Green Building Rating Systems Comparison – Green Globes

Starting three weeks ago, I’ve been profiling three of the most well-known green building rating systems that can be used in school construction, both new and renovations. Green Globes is a green building rating system developed by the Green Building Institute. A rating system is available for new and existing buildings, and commercial and residential, Green Globes utilizes a scoring system of 1,000 points.

Green Globes relies on a web-based, interactive scoring system that GBI says allows users to know how many points their building will obtain throughout the certification process. The threshold for certification is reached when 35% of the 1,000 points needed are obtained; and at that point an assessor is assigned and the certification will continue. Unlike LEED and CHPS, there are no prerequisites other than the 35%.

At the culmination of scoring, a building audit is done by an assessor to confirm green strategies.

Green Globes buildings are rated on a scale of one to four, with one being the lowest level of certification and four the highest level of certification. To obtain a Green Globe rating, the project must be third-party verified.

Buildings are rated in seven areas, with the maximum number of points possible as follows:

1. Project Management, worth a maximum of 50 points
2. Site, 115 points
3. Energy, 380 points
4. Water, 100 points
5. Resources,100 points
6. Emissions, Effluents, and other Impacts, 75 points
7. Indoor Environment, 200 points

The project questionnaire is simple, with many yes/no questions, with minimal documentation needed.

One interesting aspect of Green Globes is you can sign up for a free thirty-day trial period.

Similar to the other two rating systems profiled, LEED and CHPS, the website is a good resource with a lot of other information.

www.greenglobes.com

Green Building Rating Systems and Schools – LEED for Schools

Of the three green school rating systems under discussion, more schools have been built using the LEED rating system than either CHPS or Green Globes. Let’s look this week at LEED for Schools. (LEED has several different categories – this discussion is specific to LEED for Schools only.) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), as of 2009, uses 100 points. Another 10 points are able to be earned by the use of Innovation in Design and Regional Priority strategies. The 100 points are earned in five areas:

1. Sustainable Sites (SS)
2. Water Efficiency (WE)
3. Energy and Atmosphere (EA)
4. Materials and Resources (MR)
5. Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ)
And the two optional strategies:
1. Innovation in Design (ID)
2. Regional Priority (RP)

Each of the five mandatory strategies (SS, WE, EA, MR, and IEQ) are further broken down into prerequisites – mandatory requirements, and credits. Each LEED building must meet all the prerequisites in order to obtain LEED certification at any level. Once prerequisites are met the project uses credits as a “shopping list” based on the project’s environmental and performance goals for certification.

LEED certifications are awarded on the following basis:
LEED Platinum 80 points and above
LEED Gold 60-79 points
LEED Silver 50-59 points
LEED Certified 40-49 points

The prerequisites (required strategies) for Sustainable Sites are
1. Construction Activity Pollution Prevention and
2. Environmental Site Assessment
A total of 17 credits are available for Sustainable Sites. Each credit is worth from one to four points.

The prerequisite for Water Efficiency is
1. Water Use Reduction
Four credits are available for Water Efficiency, with each credit worth from one to four points.

The prerequisites for Energy and Atmosphere are
1. Fundamental Commissioning of Building Energy Systems
2. Minimum Energy Performance
3. Fundamental Refrigeration Managerment
Eight credits can be earned for Energy and Atmosphere. Each credit is worth from one to nineteen points.

The prerequisite for Materials and Resources is
1. Storage and Collection of Recyclables
Ten credits can be earned for Materials and Resources, with each credit worth from one to two points.

The prerequisites for Indoor Environmental Quality are
1. Minimum Indoor Air Quality Performance
2. Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) Control
3. Minimum Acoustical Performance
A total of twenty two credits can be earned for Indoor Environmental Quality, with each credit worth from one to three points.

Optional credits:
Innovation in Design offers one to four points for Schools, with one point awarded for each Innovation achieved, or provide Exemplary Performance in an existing prerequisite or credit.

Regional Priority credits are new to LEED as of 2009. Regional Priority’s six credits are based on specific environmental zones. “A project that earns a Regional Priority credit automatically earns one point in addition to any points awarded for that credit. Up to four extra points can be earned in this way”. For more information on Regional Priority credits go to www.usgbc.org

Green Building Rating Systems and Schools, Part 1

Twenty percent of the population of the U.S. spends their day in a school. Many schools are not healthy environments. Those charged with providing a healthy learning climate for students can and should make changes to foster student health. In the search for providing a better learning experience for students what tools do administrators need to ensure the learning environment is the best possible for students and staff? The case can also be made that, as public schools are funded by taxpayers, school administrators should be good stewards of public monies by building in a way that reduces the environmental impact of schools. This, in turn, saves taxpayer money when the use of water and utilities are reduced.

Sustainable or green building rating systems have been developed in order to assist schools to determine “what exactly is green?”, “how green?”, and “what exactly is it I need to do to provide a healthy environment?”

Three rating systems that are used most frequently to help in providing healthy schools are LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), CHPS (Collaborative for High Performance Schools) and Green Globes.

LEED was originally developed in 2000 by the US Green Building Council. It is used in the United States and other countries, with a version specifically for schools. LEED for Schools was updated in 2009 to include both new and existing school projects.
CHPS was founded in 1999. There have been 86 CHPS schools completed nation-wide. CHPS has developed state-specific school building performance criteria for twelve states, with more underway.

Green Globes rating system was developed in 2000 under the name Green Globes for Existing Buildings. It was updated in 2002 and the rating system is applicable to all types of commercial construction, including schools.

Each of these rating systems looks at building design and construction from a holistic standpoint. Each is voluntary and third-party verified.

Next week we'll look at the specifics of rating systems.

What LEED is http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=1988
CHPS Fact Sheet http://www.chps.net/dev/Drupal/node/164
Green Globes http://www.greenglobes.com/about.asp