Green Building Certification Systems Research Articles

Indoor environmental quality and occupant satisfaction in green-certified buildings

ABSTRACT Green-building certification systems aim at improving the design and operation of buildings. However, few detailed studies have investigated whether a green rating leads to higher occupant satisfaction with indoor environmental quality (IEQ). This research builds on previous work to address this. Based on the analysis of a subset of the Center for the Built Environment Occupant Indoor Environmental Quality survey database featuring 11,243 responses from 93 Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-rated office buildings, this study explores the relationships between the points earned in the IEQ category and the satisfaction expressed by occupants with the qualities of their indoor environment. It was found that the achievement of a specific IEQ credit did not substantively increase satisfaction with the corresponding IEQ factor, while the rating level, and the product and version under which certification had been awarded, did not affect workplace satisfaction. There could be several reasons for this, some of which are outside the control of designers and beyond the scope of rating systems based primarily on design intent. The challenges and priorities facing building professionals, researchers and green building certification systems are discussed for the creation of more comfortable, higher performing and healthier green-rated buildings.

State of The Art of Green Building Standards and Certification System Development in Thailand

Energy saving and the sustainable environment are becoming one of the most important aspects to Thailand, especially in the building and construction industry. Green Building Index for energy and environment concern has been developed by Thai government since 1992 that aim to solve the environment resource crisis, depended upon regulations and evaluation guidelines of local climate. Nowadays, the number of green buildings is rapidly increased according to the concerns of energy consumption and environmental impact. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), Green Mark, and TREES (Thai’s Rating of Energy and Environmental Sustainability) are the most widely used systems for green building certification in Thailand. There are 113 buildings from 201 assessed projects were certified by LEED and three buildings were certified by Green Mark. TREES which developed by Thai Green Building Institute has certified only 12 buildings from the total of 74 registered projects. This paper was focused on the situation and the development of green building standards and certification systems in Thailand, including LEED, Green Mark, and TREES. The comparisons of assessment methods and components among these 3 systems were discussed. Additionally, the recommendation on the practice of green building development in Thailand was also provided. This paper found that the number of green building was increasing especially commercial building. Moreover, those are influenced by economic expanding.

FACTORS AFFECTING THE SELECTION OF CONTRACTORS IN GREEN BUILDING PROJECTS

The growing interest in sustainable design and construction introduces new set of risks specific to green building projects. One of the challenges in green building projects that require special consideration is the selection of the appropriate contractors to ensure that the targeted sustainability goals of the projects will be achieved. Rapid growth of green building movement requires that contractors that are willing to be active in sustainable construction learn green building rating systems, application processes, green products, and related laws and regulations. This study investigates major factors affecting the selection of contractors that will be responsible for the construction of projects aiming certification through green building certification systems. An extensive literature survey was completed to identify the significant factors in the selection process, which are important for the successful completion of the projects. It is found that experience in green building projects and certification system procedures, managerial approach, technical approach, price, past performance, and qualifications are important in the selection of contractors in green buildings.

FINANCIAL AND ECONOMICAL RISKS IMPACTING COST OF LEED CERTIFIED PROJECTS

Green buildings have benefits for the environment, which has been acknowledged by the vast majority of building professionals. LEED is one of the most recognized green building certification systems in the world. However, issues related to financial aspects of the entire process and LEED certification may be significant and constitutes new financial burdens to the cost of the projects. After a diligent literature research, main issues related to cost can be identified under four major categories such as; cost of the certification process, scarcity of insurance solutions, rental due to delay related to green construction procedures and conditions, and failure to use of financial incentives (tax/loan discounts, low financing rates) because of delays or lower certification levels than expected throughout the LEED certification. This study focuses on the assessment of professionals’ experiences about the financial and economical risks green buildings and their impacts on cost by identifying the most common drawbacks and evaluate relevant precautions against them. Analysis results show that high cost of certification process is one of the concerns for the majority of the professionals. Rental loss due to delay related to green construction procedures and conditions, costs related to certification, documentation, practices and design are found as the other risk factors in the study. Proper allocation of such risks in contract documents and special insurance products with appropriate endorsements could be used to mitigate related risks.

