Sustainable and high-performance building standards must keep pace with emerging technologies, shifting regulations, and expectations for performance, health, and resilience. GBI is committed to leading industry evolution as an American National Standards Institute (ANSI)-accredited Standards Developing Organization (SDO), developing science- and consensus-based standards that deliver long-term value.
I had the opportunity to sit down with Emily Marx, GBI’s Associate Director of Standards & Program Support, and Katy Johnson, GBI’s Senior Manager, Client Services & Engagement ahead of the release of the Green Globes for Existing Buildings 2025. We discussed GBI’s commitment to the development and delivery of ANSI standards and how our inclusive and transparent process ensures delivery of rigorous, yet accessible standards to assess and certify all types of commercial real estate.
Can you explain GBI’s role as an ANSI-accredited standards developer and what that means for the development of the Green Globes protocols?
GBI has been an ANSI Standards Developing Organization (SDO) since 2005. GBI follows the rigorous, collaborative ANSI standards-creation process for our green building standards. Green Globes certification programs are the implementation of these ANSI approved standards. The standards are turned into question sets with point allocations that are used to evaluate criteria compliance.
Our standards for New Construction and Existing Buildings are under continuous maintenance, which means we publish updated versions every two to three years. Continuous maintenance ensures GBI’s standards and assessment programs reflect the latest industry best practices as well as respond to real-time feedback from current users and Assessors.
Each Green Globes program is informed by these standards, and we’re excited to use our role as an SDO to create more standards in the coming years.
How does this accreditation influence the credibility and transparency of the process?
As an ANSI SDO, GBI proudly demonstrates its unwavering commitment to fairness, transparency, and integrity. The public nature of the standards development process offers a front row seat to what goes into creating a standard. The rigorous requirements for openness, balance, consensus, and due process ensure that every GBI standard is developed through a trusted, credible, and inclusive process. GBI’s procedures allow anyone to track exactly how and why we made any given changes, and it encourages GBI’s wider community to be active participants in the consensus process, resulting in broad input from people who care deeply about improving sustainability in the built environment.
What are some of the key updates or new features being considered in the Green Globes for Existing Buildings 2025 revision?
As with each of GBI’s program updates, Green Globes EB 2025 incorporates the latest technological advances and expands resources and references. Users will find updated sections on transportation, building envelope, LED lighting, water management, and acoustics to better support high-performance existing buildings. Some of the specific changes to Green Globes EB 2025 include the addition of ModeScore and ActiveScore, updates to the Net Zero Energy Performance Path, and refined criteria on third-party verified ingredient transparency reporting (i.e. EPDs, HPDs).
What trends or market demands are driving these changes?
Rising public expectations for carbon neutrality, clean water, and healthy buildings are reshaping the industry and setting new standards for sustainability and wellness. Regulations and mandates at the city, state, and federal level, company commitments to net zero, and tenant and investor pressure for low or zero operational emissions is driving demand for decarbonization. Additionally, there is a shift toward full product lifecycle evaluation, healthier materials, and supply chain accountability caused by an increased awareness of the health risks from toxic materials, such as VOCs and formaldehyde. There is also a greater emphasis on infrastructure for biking, walking, and public transit to reduce car dependency and promote healthier choices.
What does the ANSI consensus process look like in practice, and how does GBI ensure balanced stakeholder engagement throughout?
GBI recruits Consensus Body volunteers that represent a variety of industries and expertise, which helps ensure the standards are well-rounded and comprehensive. All of our members are professionals working in the built environment and are considered experts in their field. As part of GBI’s Consensus Procedures, maintaining balance among Consensus Body members that are considered General Interest, Producers, and Users is mandatory for all final decisions. This balance is a core ANSI requirement, and GBI is proud that all its standards have upheld this principle throughout their development.
Once public and internal feedback is collected, volunteers play a vital role in shaping the standard by reviewing proposed changes and providing expert guidance on revisions to criteria, points, and wording related to the Environmental Assessment Areas. Every meeting follows Robert’s Rules of Order to ensure open, fair, and productive dialogue. All proposed updates—whether approved, modified, or rejected—are presented and voted on by our volunteers. This collaborative process means the standard is truly created by the passionate professionals serving on GBI’s Consensus Body and Subcommittees.
Typically, the Consensus Body and Subcommittees hold 1 to 3 virtual meetings per year throughout the two-year cycle. All Consensus Body meetings are open to the public, and all meeting agendas, minutes, and member rosters are published on our website.
