Essay

Design, Technology and Materials (K14DTM)

Green Building Ratings & High-Rise Buildings
Mandar Mallappanavar
Student ID 4097515
Email : [email protected]
Abstract Need for framing a building construction policy

Lately, the world has been facing serious environmental problems due to human STERN review[9] is one such report as it contributes to assessing the evidence and helps
indulgence. The effects of industrialisation in last fifty years has brought humanity to build understanding of economics of climate change. It recommends policy changes in
face serious challenges cause the resources have become dearer and its abuse so far managing the transition to a low carbon economy to adapt the consequences of
has led to climate change. Many scientific evidences have proven an urgent climate change that can no longer be avoided. It goes onto conclude that the benefits
requirement to deal with risks of rising temperature leading to rising sea levels, of strong early action can considerably outweigh the initial input costs.
jeopardising habitats the world across. This essay highlights the advantages of having a
mechanism to assess aspects of building construction industry. It focuses
comprehensively on the existing rating systems for office and residential building types
such as BREEAM, LEED along with few other International Building rating systems and
urges upon the need to have a common global practice in assessing buildings the world
over with due respect to the climatic zones and resources which are easily procurable.

Fig 2
Annual flow of emissions
is accelerating as fast growing economies
like China and India are investing heavily in high carbon infrastructure and are
inevitably pushing up the demand for energy resources. There is an urgent need for
international collective action firstly to consider the challenges of building and
sustaining frameworks and guidelines to deal with climate change.

One principal EU source20 shows that four product groupings consistently account for
70-80% of environmental impact, and 60% of consumer expenditure:

 Food and drink (20-30% of impacts)

Fig 1  Passenger transport (15-35%)

  Housing – including buildings/construction, home energy use,heating and cohesive planning is required in providing for the new homes, jobs and infrastructure
household goods, especially energy-using products(20-35%) needed by communities to help shape places which have lower carbon emissions and
 Clothing (5-10%). are resilient to the climate change now accepted as inevitable.

Taking cues from the STERN report tabled in October 30 2006, the government of UK At the local level, substantial new developments will be expected to generate a
acknowledged that Planning has a pivotal role in influencing energy use and emissions, “significant” proportion of their energy supply on-site from renewable sources and/or
eg: through delivering growth where it can make good use of renewable/low-carbon from a decentralised, renewable or low-carbon energy supply going further on in
energy and reducing the need to travel. It can also create an attractive environment for favour of reduced energy use.
innovation and for the private sector to invest in renewable and low-carbon
The UK government like most other governments, world across are dedicating
technologies and can help future-proof the location and design of new development
themselves to help their environment sustaining planning systems to become faster
against, for example, flooding.
and more responsive to the business needs in context of sustainable development. [9]
It was stressed upon that an efficient land use planning and performance standards are
Life Cycle Assessment
needed to be encourage both public and private investment in buildings and other
long lived infrastructure. Much before to set guidelines with respect to sustainable development, the
construction industry was crying for ways and means for reduced energy costs in the
Key aims for devising such a policy were:
event of rising crude oil prices. The government bodies had allocated concerned
 Make good use of renewable/low carbon energy and reduce the need to travel. departments to help the industry to derive methods to achieve rational use of the

 Private sector investing in renewable and low carbon technology available resources. It was necessary to streamline the planning process and this was

 Help future proof the location and design of new development against climatic needed to be investigated right from the planning stage of a building, to its planning

adversaries. For e.g. Flooding. stage and ultimately to the buildings usage over its entire life span also called as ‘Life

 Encourage public transport Cycle Assessment’.

 Protect natural resources

The assessment has led onto industry being able to choose least burdensome method
 Managing waste sustainably
to execute a product and services after thorough analysis of the available means of
 Ultimately reducing of green house gas emissions. [9]
delivering it. LCA is quite a measuring tool to assess the impact of emerging technology

The Government is keen to ensure that measures to tackle climate change become an ultimately helping the industry to bring sustainable products and services. It is a

integral part of public planning policy. It was meant to be agreed upon that an all
 Impacts of the built environment:

Aspects of Built Consumption: Environmental Ultimate Effects :

Environment: Effects:
 Site  Energy  Waste  Harm to
Human Health
 Design  Water  Air pollution
 Environmen
 Construction  Materials Water
t Degradation
pollution
 Operation  Natural
 Loss of
Resources  Indoor
 Maintenance Resources
pollution

Fig 1  Renovation
comprehensive assessment of the various stages involved in making and supplying  Heat islands

services leading to optimise the environmental performance of the technology.  Deconstruction

