courtesy  : whole building design guide

GREEN BUILDING STANDARDS AND
CERTIFICATION SYSTEMS

The push toward sustainable design increased in the 1990s with the creation of Building Research
Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), the first green building rating system in the U.K.
In 2000, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) followed suit and developed and released criteria also aimed
at improving the environmental performance of buildings through its Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design (LEED) rating system for new construction. Since that first release, LEED has continued to grow in
prominence and to include rating systems for existing buildings and entire neighborhoods. Others also responded
to the growing interest and demand for sustainable design including the Green Building Initiative (GBI), which was
created to assist the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) in promoting its Green Building Guidelines for
Residential Structures. Although originally developed for Canada, GBI helped to make Green Globes available for
use in the U.S. in 2005. Additional rating systems have been developed that were influenced by these early
programs but are tailored to their own national priorities and requirements or seek to go beyond the limits of
current policy and building practices to address broader issues of sustainability or evolving concepts such as net
zero energy, and living and restorative building concepts that improve the natural environment, or those that
model nature’s processes.
Green product standards also began to appear in the marketplace in the 1980s and increased in the 1990s.
Initially, many green product standards were developed in response to growing concerns for product toxicity and
its impact on children’s health and indoor environmental quality (IEQ). In the 21st century, when growing concerns
over global warming and resource depletion became more prominent and supported by research, the number and
type of green product standards and certifications grew. The focus also expanded to include a broader range of
environmental issues and the impacts of products during their manufacture, use, and reuse. While there is still no
universal definition of a green product, these products are intended to meet claims that they offer environmental
benefits and adhere to certain standards. (See also Use Greener Materials)
There is now a proliferation of standards, rating, and certification programs in the marketplace to help guide,
demonstrate, and document efforts to deliver sustainable, high-performance buildings. It is estimated that there
are nearly 600 green product certifications in the world with nearly 100 in use in the U.S., and the numbers
continue to grow (Source: BuildingGreen). There are also green building rating programs in use around the world
and they vary in their approach with some outlining prerequisites and optional credits, while others take a
prescriptive approach, and still others suggest performance-based requirements that can be met in different ways
for different products and project types. As a result, it can be challenging and time consuming determining which
standards, certifications, and rating programs are most credible and applicable to a particular project. This page
will provide an introduction to some commonly used terms and an overview of the most widely recognized green
building product standards, and building rating and certification programs currently in use with an emphasis on
how they vary and some of the issues to consider when selecting them.
DESCRIPTION
A. BUILDING STANDARDS
A standard is a set of guidelines and criteria against which a product can be judged. Common standards related
to building practices are created through consensus processes by organizations such as ANSI, ASTM, or
ASHRAE. Supporting the governance of standards and certifications is the International Standards Organization
(ISO), which defines and develops worldwide standards that frequently become law or form the basis of industry
norms. ISO defines a standard as: “a document, established by consensus, approved by a recognized body that
provides for common and repeated use as rules, guidelines, or characteristics for activities or their results.”
Requirements found in standards may either be prescriptive (identifying methods of achievement) or performance
based (stating expectations of end results). Consensus based standards, those developed through a formal,
voluntary consensus process that is exemplified by an open and due process have immediate buy-in, government
support, and international influence. According to the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act
(NTTAA) federal agencies are required by law to adopt existing private-sector voluntary consensus standards
instead of creating proprietary, non-consensus standards. Standards frequently serve as incentives for improved
performance. Many of the green product standards available today are proprietary or regulatory standards that
have been developed outside of the formal ANSI and ISO consensus process. These types of standards may be
more or less stringent than consensus standards and can include some level of transparency and public
comment. However, many of these types of standards are trusted because they are associated with a group that
has strong environmental credentials.
The ANSI/ASHRAE/USGBC/IES Standard 189.1, Standard for the Design of High Performance Green Buildings
except Low-Rise Residential Buildings provides minimum requirements for site, design, construction and
operations in mandatory, code-enforceable language. This standard is comprehensive and includes chapters for
site, water, energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality, and materials. For a detailed description on many other
building codes and standards that address sustainability goals and requirements,