The STEP Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to providing benchmarks in the built environment, and the Green Building Initiative (GBI), a nonprofit committed to accelerating sustainable building practices, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work together on a variety of issues, including development of joint standards for sustainable information communication technologies (ICT).
Jerry Yudelson, president of GBI (pictured, left) said, “As we reduce envelope and system loads in new buildings, plug, process and lighting loads will make up an increasing percentage of total building energy use, and we need better approaches to work on reducing those demands by incorporating contemporary technology platforms in ever more imaginative ways.”
GBI will work with STEP to make sure the next version of Green Globes New Construction, currently being updated and refined by an ANSI Consensus Body, will specifically look at the issues of combining sensor and dashboard/platform technology with building and lighting controls, for example, to reduce the energy use for plug and process loads in buildings.
The groups are also exploring the development of joint training and webinars for educating building industry professionals.