ABSTRACT
This chapter defines a green building as one that complies with the minimum requirements for certification under green building rating systems. It helps the user to assist with the design of environmentally-responsive buildings. Rating systems can promote a integrated design process, reduce environmental impacts and life-cycle costs, and prompt major changes in the building industry. Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) is a voluntary rating system for green buildings that was established in the UK by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) in 1990. The Green Globes rating system began in 1996 as a Canadian rating system based upon BREEAM. It was adopted by the Green Building Initiative (GBI) for use in the United States in 2002, partly to provide an alternative to LEED. It is intended to provide greater flexibility to design teams with less administrative effort and cost. Rating systems provided a voluntary, third-party benchmark that gave greater credibility to the green claims of projects and project designers.
