Guest author: Jerry Yudelson, president of the Green Building Initiative

At The Refinishing Touch we are always reaching out to the sectors we work in – including hospitality, higher education and government. In this guest blog post, Jerry Yudelson, president of the Green Building Initiative, shares his perspective as a green building expert and sustainability certification provider.

As the newly named president of the Green Building Initiative I’m pleased to contribute to The Refinishing Touch’s blog and interact with their environmentally-conscious readers as we share the same values. Green Building Initiative (GBI) was created 10 years ago to offer choices in the marketplace for green building certification. The first-ever ANSI national consensus standard for green building was produced through GBI in 2010. The standard was updated in 2013 to reflect new standards and will go through a formal ANSI consensus process again in 2014 to update it to current standards.

GBI also offers various products and services such as the Green Globes for New Construction, the Green Globes CIEB rating and certification systems and also offers certification of performance against published Federal Guiding Principles for federal agencies that are bound by Executive Order 13514 from 2009 to engage with and implement in their buildings.

One of the biggest trends we’ve seen in the green industry is the move toward existing building certification and the emergence of multiple certifications – not only for buildings, but for products. As we move more toward life-cycle assessment and multi-attribute product certifications, life gets progressively more difficult for the project or retrofit designer.

One of the other major challenges for property managers looking to go green is deciding which system to use and how to access all of the required information. At Green Globes we’ve tried to make it easier by blending performance and prescriptive approaches to comply with certification requirements. Additionally, a Green Globes certification for an existing building will actually help facility managers understand and manage their buildings better and reach sustainable outcomes.

As a longtime advocate for green building and sustainability, my advice for anyone looking to embrace or advance sustainable building options is to take a long look at the options available to you and choose a system for analysis and certification that will help you lower operating costs while still responding to demands for broader analysis of sustainable outcomes.

To learn more about Green Building Initiative’s programs and certifications, visit their website here. Are you looking to advance or improve your sustainability footprint? Learn more about furniture asset management and how it can save your company money and reduce carbon emissions by contacting us at [email protected].