8/22/2011

Green Certifications are blooming like the flowers!  We will be taking the next couple of weeks to mention the green certifications, especially for products, that we find the most useful and accurate.  The third is Green Globes Certification.

"Green Globes is North America’s first web-enabled, fully interactive green building assessment tool that allows building professionals and owners to augment their design, in the case of new construction, or incorporate sustainability operations, in the case of existing buildings, and rate the building’s proposed or actual sustainability performance. The system features allow building owners and managers to have first-hand knowledge at any given time how their building is scoring. If a building achieves at least 35% of the total number of 1,000 points, it qualifies for certification. Upon ordering the certification, a third-party Assessor appointed by the GBI begins to work with the owner and team during the assessment period which culminates in an on-site audit of the building."

Green Globes emphasis on auditing the actual performance of the building, lower documentation and certification costs and flexibility with different building types make it a good alternative to LEED depending on budget, building type or size and team interest in audited performance.