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Green Globes is a building certification system that evaluates the environmental sustainability, health & wellness, and resilience of all types of commercial real estate
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Sustainable, healthy, and resilient buildings for all.
Green Building Initiative (GBI) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose mission is: “To improve the built environment’s impact on climate and society.”
Founded in 2004, We’re Celebrating 20 years
of better buildings
What We Do
We deliver education, credentialing, standards, assessments, and certifications developed by an inclusive and collaborative global network. GBI makes aspirational goals achievable through user-friendly tools built upon comprehensive standards and supported by dedicated staff and expert assessors. As a nonprofit community, we are educators and coaches first, supporting performance improvement of all buildings.
How We Do It
GBI promotes the use of our standards, assessments, and tools that act as roadmaps, helping teams make impactful decisions that support our vision. Our initiatives are designed to meet the evolving needs of organizations seeking meaningful, measurable performance improvements throughout their buildings and sustainability strategies.
Green Globes® is our science-based, whole building certification that evaluates the sustainability, health & wellness, and resilience of all commercial real estate.
GBI’s Journey to Net Zero™ helps cut carbon and energy use in buildings by giving owners tools to evaluate performance, track progress, and make smart changes.
As an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Accredited Standards Developer, GBI’s programs are grounded in rigorous, consensus-based standards.
These programs are recognized by numerous third parties, including U.S. and Canadian federal, state, provincial, and local governments, plus B Corp, C-PACE, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and GRESB.
Third Parties Recognizing
GBI’s Programs
GBI’s Objectives
1. Increase energy diversity, grid resilience, and energy efficiency of buildings.
GBI promotes understanding around the diversity of energy options that are available for buildings while incentivizing owners and teams to use efficiencies and innovations that reduce demand and emissions.
2. Improve efficient and safe water management in buildings.
From plumbing solutions and irrigation to flushing systems and guarding against water-borne diseases, GBI educates and incentivizes implementation of best practices. Our standards encourage critical thinking on risk mitigation related to excessive water from severe weather.
3. Optimize occupant health and well-being in buildings.
GBI incentivizes strategic planning for practices that support occupant comfort, health, and safety, such as ventilation, filtration, material selection, moisture control, cleaning practices, temperature control, lighting, nature integration, and movement opportunities, among others.
4. Promote circularity in buildings.
GBI encourages consideration of the whole lifecycle of a building, including modularity, product lifespan, repair, recovery, remanufacturing potential, and upgradability in decisions around design, construction, and operations of buildings. Encouraging recovery and reuse, smart demolition, planned deconstruction, and other measures reduces the strain on landfills.
5. Support resilience of buildings.
An occupant- and community-focused, smart, safe, and sustainable global built environment requires focus on climate resilience, redundancy, flexibility, survivability, and security. GBI encourages decision makers to consider changing climates, life cycle assessments, cybersecurity, and application of strategic risk management frameworks in support of sustainable, healthy, and resilient buildings.
More From GBI
Professional Credentials
Take the next step in your career or help mentor the next generation of sustainability leaders.
Educational Courses
Become an expert with in-depth training in GBI’s standards and practices.
Meet Our Team
Board of Directors
Our board of industry leaders provide’s direction for the Green Building Initiative and its staff, but these board members have no influence over the certifications themselves as the certifications are derived from the consensus-based ANSI process.
GBI Staff
GBI is backed by a dedicated, professional staff that is committed to helping create sustainable, healthy, and resilient buildings for all.
GBI Assessors
Third-party Green Globes Assessors (GGA) interface with project teams and building owners in real-time to create powerful partnerships. They are skilled in green building design, operational best practices, engineering, construction and facility operations. Assessors review documentation, your online questionnaire, answer questions, and conduct onsite building assessments.
Community Culture
Integrity
We value transparency and ethical conduct above all else.
Support
We provide renowned service to each client and community member
Openness
We take purposeful action to welcome all into our community and increase understanding through respectful, open dialogues
Education
We believe that delivering an accessible educational framework is our conduit to creating positive change
Collaboration
We lead with teamwork and collaboration to achieve our shared vision
Choice
We support government engagement that results in fair market competition, cost-effective programs, and innovation
Responsibility
We are passionate about creating sustainable communities for all through increased access to quality buildings.
Adaptability
We believe in investing in our tools, staff and community so that our programs and organization are as dynamic as the markets they serve.
GBI is committed to openness, transparency, and due process. The documents and links below support the interests of our members, stakeholders, and the public.
GBI Board Policies
GBI Bylaws
Start the Journey to Net Zero™
GBI’s Journey to Net Zero™ certification decarbonizes the built environment by empowering all commercial real estate owners to evaluate performance and implement impactful change.
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Certify Compliance for Federal Buildings
GBI’s GPC program provides a simple-to-use survey, third-party assessments that include detailed reports, verification of compliance, and supplemental tools to enhance & clarify the Guiding Principles Compliance process.
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