by Brianna Crandall — September 19, 2012—Earth Advantage Institute (EAI), a nonprofit sustainable building organization offering certification, education and technical services, has launched its Earth Advantage Commercial (EAC) green building certification program. The program joins several residential certifications provided by EAI, and serves a specific niche that the Institute found to be underserved: commercial buildings smaller than 100,000 square feet looking for a simplified, prescriptive program.
Earth Advantage Commercial has been redesigned based on a model founded by EAI in the late 1990s. Prior to EAI becoming a nonprofit in 2005, the first EAC program was a subsidiary of Portland General Electric and was responsible for certifying over 50 buildings. The updated program offers a rigorous green building certification that is accessible and cost effective for commercial buildings smaller than 100,000 square feet. Ninety-five percent of all commercial buildings reportedly fall into this smaller category; however, green certification is often overlooked due to its perceived complexities and cost, says the organization. EAC is a specific green building solution for this building type.
In 2010, EAI began piloting a retooled commercial certification concept in collaboration with Energy Trust of Oregon. Ten new buildings were involved in testing program requirements and viability. Late in 2011, EAI determined that the success of the pilot projects warranted a full national launch of the program in 2012. In August 2012, 12 representatives from eight architectural, engineering, and green building consulting firms successfully completed the two-day Project Trustee training and credentialing exam to become part of EAC’s Preferred Partner network. The network is a new rapid deployment delivery mechanism for EAC certification that will initially be concentrated in the Pacific Northwest and the West Coast.
The program is based on three levels of certification: Platinum, Gold, and Silver. The measures are cumulative and prescriptive, allowing for a greatly simplified certification process, which EAI’s pilot program found to be missing in the market segment. Developers, architects, engineers, green building consultants, and builders welcome a prescriptive, simplified, and cost-effective pathway to certification for commercial buildings smaller than 100,000 square feet, says the Institute. These professionals reportedly note that the absence of such a certification option is a strong deterrent against certifying smaller buildings.
The company provided the following list of initial EAC Preferred Partners who employ graduated Project Trustees from the EAC training: Ambient Architecture, Brightworks Sustainability Advisors, Chesshir Architecture, Green Hammer Design & Build, Mazzetti Nash Lipsey Burch, Pinnacle Architecture, Steele Associates Architect, and System Design Consultants.
