7/25/2019 Green Sustainable and High Performance Buildings

1/6

BS 716- Principles of Green Building Design and Delivery

13.11.2012

Green, Sustainable and High

Performance BuildingsDefinitions, Similarities and Differences

Zeynep akr

7/25/2019 Green Sustainable and High Performance Buildings

2/6

1

It is obvious that as human beings we are overpopulated in our habitat, planet Earth. This

overpopulation has only been possible due to the technological advances taking its roots from the

industrial revolution. These technological advances the history has ever witnessed enabled us to use

the natural resources to an extent at which the nature can hardly sustain itself and also it made us

the most powerful and destructive species on Earth. Since we ve already dominated the use of

natural resources and most of the habitat on the Earth, we have to act responsibly and sensitively to

help the nature sustain itself so that it can support the life as we know it in the coming centuries as

well.

Human beings are mostly populated in urban areas around the world where the use of resources is

most extensive. Green, sustainable, eco-friendly, etc urban settlement stresses the idea that since we

have already destructed parts of the nature to build large cities, we should stop or reduce the urban

sprawl to prevent further damage to the nature. Instead, we should use the already destroyed areas

and construct buildings which lives in harmony with its surroundings and has little environmental

footprint within a compact city form. Therefore, it is a must more than some eco-sensitivity that we

construct more green or sustainable or high performance buildings not only for the sake of nature

itself but also for the sake of us and the coming generations. Clearifying the need for

green/sustainable/high performance buildings, we need to define the specifications and differences

of these buildings from conventional architecture.

Although the definitions of green, sustainable and high performance buildings overlap, there are still

some slight differences between them. In fact, there is not an exact definition for any of these terms.

Mostly used definitions of green building can be summarized as follows:

Green building is the practice of creating structures and using processes that are

environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle from

siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation and deconstruction. This

practice expands and complements the classical building design concerns of economy, utility,

durability, and comfort. Green building is also known as a sustainable or high performance

building. US Environmental Protection Agency

US EPA continues as Green buildings are designed to reduce the overall impact of the built

environment on human health and the natural environment by:

Efficiently using energy, water, and other resources

Protecting occupant health and improving employee productivity Reducing waste, pollution and environmental degradation

According the definition of US EPA, green, sustainable and high performance buildings literaly mean

the same as it is clearly stated in the definition given above.

evre Dostu Yeil Binalar Dernei (EDBK) - an established member of World Green Building Council-

defines green buildings as;

Buildings that are named as sustainable, ecological, green, environment-friendly, etc are the

buildings that are considered throughout its life-cyle starting from siting to demolition; are

designed with a holistic approach considering social and environmental responsibility; fit in

the local environment and climatic conditions; consume as much as it needs; employing

7/25/2019 Green Sustainable and High Performance Buildings

3/6

2

renewable energy sources as much as possible; encouraging the use of natural materials and

are sensitive to the ecosystems.(translated from [1])

Green buildings has other definitions based on green building certification systems. Green building

certification systems basically assess the greenness of a building based on some categorized criteria

and the related standards. These systems mainly assess site selection, energy use and efficiency,water use and efficieny, material use and indoor environmental quality for user comfort and health.

LEED system developed by US Green Bulding Council- is one of these certification systems. For

example, a building that is called green in the sense of LEED should consider the following five

factors [2]:

1. Promote selection of appropriate sites and environmentally sustainable site development

2. Promote efficient use of water resources

3. Conserve energy, use renewable energy and protect atmospheric resources

4. Conserve building materials, reduce construction waste and sensibly use natural resources

5.

Protect and enhance indoor environmental quality

Many countries have their own green building rating systems or codes. Some of them have

developed their own systems while others modified the existing ones. The list of these countries and

the systems they use are listed in the following table [4].

