Green Building Standards

Committed to using a true consensus process for Green Globes® certification program development, the Green Building Initiative (GBI) became an approved American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Standards Developing Organization (SDO) in 2005. The resulting program allows for peer review and public comment, making GBI the first green building organization to publish an ANSI-approved American National Standard for commercial green building certification. The Green Globes for New Construction standard was updated and released in 2021 as ANSI/GBI 01-2021.

ANSI is a U.S.-based organization that has served as administrator and coordinator of the U.S. private sector voluntary standardization system for more than 100 years. ANSI accreditation signifies that the procedures used by the GBI meet the Institute’s requirements for openness, balance, consensus and due process.

The initial 2005 standards development process resulted in the ANSI/GBI 01-2010: Green Building Assessment Protocol for Commercial Buildings. The 2010 standard was updated and released in 2019 and again in 2021 as ANSI/GBI 01-2021: Green Globes Assessment Protocol for Design, New Construction, and Major Renovations, and is more commonly called Green Globes for New Construction (NC) 2021.

GBI will follow its ANSI-approved continuous maintenance procedures to make updates or improvements to ANSI/GBI 01-2021 as users implement and submit proposals for change. GBI is also currently developing a second standard, BSR/GBI 02-202x, Green Globes Assessment Protocol for Existing Buildings, which is projected to be published in 2023.

Green Building Standards Documents