The GPC criteria

The Department of Defense Guiding Principles Compliance for New Construction & Modernization (DOD GPC NC) of the Green Building Initiative (GBI) is a certification system that was developed by the GBI together with the US Department of Defense specifically for US federal buildings. Currently, new buildings and modernizations can be certified. Thirty-two different criteria are assessed in six environmental categories.

How does the assessment and certification work?

With GPC certification, 32 credits can be achieved in six environmental categories. This certification does not differentiate between different certification levels, as is the case with LEED or DGNB certification, for example – all requirements that are specified for the individual categories must be fulfilled for certification. Non-fulfilment is only possible if criteria cannot be applied or cannot be implemented due to excessive life cycle costs, for example. Such exceptions must be justified for certification. The GBI provides a free scoping checklist (see above), which can be used as a guide during project development. For the certification itself, a survey document in tabular form is used by the GPCP and assessor to provide evidence. Projects where the time between completion of the design and tendering of construction bids is greater than 18 months will need to be reassessed to determine if a change in design is required due to changes in standards or site infrastructure.

Which categories are evaluated?

In these six environmental categories, sustainability, efficiency and room comfort, among other things, are assessed during the GPC certification process:

1. Employ Integrated Design Principles – Use of integrative design principles
2. Optimize Energy Performance – Optimize energy efficiency
3. Protect and Conserve Water – Water efficiency and protection
4. Enhance Indoor Environmental Quality – Improve the quality of the indoor environment
5. Reduce the Environmental Impact of Materials – Reduce the environmental impact of materials used
6. Assess and Consider Climate Change Risks – Analysis of possible risks for the construction project due to climate change

Categories 1-5 are weighted at 20% in the certification process, while the 6th category Assess and Consider Climate Change Risks is given an additional 1% weighting in the assessment.

How are the criteria for GPC certification determined?

The criteria are based on the Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC) 1-200-02 High Performance and Sustainable Building Requirements. The UFC are guidelines to fulfill the Guiding Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings (HPSB Guiding Principles), which were issued by the Implementing Instructions for Executive Order 13834 Efficient Federal Operations by the US government. Specifically, the following guidelines are used for evaluation: ▪ Guiding Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings and Associated Instructions

• UFC 1-200-02 High Performance and Sustainable Building Requirements
• UFC 3-201-02 Landscape Architecture
• UFC 3-210-10 Low Impact Development
• UFC 3-530-01 Interior and Exterior Lighting Systems and Controls
• ASHRAE 189.1-2014 Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings
• ASHRAE 90.1 Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings