December 22, 2009 | GBI Insight Home

Letter from the President

The approach of a new year has always been a reason to take stock. This year, however, the tremendous pressures that many organizations continue to face economically, coupled with the intrinsic hope of a new decade, make the inevitable review especially significant.

In the commercial building market, the efficiencies at the core of green building meant that the momentum we’ve been seeing over the past several years continued, albeit more slowly.

At GBI, there has been growing interest in the Green Globes® environmental assessment and rating system, which we attribute largely to its value. People want to design and build efficient buildings and they want to operate them in a way that maximizes their performance and operational savings. Green Globes gives building owners and designers a cost-effective way to make sure that new buildings are designed to achieve their potential and for facility managers to assess their existing buildings on an ongoing basis.

Clearly, the message of effectiveness and affordability has resonance, because GBI is now in the very fortunate position of needing to expand the network of individuals qualified to support the Green Globes process, which we are doing through our new Personnel Certifications Programs. Likewise, we have continued the work necessary to ensure that Green Globes remains relevant and reflects the latest in green building science and thinking—such as an increased focus on life cycle assessment (LCA). The ANSI process is nearly complete, and GBI expects to introduce Green Globes as the first American National Standard for commercial buildings in March 2010.

In the legislative arena, governments seemed wary of anything that would increase costs to an already reeling construction industry, but green building nonetheless remained a priority as elected officials looked for ways to mandate or incentivize environmentally sound practices. As of November when Rhode Island passed House Bill 5355, which stipulates green building certification for public buildings, there are 20 states that recognize Green Globes in regulation, legislation or executive order.

Unfortunately, the momentum we’ve seen in commercial green building during 2009 did not extend to the residential market. The housing crisis made it extremely difficult to afford the extra cost of ‘green’ features, even where they’d pay for themselves in efficiencies. At the same time, the National Association of Home Builders’ green building program, NAHBGreen, is attracting a growing number of local HBAs. And the GBI’s virtual learning management system, which is accessible via HBA websites, provided online green building education to more than 2,000 builders since the start of this year.

Given the challenges of the past year, it would be easy to exit the first decade of this young century with an overarching impression of gloom and uncertainty. But for those involved in the design, construction and operation of buildings, there are also reasons to be optimistic, and to believe that we are moving steadily toward a more sustainable future.

 

Ward Hubbell
President
Green Building Initiative