The Interagency Sustainability Working Group (ISWG) developed the Federal Leadership in High Performance and Sustainable Buildings Memorandum of Understanding in 2006, which includes the 5 Guiding Principles, intended to help agencies establish common strategies for planning, acquiring, siting, designing, building, operating, and maintaining High Performance and Sustainable Buildings. In 2008 the ISWG published the High Performance and Sustainable Buildings Guidance document which established a separate set of guiding principles for existing buildings.

Executive Order 13514 (Oct 2009) and Executive Order 13423 (Jan 2007) set sustainability goals for federal agencies and focus on making improvements in their environmental, energy and economic performance. Both require federal agencies to ensure that 15 percent of the existing federal capital asset building inventory of the agency as of the end of fiscal year 2015 incorporates the sustainable practices contained within the Guiding Principles. The High Performance and Sustainable Buildings Guidance document outlines the specific goals to be met for New Construction and Existing Buildings.

The Guiding Principles focus on the following five topic areas:

1. Employ integrated design principles (new construction) / Employ integrated assessment, operation, and management principles (existing buildings)
2. Optimize energy performance
3. Protect and conserve water
4. Enhance indoor environmental quality
5. Reduce environmental impact of materials

The Guiding Principles Compliance Assessment Program is a third-party point-based assessment system, which assigns a rating to each assessed building for compliance to the Guiding Principles. After completion of a self-evaluation survey, GBI assigns a third-party assessor to perform an on-site assessment of the building’s features and a detailed document review to verify compliance to the Guiding Principles. Certification is measured by achievement levels based upon the percentage of points scored against a 100-point scale.

GBI created the Guiding Principles Compliance Assessment Program to address the need of Federal Agencies to measure and certify compliance with the Guiding Principles contained within the High Performance and Sustainable Buildings Guidance. Previously, the only tool available was EPA's ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager, which provides a Federal High Performance Sustainable Buildings Checklist to "assist federal agencies with assessing their existing building stock against the Guiding Principles" with a simple self-evaluation. The Guiding Principles Compliance Assessment Program establishes the next level of credibility by delivering uniform scoring and a third-party on-site assessment, establishing a way to interpret, evaluate, and assess for compliance in a repeatable and consistent manner.

In general, a complete Guiding Principles Compliance certification takes about three months from start to finish. Expedited services are available for an additional fee and may accelerate the delivery time to between six and eight weeks.

An on-site assessment provides credibility to the compliance assessment and certification. It provides third-party verification of the building, site, and documentation that yields an accurate evaluation of the current status of compliance for that building.

After reviewing both the Federal Leadership in High Performance and Sustainable Buildings Memorandum of Understanding (2006) and the High Performance and Sustainable Buildings Guidance (2008), the GBI Technical Committee took the criteria from these documents and identified corresponding documentation which verify compliance. The committee used best practices from the Green Globes tools to develop a scoring methodology for assigning points to each document, and created levels of compliance based upon the percentage of points achieved. The GBI Technical committee consists of independent sustainability experts.

GBI will provide a Guiding Principles compliance score for each assessed building. A compliance score of 40% is required to achieve the minimum level of certification under the Guiding Principles Compliance Assessment process. However, it is the responsibility of the Federal Government to determine if the building is compliant.

Prior to the public release of the Guiding Principles Compliance Assessment Program, the GBI vetted it with a Federal Agency through the assessment of more than 180 buildings.

Executive Order 13514 and Executive Order 13423 set sustainability goals for federal agencies and provided a focus on making improvements in their environmental, energy, and economic performance. Both require federal agencies to ensure that 15 percent of the existing federal capital asset building inventory of the agency as of the end of fiscal year 2015 incorporates the sustainable practices in the "Guiding Principles." The Guiding Principles Compliance Assessment and certification by GBI provides a uniform Guiding Principles compliance score with a corresponding rating level for each assessed building and allows agencies to track their progress toward meeting the requirements set forth in those Executive Orders.

A Continual Improvement of Existing Buildings (CIEB) building certification is a third-party verification of the sustainable management and performance of a building based upon current policies, procedures, and maintenance practices as well as recent operational data for the building being assessed. The Guiding Principles Compliance Assessment Program is third-party confirmation of compliance to the Guiding Principles based upon verification of documentation and actions that relate to the building being assessed.

The Green Globes CIEB assessment and certification aids commercial building owners and property managers in the evaluation, documentation, and improvement of the environmental performance of commercial buildings. It identifies the successes and opportunities for improvement in sustainability areas. The Guiding Principles Compliance Assessment Program aids Federal Agencies in measuring compliance to the Guiding Principles.

EPA's ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager provides a Federal High Performance Sustainable Buildings Checklist to "assist federal agencies with assessing their existing building stock against the Guiding Principles" with a simple self-evaluation. The Green Building Initiative's Methodology establishes the next level of credibility by delivering uniform compliance scoring, which provides a way to interpret, evaluate, assess, and potentially certify compliance to the Guiding Principles in a repeatable and consistent manner.

Not at the current time. Currently, the Guiding Principles Compliance Assessment Program is only available for existing buildings.

To obtain the most accurate evaluation, the GBI recommends the availability of12 consecutive months of recent operational data. Buildings undergoing a Guiding Principles Compliance Assessment with less than 12 months of data may be ineligible for certain points and therefore receive a lower rating.

Buildings that achieve at least 40% of the 100 points possible in the rating system are eligible for Guiding Principles Compliance certification by the GBI. GBI offers four levels of certification, 2GP, 3GP, 4GP, and 5GP. GBI also offers 2 building designations: "Sustainable" for buildings with a score of 80-100% and "Assessed" for buildings with a score of 0-79%.

Guiding Principles Compliance assessments are performed by certified Green Globes Assessors (GGAs). The GGA credential is reserved for experienced industry professionals who meet threshold requirements, complete mandatory in-depth training (related to best practices in green building and management, the Green Globes assessment protocol and application of the tool, third-party assessment, and the rating/certification process), and pass a rigorous exam. To protect the objectivity and integrity of the program, assessors must sign a business agreement with GBI and adhere to conflict of interest guidelines and disclosure requirements.

No. Green Globes Assessors may only conduct third-party assessments as assigned by GBI, which selects the appropriate GGA based on factors such as geographic proximity, qualifications, expertise with the specific building type, and fair distribution of assignments. GGPs may not perform Guiding Principles Compliance Assessments as they lack the required training and certification.

Due to the nature of the Guiding Principles certification, a specific expiration date for the certification is not applicable. A Third-Party Guiding Principles Compliance Certification is recognition of conformance to the Guiding Principles for Federal Leadership in High Performance and Sustainable Buildings. The Guiding Principles certification is a record of the compliance achievement at a specific point in time based upon the documentation available at the time of assessment.