It's no secret that 'build green' is the new mantra of the architectural world today. From the Earth Ships of New Mexico tothe green roofed skyscrapers of Germany to the novelty behemoths of Dubai everyone has a different idea of what it is to build green.  And such is the world of green building standards as well...

Every time I turn around I find a new green building standard.  I found one under my bed this morning- my dog left one on the doorstep last night, you get the picture. Whether it's your states own version, a federal set of guidelines, international standards or those developed by public and private organizations, it seems that every day someone is insisting they have encoded the next big standard needed to build green.

Hopefully this list can clear the muddied waters a little for the average builder or homeowner just trying to understand this mess. I have included below a brief description of the distinguishing characteristics of a few of the more prominent examples of green building standardization. If I have omitted your standard of choice I apologize.  There are so many it is hard to keep track of them all...

Standard: LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)

Parent Organization: USGBC (The United States Green Building Council)

Overview:

LEED is organized into six categories with each one including prerequisites for achieving credit points toward certification-Certified (26-32 points), Silver (33-38), Gold (39-51), or Platinum (52-69). The categories are: sustainable sites (14 possible points), water efficiency (5), energy and atmosphere (17), materials and resources (13), indoor environmental quality (15), and innovation and design process (5), for a maximum of 69 possible points. For example, a building will receive one point if public transportation is easily accessible, or if over 50 percent of all wood-based materials and products are approved by the Forest Stewardship Council.

The aim of this article isn't to pass judgment on any particular system, it is notable however that this seems to be the prevailing standard right now here in the U.S. In addition an AIA study found that "LEED is a good example of a rating system that provides a measurement of environmental achievement." and as far as areas of possible improvement, "While LEED-NC requires increased energy efficiency, it doesn't specifically address reduction measures."

Standard: Green Globes

Parent Organization: The Green Building Initiative

Overview:

The Green Building Initiative's Green Globes- a 1,000-point scale system-was released in October 2007 and is based on a building's performance in seven areas: project management, energy, indoor environment, site, water, resources, and emissions. Projects are awarded a final rating of one (35-54 percent), two (55-69 percent), three (70-84 percent), or four (85-100 percent) globes based on cumulative points.

It is widely accepted that although this online scoring system involves third-party review for certification, it's more flexible than LEED. Where the LEED system requires many of the AIA's 16 points, the Green Globes standards simply "encourages" them. For instance, it has allowed the timber industry to push its Sustainable Forestry Initiative as an alternative to the more stringent Forest Stewardship Council certification. While Green Globes does feature a lifecycle-analysis application (unlike LEED),

Standard: SBTool 07

Parent Organization: International Initiative for a Sustainable Environment

Overview:

The SBTool 07, formerly GBTool, is an international tool kit that allows local organizations to design their own rating system depending on regional climate zones, local building codes, and international standards.

Users add their own benchmarks and grade their own projects using the criteria of site selection, project planning and development, energy and resource consumption, environmental loadings, indoor environmental quality, service quality, social and economic aspects, and cultural and perceptual aspects. An independent assessor reviews the self-assessment, with weighted scores ranging from -1 (deficient), 0 (minimum acceptable performance), +3 (good practice), and +5 (best practice) for each category. The results are then sent to the headquarters of the International Initiative for a Sustainable Environment (iiSBE) for final certification.

While the SBTool 07 accommodates regional variations, some question that the program's flexibility could leave too much to the discretion of designers, particularly in regards to energy use and building performance.  It has been suggested that many of the suggested measures be made mandatory. The report also suggests that the rating system include more performance-based requirements to reach carbon-reduction goals.

Standard: ICC-700-2008 National Green Building Standard

Parent Organization: National Association of Home Builders & ANSI

Overview:

The resulting ANSI approved ICC-700-2008 National Green Building Standard defines green building for single and multifamily homes, residential remodeling projects and site development projects while still allowing for the flexibility required for regionally-appropriate best green practices.

Similar to the NAHB Model Green Homebuilding Guidelines, a builder, remodeler or developer must incorporate a minimum number of features in the following areas: energy, water, and resource efficiency, lot and site development, indoor environmental quality, and home owner education. The more points accrued, the higher the score. The maximum accruable score is 697 for the structure and 175 for site design and development. The limitations of this system lie in the fact that in only applies to homes and not commercial or industrial structures. Also it is at the time I wrote this article it is barely two years old, so we'll see how widely it is adopted.

I hope this answers some of your questions about the veritable plethora of standards for how you should build green. If you would like to learn more about these standards just search the name to find them individually.