Resilience Meets Sustainability Blog Series - Part 3: How Property Resiliency Assessments Complement Green Globes
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
By Erik Eichenlaub, CEM, WELL AP, LEED GA | Climate Services Director, Nova Group, GBC
Introduction: Continuing Our Series on PRA + Green Building Certifications & Frameworks
With climate change driving increasingly severe environmental challenges, buildings must prioritize both sustainability and resilience to thrive. At Nova Group, GBC, we champion resilience and sustainability as essential drivers of durable, high-performance buildings. In our Resilience Meets Sustainability series, we’re exploring how Property Resiliency Assessments (PRAs) enhance leading green building certifications. In Part 1, we examined the synergy between PRAs and LEED v5, followed by Part 2, BREEAM USA In-Use: Commercial v6. Now, in Part 3, we dive into Green Globes for Existing Buildings (EB) 2023, a flexible sustainability framework for existing commercial buildings, and demonstrate how PRAs strengthen resilience strategies while helping achieve certification goals.
Green Globes for Existing Buildings 2023: A Framework for Operational Sustainability
Administered by the Green Building Initiative (GBI), Green Globes for Existing Buildings 2023 is a performance-driven certification program based on the ANSI/GBI 02-2023: Green Globes Assessment Protocol for Existing Buildings, published in summer 2023. Designed for a wide range of commercial buildings—including offices, multifamily, healthcare, and retail—it evaluates operational performance and guides improvements in sustainability, health, and resilience.
Unlike prescriptive certifications, Green Globes EB 2023 uses a 1,000-point scoring system with no prerequisites. A minimum of 35% of applicable points is required for certification, ranging from one to four Globes. Its flexibility allows building owners to tailor sustainability strategies to their property’s unique needs.
Green Globes EB 2023 assesses six core areas: Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Management, Site, Energy, Water, Materials, and Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ). While not a standalone category, resilience is woven throughout, with criteria addressing hazard risk, operational continuity, and occupant safety. Key resilience-focused features include:
Site-specific hazard risk assessments and mitigation measures.
Emergency preparedness and response planning.
Indoor air quality protections during disruptions.
These features align closely with PRA objectives, making Green Globes EB 2023 an ideal framework for integrating resilience strategies.
What is a Property Resiliency Assessment (PRA)?
A PRA is a comprehensive evaluation of a property’s vulnerability to climate-related hazards (e.g., flooding, hurricanes, extreme heat) and operational stressors (e.g., power outages). It assesses risks, considers social equity factors like accessibility and community impact, and provides actionable mitigation strategies to ensure buildings remain safe, functional, and cost-effective. By addressing physical and operational resilience, PRAs support Green Globes EB 2023’s goal of creating sustainable, healthy, and resilient buildings.
Where PRAs Directly Crossover with Green Globes for Existing Buildings 2023
Green Globes EB 2023 integrates resilience into its Site, ESG Management, and Indoor Environmental Quality assessment areas. PRAs enhance these areas by providing data-driven risk assessments and tailored strategies. Below, we highlight the key points of alignment where PRAs directly support specific Green Globes EB 2023 sections and performance expectations.
Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Management
Section 1.2.1 – Risk Assessment & Facility Adaptation requires buildings to evaluate their exposure to site-specific natural hazards. This includes leveraging publicly available data—such as FEMA flood maps or local wildfire risk assessments—to identify threats like flooding, earthquakes, extreme heat, and high winds. Projects are expected not just to document these risks, but to describe how the facility has been adapted in response, whether through physical modifications or operational controls.
This mirrors the first stage of the ASTM E3429-24 PRA framework, which emphasizes the importance of identifying acute and chronic climate hazards using authoritative sources and geospatial tools. A PRA provides the depth and site specificity needed to meet these expectations and support adaptation decisions.
Section 1.2.2 – Emergency Procedures, Response & Facility Upgrades focuses on an organization’s ability to maintain operations and protect occupants during and after disruptive events. It encourages emergency planning that accounts for utility failures, communication breakdowns, and the needs of vulnerable populations. To achieve full credit under Green Globes, buildings must have detailed emergency procedures, designated response personnel, scheduled drills, and continuity strategies that include backup power and redundant systems.
This closely aligns with Stages 2 and 3 of the PRA framework, where operational resilience is a central focus. A PRA provides a comprehensive profile of physical and operational risks and helps define the types of emergency systems, redundancies, and training needed to keep a building functional during extreme weather or infrastructure disruptions. PRA findings can directly inform the emergency plans and continuity strategies required under this Green Globes section. Findings from a PRA can be directly incorporated into emergency planning materials, helping projects document resilience actions and meet certification expectations in this section.
