GBC HOME® Protocol Certification
The GBC HOME® rating system is a tool that targets the residential market by promoting healthfulness, durability, affordability and environmental best practices in building design and construction. The GBC HOME® rating system is based on the guidelines of the US protocol LEED 2009 Italy New Construction and Renovations; to the American system have, in fact, been made the appropriate modifications that today make GBC HOME® perfectly in line with the housing characteristics and differences in the construction model peculiar to the Italian reality. The GBC HOME® rating system is dedicated to small and large residential buildings and also includes those buildings with a part used for non-residential functions, such as offices or small commercial activities; in addition, the same protocol can be applied to buildings with accommodation functions up to fifty beds.
The GBC HOME® building sustainability rating system is a voluntary system, based on the common consensus of members and driven by the market. GBC Italy, the body that certifies GBC HOME® projects, uses Accredited Bodies to carry out Verification Activities (OVA); these OVAs coordinate teams of inspectors (IQs), who must in turn be qualified by GBC Italy. The contract for registering a building for certification and the contract for obtaining review services are signed by the project owner, or his or her lawful representative, with GBC Italia. Contracts are matched by public rates, applied to the specificity of the case by GBC Italy. The review process is divided into design and construction phases and also includes site inspections.
Once a project verification activity has been assigned to an OVA, the design/construction team will hand over the evidence for inspection activities (field and documentary) to GBC Italia so that all necessary checks can be performed. The inspectors will then deliver the lists, verification forms, and inspection reports to GBC Italia, and the OVA, in turn, will perform final checks for congruence and completeness and deliver a verification report to GBC Italia. A final review will then be conducted on the process: in case of a positive result, GBC Italia will determine the level of certification assignable and carry out administrative verifications, and then grant certification of the project through a certificate and optional plaque.
The whole system is translated into practice through software tools and documents prepared and managed by GBC Italy.
WHY ASACERT?
ASACERT is a Verification Body Accredited by the Green Building Council Italy regarding the GBC HOME® certification scheme. On behalf of GBC Italia, the certification body that owns the protocol and holds the certification scheme, ASACERT can then carry out specific inspection and verification activities. Accreditation by GBC Italia presupposes compliance with pre-established requirements related to structure, process competencies and service quality, which also include ACCREDIA accreditation for specific schemes, as independent third-party bodies (type A) for inspection activities (technical control and project validation) and as certification bodies for quality management systems in the EA28 sector.