4. Target identification

The adopted methodology employs the Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) 1 that was developed in USA by the U.S. Green Building Council for new construction as one of the most known environmental assessors in the market nowadays. The LEED tool aims to provide building stakeholders with a "report card" that indicates the health, efficiency, and comfort of the buildings. LEED recognizes the unique nature of the design and construction of ASHRAE Advanced Energy Design Guide [59] and addresses the specific needs of building spaces and occupant's health issues [60]. LEED is flexible to apply to all project types including healthcare facilities, schools, homes, and even the entire neighborhoods. LEED for Core and Shell can be used for projects where the developer controls the design and construction of the entire Core and Shell base building (e.g., mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection systems) but has no control over the design and construction of the tenant fit-out. Projects could include a commercial or medical office building, retail center, warehouse, or lab facility. It is designed to be complementary to LEED for commercial interiors and LEED for Retail: Commercial Interiors.

The allocation of points between credits is based on the potential environmental impacts and human benefits of each credit with respect to a set of impact categories. The impacts are defined as the environmental or human effect of the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the building, such as greenhouse gas emissions, fossil fuel use, toxins and carcinogens, air and water pollutants, and indoor environmental conditions. A combination of approaches, including energy modeling, life cycle assessment, and transportation analysis, is used to quantify each type of impact. The resulting allocation of points among credits is called credit weighting [61]. These credit weightings are shown in Figure 3. LEED V4 are awarded according to the following scale in Table 2.

the microclimate data for the GREENEDGE site. This is done through using a specific scientific computer-based methodology developed by the author of the chapter through his research [6, 7, 56–58, 62–67] that mainly depends on a number of environmental design computer-based tools and especially the comprehensive

LEED ratings LEED v3 Certified 40–49 points Silver 50–59 points Gold 60–79 points Platinum 80+ points

Green Building Rating Systems as Sustainability Assessment Tools: Case Study Analysis

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.87135

• The analysis sustainable building design software (Autodesk Ecotect)

The use of computer software allow the visualization of the unseen environmental attributes in a three-dimensional interface, allowing by such comprehensive

environmental analysis and simulation tools. These tools are:

The credits weighting of the environmental categories of the LEED, [7].

• Climatic analysis software (Weather Tool)

• Shadowing analysis (Stereograph diagram)

• Synthesizing hourly climatic data (Meteonorm)

understanding of the issues involved in the assessment process.

• Solar analysis software (Solar Tool)

• Mahoney tables

111

Certification scale of LEED [18].

Figure 3.

Table 2.

This work aimed at achieving the LEED Rating system (Core and Shell). Most of the LEED issues could be quantified by analyzing the design input data, while other issues such as Indoor Environmental Quality needs a quantification tool to be assessed. This methodology employs thermal comfort and energy efficiency as environmental design targets. The effectiveness of the proposed measures is determined according to its ability to passively achieve thermal comfort by using minimum amount of energy possible. This helps the designer to recognize successful LEED strategies and measurements for achieving credit category goals.

This work had set the guidelines for the architectural and engineering design of the GREENEDGE building based on analyzing the macroclimate for Cairo city and

Green Building Rating Systems as Sustainability Assessment Tools: Case Study Analysis DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.87135


## Figure 3.

presents one project as a case study analysis. The adopted methodology employs the environmental assessor "Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design" to measure the compatibility of the design with principles of sustainability. Also environmental software (Autodesk Ecotect, HTB2, and Weather Tool in addition to environmental tools such as psychometric chart, Mahoney tables, and Stereograph diagram and Solar Tool) have been used in order to analyze the context and quantify the effectiveness of proposed passive strategies and measures. By such, design proposals in the early stages of design (i.e., design concept, orientation of buildings, using passive strategies and techniques, facade designs and projections, colors of the buildings, opening size and design, etc.) could be quantified. LEED has 110 credits which cover all the different disciplines in building design and construction. However, the current application focuses on the related credits to the early stages of design which lie directly under the architect responsibility and can affect the total

The adopted methodology employs the Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) 1 that was developed in USA by the U.S. Green Building Council for new construction as one of the most known environmental assessors in the market nowadays. The LEED tool aims to provide building stakeholders with a "report card" that indicates the health, efficiency, and comfort of the buildings. LEED recognizes the unique nature of the design and construction of ASHRAE Advanced Energy Design Guide [59] and addresses the specific needs of building spaces and occupant's health issues [60]. LEED is flexible to apply to all project types including healthcare facilities, schools, homes, and even the entire neighborhoods. LEED for Core and Shell can be used for projects where the developer controls the design and construction of the entire Core and Shell base building (e.g., mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection systems) but has no control over the design and construction of the tenant fit-out. Projects could include a commercial or medical office building, retail center, warehouse, or lab facility. It is designed to be

complementary to LEED for commercial interiors and LEED for Retail: Commercial

awarded according to the following scale in Table 2.

The allocation of points between credits is based on the potential environmental impacts and human benefits of each credit with respect to a set of impact categories. The impacts are defined as the environmental or human effect of the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the building, such as greenhouse gas emissions, fossil fuel use, toxins and carcinogens, air and water pollutants, and indoor environmental conditions. A combination of approaches, including energy modeling, life cycle assessment, and transportation analysis, is used to quantify each type of impact. The resulting allocation of points among credits is called credit weighting [61]. These credit weightings are shown in Figure 3. LEED V4 are

This work aimed at achieving the LEED Rating system (Core and Shell). Most of the LEED issues could be quantified by analyzing the design input data, while other issues such as Indoor Environmental Quality needs a quantification tool to be assessed. This methodology employs thermal comfort and energy efficiency as environmental design targets. The effectiveness of the proposed measures is determined according to its ability to passively achieve thermal comfort by using minimum amount of energy possible. This helps the designer to recognize successful

This work had set the guidelines for the architectural and engineering design of the GREENEDGE building based on analyzing the macroclimate for Cairo city and

LEED strategies and measurements for achieving credit category goals.

performance of the building.

Sustainability Assessment at the 21st Century

4. Target identification

Interiors.

110

The credits weighting of the environmental categories of the LEED, [7].


#### Table 2.

Certification scale of LEED [18].

the microclimate data for the GREENEDGE site. This is done through using a specific scientific computer-based methodology developed by the author of the chapter through his research [6, 7, 56–58, 62–67] that mainly depends on a number of environmental design computer-based tools and especially the comprehensive environmental analysis and simulation tools. These tools are:


The use of computer software allow the visualization of the unseen environmental attributes in a three-dimensional interface, allowing by such comprehensive understanding of the issues involved in the assessment process.
