Jul 25 2013
The Green Building Initiative (GBI) today announced a Volume program that streamlines the process and lowers the cost of sustainability assessment and certification for clients using Green Globes on multiple buildings of a similar design.
Green Globes is a web-based program for green building guidance and certification that includes an on-site assessment by a third party. The program is administered in the U.S. by the GBI. Green Globes is a user-friendly alternative to LEED used to advance the overall environmental performance and sustainability of commercial buildings.
The Volume program is available to organizations that commit to taking a minimum of 25 buildings of an identical or highly similar design through assessment and certification. The streamlined process reduces indirect costs to the client while also reducing the direct cost of Green Globes by up to 75%. The program applies to Green Globes for New Construction (NC) and Green Globes for Continual Improvement of Existing Buildings (CIEB). A Green Globes NC assessment covers seven areas: Management, Site, Energy, Water, Materials & Resources, Emissions and Indoor Environment. Green Globes CIEB covers the same areas with the exclusion of a Site evaluation.
"Several of our clients are graduating from using Green Globes on initial projects to where they would now like to use it on multiple buildings of a highly similar design. Our new Volume program recognizes the efficiencies that can be gained and enables these clients to put more buildings through the process accelerating the number of sustainable buildings in their portfolio," said Sharene Rekow, GBI Vice President of Business Development. "The Volume program includes the unique program attributes that have made Green Globes the choice of an increasing number of sustainability professionals... the web-based survey, the transparent process, the live customer support, the on-site assessment, and the written and in-person feedback for improvement," said Rekow.