AustraliaNabers /Green Star

Brazil:AQUA /LEED Brasil

Canada:LEED Canada /Green Globes /Built Green Canada

China:GBAS

Finland:PromisE France:HQE

Germany:DGNB /CEPHEUS

Hong Kong:HKBEAM

India:Indian Green Building Council (IGBC)/GBCIndia (Green Building Construction India)/

GRIHA

Indonesia:Green Building Council Indonesia (GBCI) /Greenship

Italy:Protocollo Itaca /Green Building Council Italia

Japan:CASBEE

Korea, Republic of:Green Building Certification Criteria /Korea Green Building Council

Malaysia:GBI Malaysia

Mexico:LEED Mexico Netherlands:BREEAM Netherlands

New Zealand:Green Star NZ

Pakistan:Pakistan Green Building Council

Philippines:BERDE /Philippine Green Building Council

Portugal:Lider A /SBToolPT Republic of China (Taiwan):Green Building Label

Singapore:Green Mark

South Africa:Green Star SA

Spain: VERDE

Switzerland:Minergie

United States:LEED /Living Building Challenge /Green Globes /Build it Green /NAHB NGBS/International Green Construction Code (IGCC) /ENERGY STAR

http://www.nabers.com.au/faqs.aspxhttp://www.gbca.org.au/green-star/http://www.vanzolini.org.br/http://www.gbcbrasil.org.br/pt/http://www.cagbc.org/http://www.greenglobes.com/http://www.builtgreencanada.ca/http://www.cngbn.com/http://www.vtt.fi/http://www.certivea.fr/http://www.dgnb.de/http://www.cepheus.de/http://www.hk-beam.org.hk/http://www.igbc.in/http://www.gbcindia.org/http://www.grihaindia.org/http://www.gbcindonesia.org/http://www.gbcindonesia.org/greenship/guidelines.html/http://www.itaca.org/http://www.gbcitalia.org/http://www.ibec.or.jp/CASBEE/english/overviewE.htmhttp://greenbuilding.re.kr/http://www.greenbuilding.or.kr/http://www.greenbuildingindex.org/http://www.mexicogbc.org/http://www.dgbc.nl/http://www.nzgbc.org.nz/http://pgbc.org.pk/http://berderatingsystem.org/http://philgbc.org/http://www.lidera.info/http://www.iisbeportugal.org/http://www.iisbeportugal.org/http://www.iisbeportugal.org/http://www.cabc.org.tw/gbm/en/HTML/website/index.asphttp://www.bca.gov.sg/GreenMark/green_mark_buildings.htmlhttp://www.gbcsa.org.za/http://www.minergie.com/home_en.htmlhttp://www.usgbc.org/LEED/http://www.cascadiagbc.org/lbchttp://www.greenglobes.com/http://www.builditgreen.org/http://www.nahbgreen.org/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Green_Construction_Code_%28IGCC%29http://www.energystar.gov/buildingshttp://www.energystar.gov/buildingshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Green_Construction_Code_%28IGCC%29http://www.nahbgreen.org/http://www.builditgreen.org/http://www.greenglobes.com/http://www.cascadiagbc.org/lbchttp://www.usgbc.org/LEED/http://www.minergie.com/home_en.htmlhttp://www.gbcsa.org.za/http://www.bca.gov.sg/GreenMark/green_mark_buildings.htmlhttp://www.cabc.org.tw/gbm/en/HTML/website/index.asphttp://www.iisbeportugal.org/http://www.lidera.info/http://philgbc.org/http://berderatingsystem.org/http://pgbc.org.pk/http://www.nzgbc.org.nz/http://www.dgbc.nl/http://www.mexicogbc.org/http://www.greenbuildingindex.org/http://www.greenbuilding.or.kr/http://greenbuilding.re.kr/http://www.ibec.or.jp/CASBEE/english/overviewE.htmhttp://www.gbcitalia.org/http://www.itaca.org/http://www.gbcindonesia.org/greenship/guidelines.html/http://www.gbcindonesia.org/http://www.grihaindia.org/http://www.gbcindia.org/http://www.igbc.in/http://www.hk-beam.org.hk/http://www.cepheus.de/http://www.dgnb.de/http://www.certivea.fr/http://www.vtt.fi/http://www.cngbn.com/http://www.builtgreencanada.ca/http://www.greenglobes.com/http://www.cagbc.org/http://www.gbcbrasil.org.br/pt/http://www.vanzolini.org.br/http://www.gbca.org.au/green-star/http://www.nabers.com.au/faqs.aspx

7/25/2019 Green Sustainable and High Performance Buildings

4/6

3

United Kingdom:BREEAM

United Arab Emirates:Estidama

Thailand :TREES

Vietnam:LOTUS Rating Tools

Czech Republic:SBToolCZ

Australia:Green Building Architecture

Therefore, it can be said that there exist as many green building descriptions as the number of

certification systems.

