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.