A new volume program offered by the Green Globes online rating tool is designed to streamline the process and slash the direct cost of sustainability assessments by up to 75 percent for clients seeking green building certification on multiple buildings of a similar design.
The volume program is available to organizations that plan to take a minimum of 25 buildings of an identical or highly similar design through assessment and certification.
Green Globes, a web-based assessment and rating tool for green building guidance and certification administered in the US by the Green Building Initiative, is an alternative to the LEED certification program used to improve the environmental performance of commercial buildings.
The volume program applies to new construction as well as assessments on existing buildings. The Green Globes new construction assessment covers seven areas: management, site, energy, water, material and resources, emissions and indoor environment. The existing building certification assessment covers the same areas with the exception of a site evaluation.
Green Globes, a system adopted by the Canadian federal government for all of its real estate, is the biggest rival to the US Green Building Council-run LEED program. Green Globes has undergone several transformations since its inception, starting as the BREEAM Canada for Existing Buildings standard and evolving to a model similar to its current form in 2000. Green Globes now offers assessment tools for new buildings, existing buildings, building intelligence, fit-up and building emergency management.
While Green Globes has been an option in the US since 1996, until recently it’s been overshadowed by its USGBC-run rival LEED. Green Globes’ US administrator, the Green Building Initiative, has taken its system for new construction to the next stage, aligning it to an ANSI standard, ANSI/GBI 01-2010: Green Building Assessment Protocol for Commercial Buildings. The GBI says it has also made changes to all seven of the standard’s assessment areas.