Assessing the green potential of existing buildings towards smart cities and districts

Buildings represent about 40% of the total primary energy consumption and contribute approximately to one-third of the total greenhouse gas emissions. Green building standards and certification systems include requirements for both new and existing buildings. However, a vast part of the existing building stock in cities was built with limited consideration for green design, energy efficiency and low carbon emissions, yet its refurbishment can help reach national energy reduction goals, decreasing environmental impact. Furthermore, retrofitting existing buildings can often be more cost-effective than building new facilities. The potential of an existing building to achieve certification under a certain Green Standard, defined in this work as its Green Potential (GP), depends heavily on factors that were determined during the original design and construction process. This paper will present the development of a method and tool for the analysis and determination of the GP of existing buildings, allowing quick evaluation of a single building or the comparison of different buildings in order to understand their potential and limitations, both by designers before their intervention or by planning authorities as ways of determining development plans and retrofitting potential in cities and districts.

EVALUATION OF LEED CERTIFIED GREEN BUILDINGS

Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design, LEED, is one of the most recognized green building certification systems in the world. Turkey is also one of the countries, where it is widely used. It offers different rating groups to address varying requirements of building and project types. LEED-v3 NC, the rating group for new construction, includes seven categories of credits: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor air quality, innovation, and regional priority. The maximum achievable point is 110. Local conditions significantly affect the achievement of some of the credits, as LEED is originated in the USA. This study focuses on the assessment of 122 LEED-v3 NC certified buildings in Turkey, considering the points achieved in each category. The aim is to understand which categories are successfully fulfilled and more challenging for implementation. Analysis results show that buildings receive higher points from water efficiency, sustainable sites, innovation and regional priorities, when compared to indoor environmental quality, energy and atmosphere and material and resources categories in Turkey. The lowest category is identified as material and resources. This situation should lead the new projects taking precautions to this individual area especially at the beginning of “planning step” in construction process. Recognizing the successful implementations for earning points and the challenging issues in Turkish construction industry regarding green buildings can be of benefit for professionals in this area.

공동주택 친환경성능의 정량적 분석을 통한 녹색건축인증기준의 실효성 검증에 관한 연구

In order to prevent the global warming, many countries have performed the Green Building Certification Systems headed by the developed countries. G-SEED is the representative certification system in Korea for constructing Green-Buildings as other countries' LEED, BREEAM, CASBEE, GREEN STAR etc. G-SEED was established started in 2002 and has been revised several times, still has problems regarding the appropriateness of articles weight and eco-friendly efficiency of Green Building. To confirm the G-SEED effectiveness for reducing Green House Gas(GHG) emission, we suggested how to calculate the amount of the carbon dioxide emissions. In this study the amount of carbon of the green buildings certified through G-SEED is computed and analyzed. Calculating and analyzing the amount of carbon emission of 68 certified Green Buildings(apartment houses), there was a little correlation between the Green Building grade and the amount of carbon emission. Therefore it was verified that there is a little effectiveness of the green building criteria in reducing GHG emissions. The reason is that there is a few criteria of calculating the GHG in Green Building Certification, and it is needed to revise the criteria that can verify the effectiveness of Green Building by evaluating the performance quantitatively. It is not affordable to give it a rating through evaluating quantitatively the carbon emission of buildings. It is also important that green building has to give us the qualitative satisfaction of the environment and phychological comfort. If G-SEED is well coordinated by the part of quantitative assessment and qualitative assessment, the sustainable buildings could be widespread to our living places without wasting the resources of future generations or degrading the environment.

Assessment Framework of Building Facade in Optimizing Indoor Thermal Comfort of Green Building Index (GBI) Certified Office Building

During the past decade, the construction industry has seen a new trend in the development of “green” or “sustainable” construction concept around the world with vast support from prominent organization, together with the introduction of sustainable building codes. The establishment of green building certification systems worldwide is seen as one of the most efforts in the emerging green building movement. In order to support the development of the “green” and “sustainable” concept in Malaysia, Green Building Index (GBI) was launched by the government on 21 May 2009 that created to promote sustainability in the built environment and raise awareness of environmental issues. However, the construction industry seems to have focused only on findings the “right mechanism” for an environmentally sustainable “final result” in order for the building to be certified as green with the lacking of continuous assessment on the building performance after the certifications. This study is purposely conducted to investigate the performance of various rated Green Building Index (GBI) Non-Residential New Construction office buildings and the influence on Indoor Thermal Comfort (ITC) of the selected buildings. The aim is to develop an assessment framework for optimum green building architectural facade to be used for office buildings in Malaysia as well as to analyse the occupants’ perception, satisfaction and performance in the selected Green Building Index (GBI) rated office indoor environment. This research is still in its infancy; therefore the paper is focused on research aims, research scope and methodology, and expected deliverables for the proposed research.

