News

bSa Mid-month Report - October 2010

Oct 16 2010

As you may know, several participants from the buildingSMART alliance and others from the manufacturing and design sectors have come together to pursue the creation of the Green Keystone Alliance. The goals of the GKA are to:
1. Advocate coordination and harmonization of regulations and standards for gathering, disclosing, and transmitting sustainability and life-cycle inventory information across sectors and within supply chains
2. Support an economy-wide initiative to develop standards and protocols for collecting and delivering life-cycle inventory information
3. Develop standards and guidance for aggregation of all life-cycle information from original material extraction to final sale and eventually full cradle-to-cradle accounting
A brief summary of the concept is attached. While the GKA is in the early stages of its development, it is important to have participation from all sectors of the economy related to the design, manufacture, and procurement of products, process, and projects. Naturally, much of the valuable work being conducted under bSa will be a critical foundation for the GKA.
The U.S. EPA issued a request for information on September 16 regarding their role in the sustainable products movement (http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-23123.pdf). Given the Green Keystone Alliance's focus on how clear and consistent applications of regulatory and self-imposed requirements can reduce costs and remove inefficiencies, we felt this was a good opportunity to introduce the Alliance to EPA and other parties engaged in this effort. Attached is a letter to EPA outlining the intent of the Alliance and the benefits to be gained through a consistent approach (as embodied in the intent of the Green Keystone Alliance). In order to express the broad support for the Alliance and the engagement of stakeholders from across the economy, we are asking for organizations to sign-on to the letter. Comments are due to EPA on October 19, so please let Ryan Colker (rcolker@nibs.org, 202-289-7800) know by October 18 if you can sign-on. Please feel free to share the letter with colleagues at other organizations who may be interested in signing-on.