History & Partner Stories

Operating existing buildings is responsible for more than a quarter of global carbon emissions, and global emissions from buildings continue to rise by 2% per year. As the need for carbon reduction grows, companies are increasingly adopting climate action plans and goals and publicly reporting emissions data.   

 

While there are already green building certification programs for operational sustainability in the marketplace, most existing facilities are too far below the performance thresholds of the most popular programs to even begin. Southface identified the need for a steppingstone to bridge the gap.   

 

In 2013, a group of sustainability experts and real estate professionals began a conversation around the framework for a program that will help accelerate the adoption of existing green building operations and maintenance best practices across large real estate portfolios. 

 

In 2018, the soft launch of BIT Building began in partnership with WSP, a leading engineering professional services firm, providing a simple, low-cost solution that works for everyone. Companies like Google, Adobe, and The Chicago Housing Authority became early adopters of the program.  

 

In 2023, BIT Building is scaling the impact of this uniquely versatile program with a full launch of its online platform.  

Resources

Guide

BIT Building One Sheet

Learn more about the BIT Building program and how its’ flexible pathways can help you reduce your building’s operating costs.

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Blog
Press Release

Google Achieves First BIT Building™ Certification

  ATLANTA, GA—June 28, 2021— Southface Institute announced today that Google’s 6th Street campus in Kirkland, Washington is the first office campus in the world to certify its operations under Southface’s BIT Building program. Successful certification under BIT reflects Google’s …

Press Release

Chicago Housing Authority Achieves First-Ever BIT Building™ Certification

ATLANTA, GA—JUNE 24, 2020— Southface Institute announced today that the Chicago Housing Authority has completed the BIT Building certification for the Dearborn Homes development, making them the first organization with buildings whose maintenance and operations include the program’s 16 Best …

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