American architects team up with green campaigners to promote sustainable building

Sustainable building got a boost in the USA this week when a leading campaign group signed an agreement with a body representing the nation's architects, with both pledging to support efforts to promote the design and construction of energy efficiency, environmentally responsible buildings.


The memorandum of understanding was signed by not-for-profit group the Green Building Initiative and the American Institute of Architects.

“We are happy to have this agreement in place,” said Ward Hubbell, President of the GBI. “The AIA’s support and expertise in the development of [our] Green Globes Standard, through participation on the ANSI Technical Committee, has been invaluable.

“We look forward to continuing our work with them towards our shared goal of achieving widespread acceptance of sustainable design and construction practices.”

Chris McEntee, executive vice president and CEO of the AIA, said: “The GBI’s engagement in life cycle assessment and promotion of post-construction third party review in Green Globes illustrates GBI’s commitment to the creation of high performance buildings and supports the role of the architect in creating them.

“We look forward to working with the GBI on our common goal of reaching carbon neutral buildings by 2030.”

The memorandum calls for both parties to offer educational opportunities for those wishing to study the sustainable construction and encourage or undertake research to identify strategies for specific economic and environmental performance outcomes for green buildings.

David Gibbs

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