These programs span the public, private, and non-profit sectors, and all have the goal of increasing energy efficiency and the sustainability of the built environment.
To achieve this, it has developed a variety of programs and services, and works closely with key industry and research organizations and federal, state and local government agencies.
[3] The program includes an online scoring tool, national certification, industry education, and training for local verifiers.
The GBI has developed a web-based rating tool called Green Globes, which has been upgraded in accordance with ANSI procedures.
[5] CHPS addresses energy efficiency and additional design considerations fostering healthy and environmentally responsible school buildings.
It was launched in 2004 as a partnership between initiative taker Enterprise Community Partners (ECP), the Natural Resources Defense Council, Global Green USA, the American Institute of Architects, the American Planning Association, Southface and the National Center for Healthy Housing, along with a number of corporate, financial and philanthropic institutions.
Enterprise Community Partners first committed to $555 million in grants, financing and equity to bring green affordable housing to the mainstream.
[8][9] Transformative work on American college campuses in the 2000s has done much to change the implicit evaluation of "progress" that green building attracts amongst academics.
According to Ann Rappaport, a lecturer at Tufts School of Engineering who writes about climate change and universities, "[t]he value of campus greening [in the United States] goes well beyond resources saved; greening generates interest and invites members of the academic community to think differently about societal values, goods consumed, and the infrastructure for shelter and mobility, raising questions about how human needs can be met in new ways.
Several state and local governments have adopted programs that encourage or require building green when constructing affordable housing.
Earning LEED credits within this framework is becoming cost neutral for most hotel developers, especially in the Napa Valley where the industry has caught up to speed.
If US homeowner interest grows in "green" residential construction, the companies involved in the production and manufacturing of LEED building materials will become likely candidates for tomorrow's round of private equity and IPO investing.