The world’s leading built environment organisations announce the first building quality and performance partnership of its kind

BRE and USGBC will partner to deliver global market solutions to raise sustainability standards and deliver greater value.

BRE (the Building Research Establishment) and USGBC (U.S. Green Building Council) have announced a partnership that will promote the expertise of both businesses and harness their combined industry insights, to deliver a new industry approach to building and built environment performance, solutions and benchmarking.

The two organisations aim to highlight the role that buildings can play in improving environmental, economic and health outcomes and to positively impact the quality of life of people around the world. Their joint vision is to create a better built environment that’s cleaner, more efficient, more sustainable and fully meets the world’s current and future urbanisation needs.

Niall Trafford CEO at BRE said: “BRE is the world’s leading building science centre. We have been at the forefront of developing knowledge and standards for almost 100 years. We sponsor and conduct research which continually improves productivity, quality, environmental performance, safety and well-being in the built environment. BRE’s standards, digital tools and training programs are key to equipping the industry and future generations for the global challenges of tomorrow. Our mission is to build a better world together and this partnership will enable us to substantially extend our reach and impact, around the world.”

Mahesh Ramanujam, president & CEO, USGBC said: “USGBC has led the green building community for nearly two decades. But there is still much work that needs to be done, and the stakes have never been higher. This collaboration allows us to leverage our tools and resources to scale-up the reductions in carbon emissions, that are associated with buildings and accelerate this on all fronts.” The objectives that BRE and USGBC will pursue and explore together are to:

• Increase the level of engagement of existing buildings in the measurement, reporting and improvement of their environmental, social and wellbeing impact.
• Embrace a digital strategy that will raise our combined technological capabilities and establish industry-wide common data standards and protocols, to make our platforms simpler, smarter and more intelligent
• Conduct research to identify future transformation opportunities to improve the sustainability credentials of the world’s buildings, communities and cities.

The collaboration will also leverage BRE and USGBC’s combined market knowledge, partnerships and collective tools through BREEAM, LEED and other rating systems to address all sectors: new and existing commercial buildings, new and existing homes, infrastructure, landscape, power, waste, and finance.

BREEAM and LEED are the two most widely used green building programs in the world today. Collectively they have certified the assessments of over 640,000 buildings across more than 126,000 commercial, residential, infrastructure, community and city projects in 167 countries and territories. To-date there are more than 167,000 projects registered to BREEAM and LEED and collectively both programs help form one of the largest industry networks focused on delivering a better outcome for our built and natural environment.

ENDS

For more information contact the BRE press office on pressoffice@bregroup.com or +44 (0)1923 664455.

Notes to Editors

About BRE

BRE is a world leading building science centre.  Our clients use our sustainability, safety and security services, the BRE Academy and our Innovation Centres, to deliver on their social, environmental and economic goals. We are committed to developing knowledge on every aspect of the built environment and we set the standards for the way buildings, homes and communities are made to keep people safe, protect the environment, make buildings affordable and to create places where people want to live, work and play.

About the U.S. Green Building Council

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is committed to a prosperous and sustainable future through cost-efficient and energy-saving green buildings. USGBC works toward its mission of market transformation through its LEED green building program, robust educational offerings, an international network of local community leaders, the annual Greenbuild International Conference & Expo, the Center for Green Schools and advocacy in support of public policy that encourages and enables green buildings and communities. For more information, visit usgbc.org and connect on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.