How does GBI gather and incorporate feedback from the broader green building community into standards development?
Open dialogue is essential to developing strong standards, and we foster robust discussion and debate during meetings.
Public comment opportunities are widely shared via the publication ANSI Standards Action and directly with GBI’s standards stakeholder community. Each commenter is provided with a response indicating if and how their public comment has been integrated into the draft standard.
Additionally, we collect informal feedback from the GBI community as they work with our Client Services, Engagement, and Program Development teams. This allows our programs to maintain their signature usability while maintaining rigorous standards.
Can you describe the composition and role of the Green Globes Consensus Body in shaping the 2025 Existing Buildings standard?
The Existing Buildings Consensus Body and its Subcommittees are composed of members with diverse expertise from trade organizations, architecture and environmental consulting firms, universities, and other key sectors—ensuring a well-rounded and informed standards development process.
In addition to the Consensus Body reviewing all comments and suggested changes, Subcommittees for each Assessment Area review and discuss each comment and suggestion in detail before determining a recommendation for action to be taken by the Consensus Body. If necessary, Task Groups are created where additional experts knowledgeable about the topic give guidance to the Subcommittee on the revision to the draft standard that should take place. Their guidance is then reviewed by the Subcommittee and Consensus Body to ensure that each potential revision to the draft standard is carefully and thoughtfully vetted.
What kind of expertise or perspectives are represented?
GBI welcomes volunteers with expertise across all areas covered by the standard, including the Six Environmental Assessment Areas: Responsible Business Management, Site, Energy, Water, Materials, and Indoor Environmental Quality.
Volunteers provide valuable guidance in their fields while also contributing to broader discussions across the standard. Some of the volunteers that helped shape Green Globes for Existing Buildings 2025 represent IAPMO, PPFA – PPEF, Wavefront Planning and Design Incorporated, and Kiewit, and many more represent the topics and interests included in the Existing Buildings 2025 standard.
How does the standards process address rapidly evolving issues like climate resilience, embodied carbon, and equity in the built environment?
Both of GBI’s standards are maintained under ANSI-approved Continuous Maintenance procedures with a two-year revision and publication cycle. The constant collection of feedback ensures that GBI can rapidly respond to emerging industry trends and position our programs as the go-to solutions for evolving sustainability and wellness demands.
The comprehensiveness of the standard, along with the flexibility of the Green Globes criteria, allows project teams to address these issues in ways that make the most sense for their project. For example, a team can address resilience through hazard assessments and building occupant environmental training, in the efficiency and design of the building envelope, or reviewing the ventilation and emergency management systems.
What are the benefits for building owners and managers of using a standard that is developed through a consensus-based, ANSI-accredited process?
ANSI/GBI 02-2025 reflects the expertise and insights of building owners, managers, assessors, architects, and industry leaders actively engaged in GBI’s Consensus Body and Subcommittees. The trends they encounter daily are woven into the Existing Buildings Standard to keep it practical and forward-looking.
A project or portfolio certified using GBI’s Existing Building Program (the implementation of the approved standard) demonstrates the project team’s commitment to occupant safety, efficient water and energy management, whole-building life-cycle thinking, and future investment in meaningful capital improvements related to safety and resilience.
Looking ahead, how does GBI see Green Globes evolving to remain responsive to industry needs and environmental priorities beyond 2025?
With the launch of ANSI/GBI 02-2025 for certifying existing buildings and the beginning of the next phase of the Continuous Maintenance process, GBI ensures that our standards are constantly evolving to meet industry needs and encourage higher performance. We look forward to putting additional programs through the ANSI process in the coming years.
Additionally, we will continue to develop and integrate easy-to-use tools in our programs to help support Green Globes users, such as GBI’s Energy Baseline Calculator and GBI’s Materials & VOC Emissions Tracker.
As buildings face mounting pressure to achieve higher levels of performance, resilience, and accountability, the need for trusted, adaptable standards has never been greater. GBI’s ANSI-accredited process ensures that every update to the Green Globes protocols is shaped by diverse expertise, grounded in consensus, and aligned with the industry’s most pressing challenges—from net zero goals to material transparency and occupant wellness. With the release of Green Globes for Existing Buildings 2025 and a continuous improvement model in place, GBI is proud to support building professionals with the tools, standards, and community needed to drive lasting impact in the built environment.
Office Hours
Join GBI’s Technical and Client Services teams for a brief overview of key updates and improvements to the 2025 program, followed by open office hours for your questions.
Sep 30 2025 – 2 – 3 PM EST
