Green Building Sustainability Research Articles

SWOT analysis of green building systems in real estate development

Sustainable and green facts are important for leaving a healthy environment for future generations. These facts are like sustainable development, sustainable city, green building, green economy, and so on. Green building is an innovative solution to sustainable urban planning problems. In this study, green building, sustainability, development processes are examined, and the opportunities and threats of green buildings with their strengths and weaknesses are determined by SWOT analysis. Besides, the construction cost and energy savings of a green building are compared to the traditional building. As a result of SWOT analysis, besides its significant strengths such as sustainability of green buildings, low energy consumption, and independence of energy consumption, high initial investment cost was determined as the most critical weakness. The increase in building values and the emergence of new business ventures are considered opportunities for green buildings, and the perception of green buildings as luxury is considered a threat. Ultimately, this study reveals the critical significance of transitioning towards sustainable construction practices, supported by compelling numerical evidence. Despite the initial higher investment costs, green buildings exhibit substantial long-term benefits, with the construction costs of the LEED gold-certified building calculated at 31,798,854.3 ₺ and the platinum-certified building at 32,390,841.0 ₺ in January 2024. Notably, energy savings of 47.7% and 61.6% were projected for the gold and platinum-certified buildings, respectively.

A Maintenance Framework for Sustainability of Green Buildings: A Case of Nairobi County, Kenya

Stern questions have been raised concerning green buildings, a new fragment in the construction industry, particularly in Kenya where the local content is scanty in respect to their maintenance. In that case, this research was directed towards the assessment of the maintenance factors (maintenance policies, maintenance problems, maintenance management tools/techniques and maintenance strategies) and their effect on sustainability of green buildings in Nairobi County. The study was bound to a sample size of 86 registered green building practitioners and 25 LEED-certified buildings in the County. The response rate of the survey was 53% and a quantitative approach was employed in data analysis. The study results revealed that, maintenance strategy (an independent variable) lacked a significant relationship with the dependent variable and therefore, it was removed from the logit model. The overall logit model indicates that, sustainability of green buildings has higher odds when maintenance problems are properly managed (odds of 1.44), comprehensive maintenance policies are existing (odds of 3.72) and appropriate maintenance management tools/techniques are used (odds of 2.89) while keeping all other factors constant. Consequently, the study recommends a framework to facilitate efficient work execution by maintenance personnel in green buildings. From an academic viewpoint, the study results present more information to the available body of knowledge in the field of maintenance of green buildings.

Architectural Rehabilitation and Sustainability of Green Buildings in Historic Preservation

The aim of the article is to alert to the fact that architecture must comprehend Nature and bring it back again to the daily life of Man, increasing his physical and psychological comfort. The "Green" in Architectural Rehabilitation can have several meanings and approximations. In this article we address "Green" as Color and Attitude. This paper has been developed through deepening the hypothesis of the color green in living coatings. The creation of an ecological skin in architecture accentuates the dilution of the presence of interventions in heritage contexts with an attitude of knowing how to add, involving Nature. These allow creating solutions that avoid the formalisms of architectural language, being of special relevance their application in the Architectural Rehabilitation of the Heritage. Examples of green roofs and green facades are presented and it is shown that rainwater management improves the sustainability of the historic place. Complementary, as a Green Attitude, it is essential to use renewable energy in buildings to achieve NZEB – Nearly Zero Energy Building. As a case study we have selected the Rehabilitation of the Cathedral of Portalegre in Portugal. Doi: 10.28991/HIJ-2020-01-04-04 Full Text: PDF

Development of Value Creation Drivers for Sustainable Design of Green Buildings in Saudi Arabia

The sustainability of green buildings has been widely recognized around the world in the recent past. Evaluating the investment on such buildings, with higher complexity than the conventional buildings, involves multiple and diverse stakeholders, such as consultants, contractors, general public, governmental institutions, etc. The selection of useful value creation drivers is a difficult task while accommodating the opinion of a group of stakeholders with varying perceptions and experiences regarding the value creation in green building design and the associated costs. In this research, a framework is proposed to develop a set of the most important value creation drivers (VCDs) for green buildings. Five primary VCDs were developed to cover the financial, functional, operational, environmental, and management aspects of a green building. Ninety-eight (98) performance value drivers (PVDs) were identified through the literature for assessing the performance of these value creation drivers. The identified PVDs were evaluated through a hand-delivered questionnaire survey, followed by detailed statistical analysis of the collected data while using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Microsoft Excel software. Factor analyses were performed to eliminate the PVDs with least importance based on the responses obtained from 89 experienced managers (45%), engineers (38%), and architects (17%) working in the field of value management of construction industry in Saudi Arabia. Finally, 51 most important PVDs were grouped into two clusters for each value creation driver; for instance, control and planning clusters to assess the performance of management’s VCD. The final outcome of the research in the form of five top level VCDs, 10 clusters, and 51 PVDs will facilitate the designers for enhancing the performance efficiency and value from investment for green buildings in Saudi Arabia, Gulf, and elsewhere.

