Green Building Initiative Invites Public Feedback

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Consensus Body of the Green Building Initiative (GBI), headquartered in Portland, recently called for public comments on a revision to its American National Standards Institute, ANSI/GBI 01-2010: Green Building Assessment Protocol for Commercial Buildings. GBI — a non-profit organization founded in 2004 to accelerate the adoption of green building practices — began revising the standard in 2014. These revisions included input and feedback from nearly 100 subject-matter experts in the green building community through more than 50 public meetings and calls, according to a statement by the organization.

"We’d like to thank the many volunteers that have contributed time and expertise to date," said Wayne Trusty, chair of the GBI Consensus Body, in a statement. "The next stage of public comment review is critical to help ensure the standard will help owners and design teams set appropriate goals and meet the expectations that we collectively have for the sustainable attributes and ultimate performance of their buildings."

This is one of at least two public comment periods under ANSI’s periodic maintenance requirements according to GBI’s published Schedule for Maintenance. The organization plans to maintain the standard under continuous maintenance to allow for annual or biannual updates, according to a statement.

"The public comment periods help GBI advance its mission to increase adoption of green building practices,” explained GBI’s Executive Director Vicki Worden in a statement. “Discussion and debate in the green building community improves the standard and helps the community as a whole consider new avenues for achieving and assessing high performance and green building."

The ANSI GBI 01-2010 Standard forms the basis for the current version of Green Globes for New Construction (Green Globes NC), which was released in 2013 and is delivered through an interactive online platform that breaks down the criteria into questionnaires and allows users to access reference materials and ToolTips through hyperlinks, according to a GBI statement. The current Green Globes NC was also updated to include criteria from the federal government’s guiding principles requirements. Additional updates were made in response to customer feedback and market changes.

"Moving to a continuous maintenance process, where proposals for change can be considered by the Consensus Body on an annual or biannual basis will help ensure both the standard and the online Green Globes system can be updated simultaneously," said Dr. Charles Kibert, vice chair of the Consensus Body and a member of GBI’s Board of Directors, in a statement. "In this way, Green Globes will be able to respond to customer feedback, promote innovation and reflect technological advancements while ensuring that the rating system’s compliance criteria are strictly maintained by GBI’s Consensus Body.”

The revised standard, designated BSR/GBI 01-201X, and a public comment form are now available on the GBI website at www.thegbi.org/ansi. The official public comment period began on Sept. 11 and will run through Oct. 26.