Dive Brief:

• Announcing a goal to having federal personnel spend less time on building certification and more time on their agencies' missions, the Green Building Initiative has devised a system for them to more easily gauge how new construction hews to federal energy-efficiency standards.
• Federal buildings are required to follow the government's Guiding Principles for Federal Leadership in High Performance and Sustainable Building for both existing and new structures.
• GBI said it developed the Guiding Principles Compliance for New Construction in concert with agencies.

Dive Insight:

The sustainability program, established by an executive order in 2009, has a stated goal of all new federal buildings being net-zero energy structures by 2030. GBI used its rating system for the Green Globes program as a start for the Guiding Principles product.