The Green Building Initiative (GBI), whose goal is to accelerate the adoption of green building practices, recently introduced two new online tools for green builders: a national green building incentives database and a life cycle assessment tool.
Partnering with the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE), the GBI now offers the Green Building Incentives Database, which allows users to search for green building rebates, tax credits, and other financial incentives offered by federal and state governments and other entities. Builders can access the database through the GBI’s online Green Resources page at www.thegbi.org.
The free life cycle assessment (LCA) tool is a generic version of the ATHENA EcoCalculator for Assemblies that was developed for the GBI’s Green Globes environmental assessment and rating systems by the ATHENA Institute and its partners. It provides instant LCA results for more than 400 common building assemblies. The generic, free version of EcoCalculator can be downloaded from ATHENA’s Website: www.athenasmi.org.
