May 18, 2007

Building Standards Test

Green Globes tool provides environmental ratings

DAN O’REILLY

CORRESPONDENT

While it doesn’t quite enjoy the instant brand recognition LEED commands, a green building environmental rating system created in Canada is increasingly being used in this country, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Green Globes is an on-line auditing tool that lets designers, property owners and managers assess and rate existing buildings against best practices and standards and integrate principles of green architecture at every stage of project delivery for retrofits and new building design. The program produces a detailed report based on a confidential questionnaire.

“It’s probably the best kept secret in Canada, even though it was developed in Canada and right here in Toronto,” says Jiri Skopek, director, ECD Energy and Environment Canada Ltd. An environment building consultant, ECD created Green Globes. Its creation was the culmination of several years of research by a wide range of prominent international organizations and experts, says Skopek.

Jiri Skopek

The genesis of the system was the Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), which was brought to Canada in 1996 by his firm.

In 1999, ECD Energy and Environment worked with TerraChoice, the agency that administers the Government of Canada’s Environmental Choice program, to develop a more streamlined, question-based tool, which was introduced as the BREEAM Green Leaf eco-rating program, says Skopek.

Since then it has gone through a number of evolutions including the development of BREEAM Green Leaf for the Design of New Buildings for the Department of National Defense and Public Works and Government Services Canada, says Skopek.

In 2002, Green Globes for Existing Buildings was introduced online in the United Kingdom as the Global Environmental Method (GEM). In 2004 the Building Owners and Manufacturers Association of Canada (BOMA) adopted Green Globes for Existing Buildings.

The same year the Green Building Initiative (GBI) acquired the rights to distribute Green Globes in the United States.

At this point Green Globes doesn’t have an affiliation representing the new commercial building industry in Canada and that lack has hindered its promotion, concedes Skopek.

“It’s a situation we’re hoping to improve.”

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