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.  

Building Portfolio Overview

~ 79 Participating Buildings and Office Spaces (11,899,517 sq ft)

~ 27 Buildings and Office Spaces Certified (2,972,572 sq ft)

~ 14 United States Cities | 13 Countries

Full Portfolio

Adobe

18 Countries
20 Office Spaces | 928,267 sq ft (14 Office Spaces, 765,334 sq ft Certified)

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.

San Diego, CA
3 Buildings | 606,769 sq ft

Blue Heron Nature Preserve

Atlanta, GA
1 Building | 10,000 sq ft

Chicago Housing Authority

Chicago, IL
6 Buildings | 1,384,906 sq ft (Certified)

The Fox Theatre

Atlanta, GA
1 Building | 213,272 sq ft

Google

4 Countries
26 Buildings | 4,106,935 sq ft (7 Buildings, 894,136 sq ft Certified)

ME Engineers

Somerville, NJ
1 Building | 12,000 sq ft

Southface Institute

Atlanta, GA
2 Buildings | 16,500 sq ft

Tishman Speyer

Chicago, IL | New York, NY | San Francisco, CA
3 Buildings | 3,780,000 sq ft

Neighborhood Power Project

Chicago, IL
16 Buildings | 862,000 sq ft

Resources

Press Release

 Southface Launches BIT Building, Putting Operational Savings Within Reach

Southface Institute, a sustainability nonprofit, has launched BIT Building – a program designed to improve the operational efficiency of any type of existing building or tenant-controlled space (except single-family residential) regardless of age or current performance. BIT Building equips users …

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.

Read More
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 …