Rival green building codes sign global alliance

The leading green building labelling schemes from the UK, US and Australia will later today sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) committing them to work together to develop common standards for measuring the environmental impact of new and existing buildings.

The alliance between the UK's BREEAM rating system, the US Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification scheme, and Australia's Green Star label will be signed later today at the EcoBuild conference in London.

Under the terms of the MoU, the three rating tools will set up a working group dedicated to mapping and developing "common metrics to measure emissions of CO2 equivalents from new homes and buildings".

Speaking to BusinessGreen.com, John Alker of the Green Building Council said that the aim of the alliance was to ensure that multinational firms operating in different territories can easily compare the performance of their green buildings.

"We are not looking to merge the different labelling schemes, but at the moment LEED, BREEAM, and Green Star all measure environmental impacts in slightly different ways," he said. "This alliance will ensure the carbon and energy data they use is measured in the same way, making it easier to work out how buildings around the world are performing."

Rick Fedrizzi, president, chief executive and founding chairman of the US Green Building Council, said that the agreement should help add further momentum to the push towards greener buildings.

"The MoU sets the stage for true progress by focusing on performance that is measurable and verifiable," he said. "As we work to alleviate the role buildings play in climate change – nearly 39 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U S – it's vital that we are able to measure carbon emissions in a consistent, reliable way."