Performance of LEED Energy Credit Requirements in European Countries

Construction industry influences the environment a great deal by using different resources. Efficient use of resources is important for sustainability considerations. Heavy consumption of energy is one of the reasons causing adverse impacts on the built environment. The interest in sustainable construction is growing worldwide. Green building systems are used to certify the projects as green buildings in different countries. All these systems have similar approaches to build sustainably and they all highlight requirements related to energy consumption with a significant emphasis. One of the most recognized green building certification systems, LEED addresses energy optimization, green power and on-site renewable energy in much detail. The maximum credit points can be achieved from “energy and atmosphere” category in LEED. However, the use of LEED in countries other than the U.S. can be difficult as local conditions and practices are influential in earning credentials. This study aims to review the practices of “energy and atmosphere” category of LEED v3 2009 New Construction in European countries. Analysis of practices in selected countries is made based on credit performances, which can display variations depending on local conditions. It is expected that practitioners in these countries will benefit from the credit patterns, providing improved insights about on-site real applications.

BREEAM의 구성체계와 의료시설을 위한 세부항목 분석

As the concerns for the environment are gradually prioritized, increasing interests of environment-friendly buildings are drawn. Numerous researches about healthcare buildings have been performed however, they were mainly focused on convenience or healing condition for medical treatments. The hospitals consume energy and generate CO2 as twice as the residential or commercial buildings do. Various green building certification systems are globally arranged. But, it isn't easy to find certification criteria for the green hospital besides the US and UK's ones which are specially designed to evaluate environment-friendly medical buildings. This study investigates the foreign certification criteria and systems for the green healthcare building and finds the possibility to apply them to Korean one. We expect that it will promote more following researches for the substantial green healthcare design.

COMPARISON OF LEED’S ENERGY AND ATMOSPHERE STANDARDS FOR SOME DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

All efforts for handling resources, including extraction, processing, transportation, and manufacturing require energy. Thus, energy is a very valuable, albeit an indirect resource in the development of any country. Dependence on energy has a direct impact on the environment as well as the cost of products. Sustainability efforts focus on minimizing environmental impacts within a reasonable cost. Green building rating and certification systems around the world handle energy-related issues by considering the regional priorities of the country where they were first introduced. Certification systems rely on standards that are in effect locally. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) was first introduced in the U.S. and is currently the most widely preferred green building certification system around the world. The “energy and atmosphere” category in LEED v4 NC amounts to 33 points, which corresponds to approximately 26.2% of the total points that a building can receive. Because LEED was first introduced in the U.S., it heavily relies on U.S. standards such as ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA, which limit its applicability in countries other than the U.S. In this study, the standards that are referred to in the energy-related categories of the Pearl Building Rating System (ESTIDAMA) of Abu Dhabi and LEED-India are analyzed and compared to the standards referred to by LEED v4 NC. It is hoped that the outcome of the study will provide valuable knowhow for professionals in other countries where efforts are underway to improve existing standards and/or to introduce new ones.

일본 도쿄 지역병원의 친환경성 분석 연구 - 실내환경 및 치유환경을 중심으로 -

As the concerns for the environment are gradually prioritized, increasing interests of environment-friendly buildings are drawn. Numerous researches about healthcare buildings have been performed however, they were mainly focused on convenience or healing condition for medical treatments. The hospitals consume energy and generate CO2 as twice as the residential or commercial buildings do. Various green building certification systems are globally arranged. But, it isn't easy to find certification criteria for the green hospital besides the US and UK's ones which are specially designed to evaluate environment-friendly medical buildings(Lim & Yoo, 2010). In this study, we investigates current conditions of Tokyo Regional hospitals in environment-friendly standpoint and also investigates the foreign certification criteria and systems for the green healthcare building and finds the possibility to apply them to Korean Green Building Certification. Flexibility of architectural design compatible to renovation and expansion of the hospital, barrier-free design, and hospital design related to the healing environment should be mostly considered to the Korean Green Building Certification for healthcare facilities. It is because the goal of environment-friendly hospital is depended upon of quality of healing-friendly environment. Based on this analysis, Korean Green Building Certification for healthcare facilities will be developed in near future.

