A Comparative Investigation of Dominant Building Rating Systems and Iranian National Building Codes according to Sustainability Criteria

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 PhD Candidate in architecture at university of Tehran, Researcher at AUT’s office of sustainability. Address: College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, Tehran

2 Assistant Director of AUT’s office of Sustainability &PhD student, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Amirkabir University of Technology (AUT), Hafez Avenue, Tehran

Abstract

The increase in growth of building construction projects has adverse effects on the environment and health condition of occupants. As building codes are determining factors in urban architecture, sustainable development and concerns over future generations demand implementing the building rating system is important which is based on environmental criteria. This paper investigates the main and international environmental rating systems for buildings, including BREEAM, LEED, and CASBEE respectively employed in United Kingdom, United States of America, and Japan. This comprehensive study also assesses Iranian Building Codes for their conformity to sustainable criteria. This comparative study of selected scheme was done by paying particular attention to the domain of credit allocation (i.e. the weighting system) and sustainable development criteria in each one, as well as the similarities and differences between these three rating systems have identified. Furthermore, Iranian national building codes are compared to BREEAM, LEED, and CASBEE. It is necessary to emphasize that these results are compared with Iran’s Building Codes for the first time. The rating systems of some countries including UAE, Qatar, and Egypt are also explored as various international experiences in localizing rating systems. It is recommended that according to the regional priorities a prevalent rating system should be selected and then adopted to the local properties of Iran to reach at an effective environmental rating system for construction. Consequently, regarding to environmental priorities of Iran in constructions, a novel framework for developing green construction and further new sections to be included in the Iranian Green Building Code are proposed. This study conveys that the most dominant criteria of green construction are identities despite the fact that they are ignored in Iranian National Building Codes. Renewable energy, water efficiency, waste management, ecological values, transport accessibility, and material efficiency over life cycle assessment are the basic principles for sustainable development that can lead to improved national green building codes and green building rating systems.

Keywords

References

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Journal of Architecture in Hot and Dry Climate
Volume 4, Issue 4
July 2017
Pages 1-14

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