World and US Green Building Council (USGBC)

A Green Building Council is a non-profit, member-based organization that promotes sustainable buildings and green design practices. Their aim is to promote the change of the construction industry into one that is sustainable by working with the government and private industry in promoting the use of environmentally friendly design strategies. As of February, 2012, there are 24 countries with established green building council organizations throughout the world, with the world green building council as the overseer them. The 24 councils are:

1. Argentina Green Building Council
2. Green Building Council of Australia
3. Green Building Council of Brazil
4. Canada Green Building Council
5. Colombia Green Building Council
6. Dutch Green Building Council
7. Emirates Green Building Council
8. France Green Building Council
9. German Sustainable Building Council
10. Indian Green Building Council
11. Israel Green Building Council
12. Japan Green Building Consortium
13. Mexico Green Building Council
14. New Zealand Green Building Council
15. Peru Green Building Council
16. Poland Green Building Council
17. Romania Green Building Council
18. Green Building Council of South Africa
19. Spain Green Building Council
20. Singapore Green Building Council
21. Sweden Green Building Council
22. Taiwan Green Building Council
23. United Kingdom Green Building Council
24. United States Green Building Council

World Green Building Council

The World Green Building council was founded in 1999, and is an alliance of Green Building Councils around the world, with a mission to assist in the international transformation of the building industry towards environmentally responsible and efficient use of resources, with programs and guidelines that are dictated by the market. The council nurtures and supports new and growing Green Building Councils by offering them tools and strategies to identify themselves as strong organizations with authority roles in their nations.

United States Green Building Council

The USGBC was the first Green Building Council in the world, founded in 1993, and developed a well-known rating system named LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). The USGBC, along with 8 other national councils founded the World GBC. The USGBC is a private, non-profit organization and has developed a wide range of educational and rating programs, working with private industries, research industries, and government agencies to promote member organizations and sustainability in the construction industry.