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GREEN GLOBES
Green Globes™ uses performance benchmark criteria to evaluate the probable energy consumption of a building. Instead of comparing a building design to the performance of a hypothetical structure designed to ASHRAE 90.1 standards, Green Globes compares against data generated by the EPA's Target Finder, which reflects real building performance – and specifically the better-performing buildings in the Target Finder database.
The Green Building Initiative, which owns the rights to Green Globes for New Construction and Green Globes for Continual Improvement of Existing Buildings in the U.S., is in the end stages of work with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to establish Green Globes for New Construction as the first ANSI standard for commercial green building design. This process should be completed in 2009.
To receive a final rating of one, two, three or four globes, the data submitted online must be assessed by a GBI-approved and Green Globes-trained licensed engineer or architect with significant experience in building sciences and sustainability. Using the project's working drawings, building specifications, waste disposal plans, evidence of energy and life cycle modeling and other support materials, the assessor reviews the submission and confirms that the percentage of points achieved – which the system has determined on the basis of the answers to the Construction Documents questionnaire – is supported by fact.
Third-party assessment is optional but required for external recognition as a Green Globes certified building. Once an assessment is verified by a third party (including a site inspection), properties achieving a score of 35 percent or more receive a Green Globes rating based on the percentage of total points (up to 1,000) achieved. As many as 10 points may be awarded for 1-100 percent roof coverage with either vegetation or highly reflective materials or both. To qualify, materials must have a solar reflectance of at least 0.65 and a thermal emittance of at least 0.90, or a solar reflectance index of 78.
www.thegbi.org/commercial
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