogs, GBI is releasing a timeline of major milestone accomplishments and honoring their top clients across categories, such as the number of certified projects and certification thresholds. Join in their celebration on LinkedIn.
For more information about green building certification or sustainability consulting, contact us through our website or visit our Sustainability Consulting webpage.