The “START” framework to evaluate national progress in green buildings and its application in cases of Singapore and China

Current studies provide little knowledge for a holistic assessment of green building (GB) studies and practices. This study addresses the gap by developing a systematic and multidisciplinary framework called “START” that integrates five interactive dimensions of GB, including S-stakeholders, To-total building life cycle concerns, A-actions of government, R-relevant contexts, and Ta-targets to facilitate scholars and policymakers' analysis of GB development and progress. A comparative review of Singapore's and China's GB journey has been conducted to illustrate the application of the framework. Results indicate that both countries face common challenges of achieving economic sustainability of GB due to market failure and lack of non-technical support. However, Singapore has made better progress in environmental and social sustainability than China. Singapore's GB program inclusively covers the whole building life phases whereas China mainly emphasizes on planning/design phase. Collectively, effective governance, strict law enforcement, engaged stakeholders, matured economy and emerging technologies facilitate the GB implementing in Singapore. Additional efforts are required for China to cope with its complexity and heterogeneity regarding climate zones, hierarchy of authority, and disparity of economy and resources allocation in various regions. The framework helps facilitate policymakers to comprehensively assess GB progress and highlights the importance of incorporating non-technical drivers, such as social, psychological, political factors, into multi-disciplinary research of GB programs.

Generation of a Tropically Adapted Energy Performance Certificate for Residential Buildings

Since the 1990s, national green building certification indices have emerged around the globe as promising measurement tools for environmental-friendly housing. Since 2008, tools for countries in the Northern “colder” hemisphere have been adapted to tropical countries. In contrast, the Tropically Adapted Energy Performance Certificate (TEPC), established in 2012, translates the United Nations’ triple bottom line principle into green building sustainability (planet), thermal comfort (people) and affordability (profit). The tool has been especially developed and revamped for affordable green building assessment helping to reduce global warming. Hence, by the comparably simple and transparent energy audit it provides, the TEPC examines buildings for their: (1) contribution to reduce CO2; (2) transmission rate in shielding a building’s envelope against the effects of the tropical heat; (3) generation of thermal comfort and (4) referring total cost of ownership to green the building further. All four dimensions are measured in the rainbow colour scale in compliance with national energy regulations. Accordingly, this research examines the tool’s implementation in tropical countries. Exemplified tropical case studies in residential areas seek to demonstrate the practicability of the approach and to derive a holistic certification by an internationally accredited certification board.

Greenbuilding sustainability and market premiums in Italy

Purpose – Real estate sustainability can be best demonstrated through a “green” certification such as leadership in energy and environmental design, but, in markets where little precedent is available, quantification of costs and premiums related to green buildings is still ridden with uncertainty. The aim of this study is to shed some light on market rent and price premiums as perceived by professional operators in Italy. Design/methodology/approach – A survey of two cohorts of real estate stakeholders, either members of the Green Building Council Italia or commercial real estate investors, was carried out by means of an online questionnaire. Findings – Based on 270 responses, it can be inferred that, while the importance of green building is widely acknowledged, caution is still prevalent regarding expected gains. In fact, the majority of respondents perceive the increase in rent and price premiums as being equivalent to additional costs. Originality/value – This is the first attempt to analyze perceived importance of greenbuilding in Italy.

Green Buildings: Analysis of State of Knowledge

Green building practices emerged to mitigate the effects of the increasing impact on the environment and to improve the build ing construction process. In this context, a systematic bib lio metric analysis is provided. As a result, 124 articles were found in 40 internationally recognized scientific journals related to green buildings. A quantitative analysis is done to the articles in order to know about the authors and countries with most publications; in addition to their evolution fro m 1980 to 2011. Then a qualitative analysis which aims to obtain the key aspects and obstacles to consider in Green Building and recommendations are given for each aspect. The goal of this paper is to provide building researchers and practitioners a better understanding of how to effectively make decisions to promote energy conservation and sustainability of green build ings.

A description of the acoustic requirements in LEED for Schools and a comparison to the ANSI S12.60 Classroom Acoustics Standard

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has become the standard method of rating the energy efficiency and sustainability of green buildings in the United States. LEED was initially developed for rating newly constructed commercial buildings, but ratings systems for other building types have also been developed. USGBC has just released LEED for Schools, which has a particular focus on K-12 educational facilities. In this paper, the acoustic requirements of the new LEED for Schools and ANSI S12.60 are compared and some of the reasons for the differences are explained. LEED for Schools is based heavily on ANSI S12.60, but the requirements for background noise level and external window sound transmission class (STC) have been relaxed in LEED for Schools and there are no requirements for impact isolation class (IIC) at all. One other major difference in LEED for Schools is the option to meet a required RC Mark II background noise level instead of a simple A-weighted background noise level.