Contribution Index Based on Green Building Certification Systems

Green Building Certification Systems (GBCS) are carried out in many countries due to the rising awareness of the importance of sustainability in the building industry. The intention should have motivated participants to construct and operate buildings sustainably, however, there is not yet a method developed to investigate the motivation of the participants. Based on the GBCS, this paper proposes the contribution index as a standard global method to analyze the performance of participants in the green building industry. Three contribution indices, namely Frequency Contribution Index (FCI), Intensity Contribution Index (ICI) and Comprehensive Contribution Index (CCI) that concern each different category of participant, have been formulated. Three further analyses based on the index were undertaken to investigate some features of the industry. A case study of Singapore was conducted to show how the contribution index could be used to extract industry patterns and trends and assess the participants’ performance in the green building industry. Interviews with experts provide some suggested applications and support for the findings.

Energy and atmosphere standards for sustainable design and construction in different countries

The “energy and atmosphere” category of LEED accounts for 32% of the total points and heavily depends on U.S. standards such as ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA. Difficulties arise when LEED is implemented in different countries, because of varying degrees of similarity of local standards to U.S. standards. In some countries, these standards may range from non-existent to locally developed instruments, while U.S. standards are preferred in some. The existing codes, standards, and regulations that are in effect in India, Abu Dhabi, and Turkey, and used in the relevant category of LEED are reviewed relative to their U.S. counterparts. It is found that in India, the ECBC combines local conditions with international standards; in Abu Dhabi, ESMA and ADQCC make sure the geographic conditions prevalent in that part of the world are reflected in the codes and regulations; in Turkey, the new BEP Code constitutes a significant step towards energy conservation. This study shows that the standards that are in effect in the subject countries have adapted U.S. and U.K. standards to local conditions and are in different stages of development. The variety in the quality, substance, and coverage of the standards make it difficult to implement green building certification systems in these countries.

Review of the LEED Category in Materials and Resources for Developing Countries

Material selection in sustainable projects affects the environment a great deal. Selected materials gain importance as they can contaminate the environment and can produce waste during construction. Use of limited resources has also environmental impacts. Thus, considering sustainable materials in the projects and appropriate consumption of available resources are important for sustainability considerations. The danger of running out of resources and the consequences of contamination of the habitat point out to the importance of green building certification systems. Issues such as storage and collection of recyclables, waste management planning, PBT source reduction, sourcing of raw materials, material ingredients, and design for flexibility that are treated in this category are difficult to implement in developing countries, mainly because they are based on local practices. The use of materials and resources accounts approximately for 11% of the points a building can receive for LEED v4 certification. However, the use of LEED in countries other than the U.S. can be controversial as local conditions are effective in earning credentials required for certification. This study aims to review the “materials and resources” category of LEED. Comparison of local practices in selected developing countries is made based on credits in this category to provide guidelines for green projects in those countries. It is expected that practitioners in developing countries will benefit from the outcome of this study.

An Automated BIM Model to Conceptually Design, Analyze, Simulate, and Assess Sustainable Building Projects

Quantifying the environmental impacts and simulating the energy consumption of building’s components at the conceptual design stage are very helpful for designers needing to make decisions related to the selection of the best design alternative that would lead to a more energy efficient building. Building Information Modeling (BIM) offers designers the ability to assess different design alternatives at the conceptual stage of the project so that energy and life cycle assessment (LCA) strategies and systems are attained. This paper proposes an automated model that links BIM, LCA, energy analysis, and lighting simulation tools with green building certification systems. The implementation is within developing plug-ins on BIM tool capable of measuring the environmental impacts (EI) and embodied energy of building components. Using this method, designers will be provided with a new way to visualize and to identify the potential gain or loss of energy for the building as a whole and for each of its associated components. Furthermore, designers will be able to detect and evaluate the sustainability of the proposed buildings based on Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. An actual building project will be used to illustrate the workability of the proposed methodology.

