Under the partnership, GBC Italia will be the first organization in the European Union that has decided to implement the LEED green building rating system. In the GBC Italia version of LEED, local standards and codes will be referenced, Italian-specific units will be incorporated, and alternative compliance paths will be provided as appropriate to account for regional variances and contexts.
The MOU also agrees to collaboration between the two green building councils through the sharing of tools, research and information around green building.
Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chair of USGBC, said: “The collaboration of USGBC and GBC Italia offer an unprecedented opportunity to make a difference in this time of unparalleled environmental awareness. Green buildings address a number of important global issues but we can’t do it alone. Working collaboratively is a critical step towards reaching global solutions.
“The concept behind green building: building smarter and saving money is also critically important to the multinationals who want to replicate this success in every market across the globe.”
Scot Horst, senior vice president of LEED at USGBC, said: “Harnessing the strengths of partnerships around the world allows us to collectively make a difference in our built environment on a scale that otherwise would not be possible.”
The LEED green building certification system is the foremost program for the design, construction and operation of green buildings. Over 32,000 projects are currently participating in the commercial and institutional LEED rating systems, comprising over 9.6 billion square feet of construction space in all 50 US states and 114 countries across the globe.
