Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI) is an organization that provides third-party credentialing and verification for several rating systems relating to the built environment. Apart from LEED which is GBCI’s most well-known program, it administers rating systems that cover nearly every facet of the sustainability industry, GBCI has grown to include a suite of nearly 10 certification programs and 15 professional credentials and certificates as follows:
LEED - LEED is an international symbol of sustainability excellence that signifies a building is lowering carbon emissions, conserving resources, reducing operating costs, prioritizing sustainable practices and creating a healthier environment.
ARC - Performance is the future of green building and the Arc performance platform was established to help create better buildings and places for people and the environment. Arc helps its platform users measure and benchmark sustainability performance, achieve green building certification and manage complex portfolios. The Arc performance platform powers LEED certification.
SITES - The SITES Rating System promotes sustainable and resilient landscape development and can be used for development projects located on sites with or without buildings to enhance their sustainability, implement green infrastructure strategies and improve resilience.
TRUE - The TRUE certification program measures, improves and recognizes zero waste performance by encouraging the adoption of sustainable resource management and waste reduction practices that contribute to positive environmental, health and economic outcomes. A TRUE-certified project’s goal is to divert all solid waste from the landfill, incineration (waste-to-energy) and the environment.
PEER - The PEER Rating System measures and improves power system performance and electricity infrastructure. It encourages the adoption of reliable, resilient and sustainable practices and helps utilities solve aging infrastructure, find cost savings, share best practices, build for resiliency and enhance tracking to prevent failures.
ICP - GBCI administers the Investor Confidence Project (ICP), and its Investor Ready Energy Efficiency Certification (IREE). ICP is a global underwriting standard for developing and measuring energy efficiency retrofits for commercial and multifamily residential buildings. Through its IREE certification, ICP aims to standardize energy efficiency upgrades.
RELi - The RELi rating system takes a holistic approach to resilient design. It is used to assess and plan for the acute hazards that buildings and communities face during unplanned events, prepare to mitigate against these and design and construct buildings to maintain critical life-saving services in the event of extended loss of power, heating fuel or water.
EDGE -EDGE is a green building certification system focused on making buildings more resource-efficient. EDGE empowers developers and builders to quickly identify the most cost-effective ways to reduce energy use, water use and embodied energy in materials. GBCI administers EDGE certification in over 160 countries around the world.
WELL - GBCI administers IWBI’s WELL Building Standard, an evidence-based standard, which sets performance requirements in seven categories: air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort and mind.
Which programs are supported by cove.tool?
cove.tool which is an automated design platform for intelligent building performance, assists users to pursue LEED and WELL certifications by providing outputs that can be submitted to GBCI. To find out how to use cove.tool to earn points in each program, take a look at the following help articles:
IP c1 - Integrative Process
SS c1 - Site Assessment
EA p2, EA c2 - Minimum Energy Performance & Optimized Energy Performance
IEQ c7 - Daylight
IEQ c8 - Quality Views
WE p1, WE c1 - Outdoor Water Use Reduction
LT c4 - Surrounding Density and Diverse Uses
Pilot Credits MRpc 132 - Procurement of low carbon construction materials
Happy modeling!!