GBCI Europe to facilitate LEED and other sustainability
programs in Europe; Kay Killmann
named managing director
MUNICH, April 27, 2017
/PRNewswire/ -- Green Business Certification, Inc. (GBCI), the
premier organization independently recognizing excellence in green
business industry performance and practice globally, announced the
opening of a new European office in Munich today. Through rigorous certification
and credentialing standards, GBCI drives adoption of green building
and business practices. Kay Killmann, has been named managing
director of GBCI Europe.
"Europe has been a leader of
the green building market for a long time and we are continuing to
see tremendous interest and support for LEED in the region," said
Mahesh Ramanujam, president and CEO,
GBCI. "Market transformation happens one project a time, and
Europe has an opportunity to
continue to drive sustainability at a global scale. By establishing
a local GBCI presence in Europe,
we will serve to further facilitate the global growth of a
sustainable built environment locally and across the globe."
GBCI is the only certification and credentialing body within the
green business and sustainability industry to exclusively
administer project certifications and professional credentials for
LEED, EDGE, PEER, WELL, SITES, GRESB, Investor Confidence
Project (ICP), Parksmart and Zero Waste. GBCI's expansion into
Europe will help facilitate the
growth and advocacy of LEED, the world's most widely used green
building rating system, and GBCI's other sustainability programs in
the European region. The new office will also provide local,
on-the-ground support to clients in the region and improve access
to GBCI's sustainability programs and resources.
Since 2008, GBCI has exclusively delivered more than 37,700 LEED
certifications to green building and community projects around the
world and has established a world-class infrastructure to help
advance the mission of the green building movement. Currently,
there are more than 5,200 LEED registered and certified projects in
Europe, comprising more than 147
million gross square meters of space, and more than 2,500 LEED
professionals. Killmann and his team will be responsible for the
market development efforts of GBCI Europe and will ensure the
advancement of LEED and other GBCI sustainability programs in the
region.
"GBCI has been successful in delivering market transformation
that is economically, environmentally and socially responsible,"
said Killmann. "It is a privilege to now be supporting European
leaders within the region to continue to advance the global green
building mission and further transform the market."
According to the 2016 Dodge Data & Analytics Smart Market
Study on World Green Building Trends, Europe is poised for even greater expansion of
green buildings in the coming years. The study found that over 60
percent of respondents anticipate that their projects will be green
by 2018 and over a five-year period respondents expect 14 percent
operational savings for new green buildings and 13 percent
operations savings for existing buildings, the bulk of Europe's building stock.
The announcement was made this week at the LEED European Summit
in Berlin. The summit covered the
latest developments across LEED and GBCI programs.
Media Contact
Sarah
Stanley
202-256-0456
SStanley@gbci.org