High performance buildings incorporate efficient use of energy and resources. In the US Energy Policy

Act of 2005 (Section 914), a high performance building is defined as;

A building that integrates and optimizes all major high-performance building attributes,

including energy efficiency, durability, life-cycle performance, and occupant productivity

Also the Act defines High-Performance Buildings as the integration and optimization on a life cycle

basis all major high-performance attributes, including energy conservation, environment, safety,

security, durability, accessibility, cost-benefit, productivity, sustainability, functionality, and

operational considerations [3].

(from US National Institute of Building Science)

It is evident in the US EPA that high performance buildings cover both green and sustainable building

definitions and further considers additional attributes such as safety, functionality, aesthetics,

durability and cost effectiveness.

Considering all the above definitions, it is quite clear that green and sustainable buildings definitions

are generally used interchangibly while high performance building has a more distinctive definition.

In my opinion, green and sustainable building definitions can be differentiated based on the literal

meanings of the words green and sustainable. Green building definition might consider buildings

with properties related to being green, metaphorically, which means environmentally friendly.

While sustainable building definition might cover all three pillars of sustainability definition.

Sustainability is first mentioned in the sustainable development context in the Brundtlandt Report of

World Commision on Environment and Development in 1987 as:

Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising

the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

It contains within it two key concepts:

http://www.breeam.org/http://www.estidama.org/http://www.tgbi.or.th/http://www.vgbc.org.vn/en/lotus/lotus-vn-rating-tool/http://www.sbtool.cz/http://www.architecturedecor.com/green-architecture.html/http://www.architecturedecor.com/green-architecture.html/http://www.sbtool.cz/http://www.vgbc.org.vn/en/lotus/lotus-vn-rating-tool/http://www.tgbi.or.th/http://www.estidama.org/http://www.breeam.org/

7/25/2019 Green Sustainable and High Performance Buildings

5/6

4

the concept ofneeds, in particular the essential needs of the worlds poor, to which

overriding priority should be given; and

the idea oflimitationsimposed by the state of technology and social organization on the

environments ability to meet present and future needs.[5]

According to the report and the definition of sustainable development, the three pillars of

sustainability- or sustainable development- are social well-being of all the people of this and the

coming generations, protection of the environment and achieving economic growth. Considering

these three issues I can conclude that a sustainable building should help realize the sustainable

development. If we were to make a distinction between the definitions of green and sustainable

buildings, it would not be wrong to say that green building definition should focus more on the

sustainability of natural resources and the protection of the environment (one pillar of sustainability

definition) whereas sustainable building definition focuses on all the three aspects mentioned above.

It is also worth noting that sustainable development is like a utopia or is a hardly realizable

development scheme according to most of the authorities since considering the current technology,consumption patterns and economic models it is really difficult to protect the nature, provide inter-

and intra-generational social equity while promoting economic growth at this pace. Therefore,

sustainable building defined in this way might also become a somehow vague concept.

7/25/2019 Green Sustainable and High Performance Buildings

6/6

5

References:

[1] Yeil Bina Nedir ?. Retrieved 10.11.12

[2] Yudelson, J., Green Building A to Z, New Society Publishers, 2008

[3] High Performance Building Council - National Institute of Building Sciences. Retrieved 10.11.12

[4] Green building - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved 09.11.12.

[5] What is Sustainable Development? Retrieved 12.11.12.

http://www.cedbik.org/sayfalar.asp?KatID=3&ID=24http://www.nibs.org/?page=hpbchttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_buildinghttp://www.iisd.org/sd/http://www.iisd.org/sd/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_buildinghttp://www.nibs.org/?page=hpbchttp://www.cedbik.org/sayfalar.asp?KatID=3&ID=24