Additional Synergies
Beyond ESG Management, PRAs support Green Globes credits in other categories:
Energy
Section 3.2.4 – Cooling Systems encourages upgrades to cooling infrastructure that improve both efficiency and reliability. Projects are recognized for using systems such as variable speed drives, thermal energy storage, or free cooling mechanisms. There is also emphasis on maintaining occupant comfort during heatwaves, a growing concern under climate change.
A PRA supports these goals by assessing the building’s ability to maintain safe interior temperatures during climate stress events like extreme heat or wildfire smoke. It may recommend high-efficiency or redundant cooling systems, upgrades to filtration for air quality protection, or passive design features that reduce thermal load—all of which contribute directly to system resilience and credit achievement under this section.
Section 3.2.5 – Heating Systems, similar to Section 3.2.4 Cooling Systems, this category evaluates the building’s ability to provide consistent, efficient heating, especially during cold snaps or winter storm events. Green Globes looks for features such as modulating furnaces, weather-responsive controls, and alternative heat sources.
A PRA contributes by analyzing exposure to cold-weather events and assessing the capacity of existing systems to operate under those conditions. For example, a PRA may identify a need for improved boiler redundancy or adaptive controls to maintain interior warmth in the event of power interruptions—recommendations that directly enhance compliance with this Green Globes section.
Water
Resilience to water-related risks is supported under Section 4.2.4 – Leak and Abnormal Water Use Detection. Here, Green Globes awards credit for systems that detect and respond to leaks or abnormal water usage patterns, which can stem from internal system failures or external hazards like freeze-thaw cycles or flood events.
PRAs often identify water system vulnerabilities as part of their operational risk assessment—especially in areas with exposure to storm surges, heavy rainfall, or winter freeze. Recommendations such as installing automated shut-off valves or using smart leak detection systems can not only protect the property but also meet Green Globes criteria in this area. Additionally, PRAs expand the scope to include water supply risks such as drought—a growing climate concern in many regions. In addition, PRAs expand the lens to include drought as a climate-driven risk—often overlooked but increasingly relevant. A PRA evaluates these risks and may recommend strategies such as low-flow fixtures, drought-tolerant landscaping, or greywater reuse systems to reduce dependency on potable supply. These proactive measures strengthen operational continuity under water stress and complement the intent of Green Globes’ water conservation criteria—even if drought is not explicitly named in the standard.
Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ)
Section 6.5.1 – Thermal Comfort highlights the importance of maintaining indoor comfort and safety during external climate stress. Green Globes recognizes buildings that can provide acceptable thermal conditions—even during outages, heatwaves, or other disruptions—through design features, system redundancy, and occupant controls.
This is an area where PRAs provide critical insight. As part of evaluating a building’s adaptive capacity, a PRA might assess whether HVAC systems can maintain livable indoor temperatures during disruptions or whether passive ventilation and shading strategies can help maintain thermal comfort during blackouts. These insights directly support the goals of this Green Globes section and help teams design systems that protect occupant well-being under worsening climate extremes.
Why This Crossover Matters
Combining a PRA with Green Globes EB 2023 certification creates real, measurable value:
Reduced Risk and Faster Recovery: While Green Globes strengthens operational performance, PRAs go further—helping buildings avoid costly damage, reduce downtime, and recover more quickly from climate-related events. Together, they create a proactive and adaptive strategy for both chronic and acute risks.
Stronger Asset Value: Resilient, “green” buildings are more attractive to sustainability-focused investors and tend to retain tenants longer, improving long-term marketability. They may also command higher rental rates or sales premiums in markets where resilience and sustainability are valued.
Healthier, More Equitable Spaces: Both PRAs and Green Globes emphasize occupant well-being and access to safe, comfortable environments—even during unplanned outages or climate-related disruptions.
Together, these tools help owners not only meet certification goals but also strengthen long-term resilience and protect property value in the face of a changing climate. They also support regulatory readiness and contribute to investor disclosures tied to climate risk.
What’s Next in the Series?
This post highlights how PRAs align with Green Globes for Existing Buildings 2023 to improve asset performance and achieve sustainability goals. In upcoming posts, we’ll explore frameworks like WELL and GRESB, examining their intersections with PRAs.
In Part 4, we’ll explore how PRAs support WELL’s focus on occupant health, thermal resilience, and indoor environmental quality.
Are you pursuing Green Globes certification or interested in learning more about Property Resiliency Assessments? Share your insights or questions in the comments, and let us know which green building framework you’d like us to cover next! For tailored support, reach out to Nova Group, GBC to explore how we can help advance your resilience and sustainability objectives.
🪪 Erik Eichenlaub, CEM, WELL AP, LEED GA | Climate Services Director
erik.eichenlaub@novagroupgbc.com | (610) 283-1632
👉 Learn more about our Climate Risk & Resiliency Services: Climate Risk & Resiliency | Nova Group, GBC
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