Message from the Executive Director

The rise of climate change as an issue that must be addressed with urgency—and the building sector’s recognition of its significant contribution to the problem—has triggered an encouraging level of cooperation among governments and organizations promoting various aspects of sustainable design and construction.

Groups associated with Architecture 2030, for example, such as the American Institute of Architects and the US Conference of Mayors, have committed to reducing the consumption of fossil fuels used to construct and operate new and renovated buildings by 2010, and to achieving carbon neutrality by 2030.

These groups, like many others, are determined to be part of the climate change solution—and it is in this same spirit that the GBI is making its new LCA tool available, free of charge, to anyone who wants to use it.

LCA’s value as a “climate change calculator” is just one of its benefits. But its use has been inhibited by a process that is too complex and time consuming for many designers. The GBI’s new tool was created to make LCA more accessible—in order to encourage its use and facilitate informed, environmentally-sensitive choices.

It is our hope that governments and green building organizations will leverage the tool and the expertise that went into its development by incorporating it into their own rating systems, environmental programs and policies—and that, as a result, it will become standard practice to evaluate designs using LCA.

Sincerely,

Ward Hubbell
Executive Director
The Green Building Initiative