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International Green Building Challenge

The first model for demonstrating the integration of photovoltaics (PV) into a federal building is the sky-lighted entryway of the Thoreau Center for Sustainability at Presidio National Park, San Francisco, California. Laminated to the skylight glass are photovoltaic cells that produce electricity as well as serve as an element in the shading and daylighting design. Credit: Barnes, Richard The Green Building Challenge is an international research effort to develop a tool to evaluate the environmental impact of buildings. The "GB Tool" is then used to evaluate buildings that become part of the "challenge" to reduce environmental loadings. These buildings are showcased every two years at an international Green Building Challenge conference hosted by one of the participating countries. The GBTool research process involves a multinational team that determines what standards of measurement or "metrics" are important for building performance, such as energy, materials, and air quality. The metrics are then analyzed with a building software program developed by the team. The software program is flexible enough to account for the climatic differences of each country using the tool.

Past work has focused on creating the template and individual metrics. Future work will focus on weighing, benchmarks, and standardized techniques for measuring metrics. More than 21 countries have participated in previous events. For more information on related research, visit our Performance Metrics Research site and our High Performance Buildings Database.

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Last updated: 10 August 2006