A standard for green building (Trends/Strategies)

The Green Building Initiative, a non-profit group dedicated to bringing green building practices into the mainstream, has been recently accredited by the American National Standards Institute as a national standards developer.

The Green Building Initiative, a non-profit group dedicated to bringing green building practices into the mainstream, has been recently accredited by the American National Standards Institute as a national standards developer. The Green Building Initiative (GBI) is the "first green building organization permitted to develop, maintain, and withdraw American national standards," according to GBI.

As the next step in the accreditation process, GBI has applied to have Green Globes, a web based environmental design and ratings system for commercial buildings widely used in Canada, as an American National Standard.

Advantages of the Green Globe system, according to a GBI spokesperson are reports "written in plain language," designed to facilitate client/builder interaction, and the incorporation of life cycle analysis in the decision making process.