The GSA’s decision to recommend the Green Globes building standard as an alternative to LEED, for federal buildings outside the GSA portfolio, represents another milestone for the upstart certification.
An agency spokesman told Environmental Leader that when the GSA started recommending green building certifications in 2006, there wasn’t a lot of choice in the marketplace. That was, after all, the year that the Canadian-based Green Globes standard first launched in the US.
Since then, it’s been gunning for its US-based rival. The GSA decision represents another stepping stone for Green Globes’ US administrator, the Green Building Initiative. In June, GBI announced that Green Globes is now aligned with an ANSI standard, ANSI/GBI 01-2010: Green Building Assessment Protocol for Commercial Buildings.
Green Globes’ battle for US buildings is far from over. Now that the GSA has issued its recommendation, the departments of energy and defense are expected to make their own decisions about green building certifications.
Tamar Wilner is Senior Editor at Environmental Leader PRO.
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