ASSESSMENT OF LEED REQUIREMENTS FOR ENERGY AND ATMOSPHERE FOR DEVELOPING A LOCAL CERTIFICATION SYSTEM

Building construction is a major industry that uses a considerable amount of energy and causes extensive atmospheric pollution. Around 30-40% of energy consumption as well as 15% of greenhouse gas emissions originate from construction activities. As a result, sustainability is of special importance, from the extraction of construction materials to building operation and maintenance. Given the increasing demand for energy worldwide, energy efficiency and renewable energy sources have special importance for a sustainable future. Green building certification systems, with their increasing importance and popularity in developing and developed countries, pursue higher goals for energy efficiency and pollution prevention. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is the preferred rating system in the world. LEED assigns 32% of the available rating points to the energy and atmosphere category. The subject country of this study, Turkey, is developing local certification systems based on the characteristics of the Turkish construction industry. The leading study, Turkish National Green Building Certification-Homes (TNGBC-H), has not been introduced yet as it is still being developed. This study focuses on the codes and standards that will possibly be used in these certification systems, such as the Code for Building Energy Performance prepared by the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, and the Turkish standards related to energy and atmosphere. This paper compares the standards and regulations referred to by LEED and TNGBC-H and makes suggestions for a coherent and efficient future certification system in Turkey.

Applicability of LEED's energy and atmosphere category in three developing countries

The construction industry consumes a significant amount of energy. Heavy consumption of energy results in sustainability problems. Sustainable building projects need to manage their energy consumption in all the phases of construction, including production and transportation of materials and equipment, performance of construction activities, and operation and maintenance. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is one of the most extensively used green building certification systems around the world. In this system, the “energy and atmosphere” category accounts for 32% of the points that a building can receive. Some countries apply LEED and some have modified it by taking into account regional conditions. Existing inspection agencies, standards, adversities encountered in usage, education, technical know-how, experience, and renewable energy supply are reviewed with respect to “energy and atmosphere” in India, Abu Dhabi, and Turkey, and are compared against the situation in the U.S. The study finds that India has slightly modified the U.S. system, Abu Dhabi has developed its own certification system, and Turkey appears to be in the early stages of developing a certification system. The findings indicate that the differences between countries stem from the differences in the standards, laws, and regulations that are in place in the respective countries. While mostly U.S. standards are used in India, proprietary standards have been created in Abu Dhabi to accommodate the local conditions, and Turkey is struggling to find the middle way. The study is expected to function as a guideline for other developing countries in the process of setting up their certification systems.

Assessment Items of Outdoor Environment through Analysis of SITES - Focused on the Comparison with G-SEED and LEED -

Although assessing outdoor environment and green space in terms of sustainability and environmental performance is perceived as an important issue, most existing green building certification systems are more focused on buildings and indoor environment. Recently, the Sustainable Site Initiatives (SITES) has been developed by American Society of Landscape Architecture in order to evaluate sustainability of site development and outdoor environment. Separate from LEED, the SITES are increasingly receiving attentions as a reliable certification system in the United States. As a preliminary study to develop the items of outdoor environmental assessment, the present study is purposed to analyze the assessment items, grading system and applicability of SITES for better understanding on the system. Also it was compared to existing green building certification criteria, including G-SEED, LEED-NC, and LEED-ND in order to investigate similarities and discrepancies. The results would provide insights and basic data to improve assessment items for outdoor environment of G-SEED.

Contextualizing green building rating systems: Case study of Hong Kong

The paper reports on a research study undertaken on the differentiation of green building certification systems at an international, national and local level. Through a cross comparison, authors are able to explain the differences by the contextualism theory which could be traced back to the fundamental divergence on lifestyles, preferences, urban morphology besides climatic variations. The discussion is derived from a study of three green rating systems representing international, national and local systems with reference to intentions, mechanisms and benchmarks to facilitate objective assessments. For the case of Hong Kong, local challenges are identified and compared with counterparts at a national level. Two residential projects having certified by the ‘modified, localized’ national system is selected for a case study for synopsis with a view to explain the cause and effect of transferability versus non-transferability of assessment credits and protocols. Introducing and applying national and international systems to a local context can detect flaws in local design practices that may be ignored in the local rating system.