Get to Know The US Green Building Council

USGBC stands for the U.S. Green Building Council, a regulatory body which is dedicated to creating a sustainable, healthy, and prosperous future by its certification program on LEED green buildings, wide array of educational offerings, a huge network of member groups and individuals, the yearly international expo and conference, and the group’s advocacy supporting policies geared towards energy-efficient and cost-efficient green communities and buildings.

This body is currently serving a diverse and wide market. Currently, their very own LEED program is the leading program adhered and subscribed to by various green buildings around the globe. With such a program in place, USGBC is successful in helping families and entities save money, decrease the levels of carbon emissions, and promote a better, greener, and healthier environment.

USGBC Scope and Mission

The US Green Building Council has a wide network that runs across the globe and such network includes the following:

• architects
• building owners
• building system companies
• designers
• end-users
• engineers
• facility managers
• general contractors
• government agencies
• nonprofit organizations affiliated with the LEED green building certification
• product system builders
• real estate developers
• subcontractors

As of this date, USGBC already has approximately 202,000 LEED certificate holders and local leaders network, and around 10,000 organizations as members. Most of the members who join USGB register as individuals at certain localities to contribute to the group’s mission of improving the built environment through advocacy, outreach, and literacy.

LEED Green Building

The LEED green building advocacy is the most notable program specifically for communities, homes, and green buildings operations and maintenance, construction, and design. Simply through lessening the use of energy, LEED-certified buildings and spaces can help taxpayers, businesses, and families save money, while also helping in reducing levels of carbon emitted into the atmosphere, thus, greatly contributing to a healthier and better environment for larger communities, workers, and residents.

The number of commercial projects which participated and supported the LEED certification system is now at 94,000. This number includes construction spaces from 167 territories and countries and 50 states.

Credentialing of LEED professionals is being taken cared of GBCI or the Green Building Certification Inc. The same credentialing process provides an avenue for groups and entities who want to show their credibility, experience, and technical knowledge in the increasing and widening green building market.

Once issued a license by the GBCI, the individual is now called a LEED professional and he now has the credential to be a leader in the green building field. Also, he can now actively participate in the movement centered on green building propagation. As such, he can share his expertise in building operations, building maintenance, operations, construction, and design of neighborhood and buildings that can contribute to a greener and cleaner environment, reduce pollution, use lesser resources, and save energy.

In the study released by the USGBC in 2015, it was revealed that LEED is expected to contribute to the GDP of the country with approximately $29.8 billion.

USGBC Initiatives

• Green Schools Center: This center of the USGBC is ensuring that each and every student is granted with an equal opportunity to be able to enter green schools in their lifetime since USGBC believes that excellent students are produced by excellent schools. The said center also works hand-in-hand with elected communities, elected officials, administrators, students, faculty, teachers, and staff. They all work towards the goal of transforming academes into sustainable spaces for playing, working, learning, and living.
• USGBC advocacy: To improve local and state uptake, along with the acceleration of approval of state policies on energy conservation and the upholding of livable communities and green buildings. Around 14 federal entities, 32 states, and approximately 400 municipalities have already referenced and signified that LEED is the best way to go if societies want to achieve sustainable goals. Currently, USGBC has partnered with the green building movement, government agencies, and the Coalition for Better Buildings.
• USGBC communities: Most of the local chapters of USGBC have allied and merged with the national coalitions. These communities are made up of an integrated alliance of national, regional, and local leaders. Before 2016, there are around 76 chapters USGBC and the same chapters were separated from the 501 organizations. Non-integrated chapters continued to be under USGBC but they have retained their autonomous structures of governance. For these communities, they act by locally driving USGBC’s vision and mission.
• USGBC membership: Being a movement composed of innovators, businesses, professionals, and community leaders who all share the bold vision of creating an equitable, efficient, and healthy communities and buildings for everyone, USGBC have already made a mark and a huge impact within them and have also advanced the coalition for a better and healthier environment. Each of the employees of these member organizations is given access to programs, education, and resources exclusive for members.

GBCI: Leading on Wellness, Energy, and Green Business

• WELL: This stands for WELL Building Standards, a standard developed and popularized by the IWBI or the International WELL Building Institute. WELL is currently administered by the GBCI and is utilized as a system for monitoring, certifying, and measuring built environment features and its correlative impact to the mind, comfort, fitness, light, nourishment, water, human health, human well-being, and the air.
• TRUE: TRUE stands for Total Resource Use and Efficiency. If you receive a certification for Zero Waste, this means that you have helped achieve, pursue, and define zero waste objectives and have also become more environmentally responsible and resource efficient.
• SITES: SITES is the all-inclusive program aimed at developing landscapes that are sustainable and ecological. This program suite offers a comprehensive and systematic rating system which functions to outline and describe landscape values, site performances, and levels of sustainability.
• PEER: PEER stands for Performance Excellence in Energy Renewal. It is a data-driven, consumer-centered, and comprehensive assessment system that evaluates power performances. Once issued with a PEER certification, these power grids will have better opportunities and gain competitive advantages since they can now show valuable outcomes, record the values they produce, and differentiate their output from their competitors. These metrics will act as tools to improve and hasten electricity sector transformation. This is patterned after LEED and serves as the great driving force of the vision of transforming the operation, design, and regulation of all power systems.
• Parksmart: This rating system used to assume the title of Green Garage Certification and is considered at the sole rating system which recognizes, measures, and defines sustainable and highly efficient garages. If garages are certified as green garages, it can greatly help its owner save on operational expenses. Aside from that, it can also help in providing a wide array of benefits to its owner, local communities, tenants, and drivers.
• Investor Confidence Plan: This project provides a clear and efficient roadmap towards Investor Ready Energy Efficiency from mere retrofit opportunities. By utilizing a suite powered by Multifamily Energy Performance Protocols and Commercial Energy Performance Protocols, ICP helps decrease costs of transactions by streamlining old and existing practices and SOPs to form a transparent and consistent process that will help encourage the use of efficient markets, thereby improving overall confidence on energy efficacy as a popular and reliable side resource.
• EDGE: This is a certification system implemented among green buildings which aim to make commercial buildings and residential spaces more efficient in terms of resource consumption and utilization. This is also an innovation founded by the International Finance Corporation which is made up of a dedicated system for certification, global and unified standard, and web-based application.
• Climate Planner for Cities: This program allows staffs and city partners to harness their skills in order to promote localized climate actions among different cities all across the globe. GBCI partnered with ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability and with World Resources Institute (WRI) to make the talent base achieve a global status by professional certifications and training.
• Arc: The platform using arc enables its users to benchmark, make substantial improvements, and measure the performance of their projects against others. Arc is used to complement rating systems centered on green buildings and on LEED, guidelines, protocols, and standards. Aside from these, Arc is also used to connect metrics with strategies related to green building and to compare the same performance metrics. Incremental improvements are supported by Arc and as such, tracking a project for LEED is made possible.

Greenbuild International Expo and Conference

This is the world’s biggest event devoted to and specifically prepared for green building. Greenbuild is scheduled in Mexico, Europe, China, India, and the U.S. annually and has brought together industry leaders, nonprofit organizations, and governments to discuss and learn more about the latest and most innovative green building technologies, services, and products. This year, these are the locations and dates for the Greenbuild International Expo and Conference:

• China expo and conference was held in Shanghai last October 23-24, 2018.
• India Expo and conference was held in Mumbai last Nov. 15-18, 2018.
• Europe expo and conference was held in Berlin last April 17-18, 2018.
• Mexico expo and conference was held in Mexico City last June 19-21, 2018.
• Chicago expo and conference was held in McCormick Place last Nov. 14-16, 2018.