SUSTAINABILITY

Summary: The AIA has released a study of three green building rating systems (Green Globes, LEED NC 2.2, and SBTool 07) and assessed their effectiveness in supporting the goals of the AIA sustainability position statement. In late 2007, the initial results were shared with the three groups whose systems were reviewed. After receiving feedback, the study was modified and further refined into the final report. The purpose of this exercise is to offer analysis to both industry and the public as an opportunity to learn how three unique, creative, and evolving green building rating systems resonate in various dimensions with the goals of the AIA position statement on sustainability and its goal to achieve carbon neutrality in buildings by 2030.

Click here for the AIA position statement on green rating systems.

“This study is not a report card or ranking of the various standards,” says AIA Executive Vice President/CEO Christine McEntee. “The intent is to offer design and construction professionals an in-depth review of the three systems with particular emphasis on areas for improvement in relation to more rigorous energy conservation requirements.”

“We reviewed these particular systems because they are the most broadly used in the U.S. market and they take a comprehensive approach to evaluating an entire building,” adds AIA President Marshall Purnell, FAIA. “With new sustainability continuing education requirements in 2009 for AIA membership, the results of this study can help better inform our members and the profession on green rating systems as they relate to our carbon reduction goals.”

Key findings

• Green Building Initiative’s Green Globes: The system offers a broad-based evaluation of projects in the design process and is based on environmental criteria. When used to certify a project, more stringent and specific requirements in the areas of energy reduction and operational performance are needed, as these are the two areas that most influence carbon production.

• U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED NC 2.2 system: This is a good example of a rating system that provides a measurement of environmental achievement. Continued developments in life-cycle assessment, requirements for renewable energy, or carbon reduction targets for certified projects will continue to make this system an effective resource for architects.

• International Initiative for a Sustainable Built Environment’s SBTool 07: SBTool 07 is a toolkit for designing a rating system. If used as a rating system providing certification, SBTool 07 would be stronger if there were an increase in the number of “required” items, versus those that are simply “encouraged,” and required project documentation. Specific requirements in the areas of energy reduction and operational performance would supply any rating system approach that comes out of SBTool 07 with performance-based requirements necessary for reaching carbon reduction goals.

To read the full report, visit the Web site. [Link TK]