ATLANTA - The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and the Green Building Initiative (GBI) announced that, through a new memorandum of understanding, the organizations will work together to accelerate the adoption of sustainability principles in the built environment. The agreement was approved by ASHRAE and by the GBI board of directors during their winter meetings.

“ASHRAE supports a wide variety of programs that encourage the sustainable design and operation of buildings,” said Bill Harrison, ASHRAE president. “Tools such as GBI’s Green Globes rating system help to provide metrics through which building owners and operators can gauge a building’s sustainability performance. Pushing forward the built environment to improve sustainability will require a collaborative effort among a myriad of organizations. ASHRAE looks forward to collaborating with GBI and other organizations.”

“The GBI is delighted to finalize this agreement and begin working with ASHRAE on our shared goal of increasing sustainable building principles,” said Ward Hubbell, president of the GBI. “Improving the built environment is an enormous task and we can’t afford to just focus on new construction. An important aspect of this agreement is that both organizations will work to promote the importance of using actual performance data to ensure that our buildings are performing in an efficient and environmentally-friendly manner.”

Specifically, the agreement calls for the two groups to:

• Promote the design, construction, and operation of buildings that are energy efficient, healthier, and environmentally responsible by, among other things, providing education and training;

• Provide access to the Green Globes tool;

• Promote the link between sustainable design and actual performance outcomes;

• Encourage and/or undertake research that identifies specific economic and environmental benefits of green building practices;

• Support and promote green building standards, certification programs, and rating systems.

For more information on ASHRAE, visit www.ashrae.org. For more information on the Green Building Initiative, visit www.thegbi.org.

Publication date: 03/02/2009