 Storm water
Common categories of assessed damages are global warming (greenhouse runoff
gases), acidification, smog, ozone layer depletion, eutrophication, eco-toxicological and
 Noise
human-toxicological pollutants, habitat destruction, desertification, land use as well
as depletion of minerals and fossil fuels.
Table 1
Green Buildings To help assess these impacts the developed economies who had the expertise and
urgent need for doing these assessments, devised a few rating systems such as
If all this is seen categorically in the context of a built environment, the present day
BREEAM and LEED. The successes of these tools further lead the other major
concept of ‘Green Buildings’ has set aside its own market value by banking upon the
economies to derive their own versions of assessment tools to serve local conditions.
environmentally responsible and resource-efficient techniques throughout a building's
life-cycle from sitting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation and Green Building Rating Systems
deconstruction. This practice expands and complements the classical building design
concerns of economy, utility, durability, and comfort. BREEAM
It was created by BRE in the UK in 1990 [2]. advantage of new research, to reflect changing priorities in regulations and in the
BREEAM (The Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) market place, to build on experience gained and duly establish being the best practice
assesses the environmental performance of both new and existing buildings in several to follow, always going beyond what is required by regulations.[*]
categories. It is regarded as the measure of best practice in environmental design and
With four levesl of achievement:
management in the UK. It sought to provide authoritative guidance on ways of
minimising the adverse effects of buildings on the global and local environments while Pass, Good, Very Good and Excellent.
promoting a healthy and comfortable indoor environment. It was a world first, and has
since formed the basis for similar schemes in other countries.
Its a credit based assessment tool and a BRE trained individual or consultant is
assigned to carry out the assessment upon which a certificate is awarded to the
assessed building for adhering to the best sustainable practices by following the stated Highlights of BREEAM can be attributed to following benefits figured in the market
survey carried out by Deloitte & Touche Consulting Group.
objectives:
 To distinguish buildings of reduced environmental impact in the market place.
 Financial - achieving higher rental incomes, increasing energy efficiency, and
 To encourage best environmental practice in building design, operation, higher productivity.
management and maintenance.  PR/Marketing - as a selling point to potential customers or tenants.
 To set criteria and standards going beyond those required by law and
 Benchmarking- ensuring best practice, providing a thorough checklist for
regulations. comparing buildings and guiding their improvement
 To raise the awareness of owners, occupants, designer’s and operators of the
 Staff/user benefits- creating a better place for people to work more productively
benefits of
 Environmental improvement - to support a wider corporate strategy or act as a
buildings with
standalone review.
a reduced
impact on the The BREEAM establishes a set of issues categories under which specific credit

environment. requirements are grouped. These are:

The assessment tool Management Overall policy and procedural issues

Health and Comfort Indoor and External issues
undergoes regular Energy Operational energy and CO2 issues
up gradation to take Transport Transport related CO2 and locational issues
Water Consumption and leakage related issues
 Materials Environmental implications of materials selection provides third party verification for strategies aimed at improving performance across
Land use Greenfield and brownfield site issues
all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions
Site Ecology Ecological value of the sites issues
Pollution Air and water pollution issues(excluding CO2) reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and
sensitivity to their impacts. It too is a credit based system and has gone through
Table 2
regular upgradation to be at par with emerging technologies. [5]

The assessment have

definitely led to better results
as can be seen in the below
LEED-New Construction check list and points available are as follows:
graph

LEED 2009 for New Construction and Major Renovations Project

Checklist
Sustainable Sites 26 Possible Points
Prerequisite 1 Construction Activity Pollution Prevention Required
Credit 1 Site Selection 1
Fig 5 Benefit expectations of users of BREEAM Credit 2 Development Density and Community Connectivity 5
before before and after an assessment Credit 3 Brownfield Redevelopment 1
Credit 4.1 Alternative Transportation—Public Transportation Access 6
Credit 4.2 Alternative Transportation—Bicycle Storage and Changing
Rooms 1
Credit 4.3 Alternative Transportation—Low-Emitting and Fuel-Efficient
Vehicles 3
LEED
Credit 4.4 Alternative Transportation—Parking Capacity 2
Credit 5.1 Site Development—Protect or Restore Habitat 1
It was created by USGBC United staes green building council. LEED (Leadership in
Credit 5.2 Site Development—Maximize Open Space 1
Energy & Environmental Design) was evolved since its original inception in 1998 to Credit 6.1 Stormwater Design—Quantity Control 1
more accurately represent and incorporate emerging green building technologies. It Credit 6.2 Stormwater Design—Quality Control 1
Credit 7.1 Heat Island Effect—Nonroof 1 Credit 3.2 Construction Indoor Air Quality Management Plan—Before
Credit 7.2 Heat Island Effect—Roof 1 Occupancy 1
Credit 8 Light Pollution Reduction 1 Credit 4.1 Low-Emitting Materials—Adhesives and Sealants 1
Water Efficiency 10 Possible Points Credit 4.2 Low-Emitting Materials—Paints and Coatings 1
Prerequisite 1 Water Use Reduction Required Credit 4.3 Low-Emitting Materials—Flooring Systems 1
Credit 1 Water Efficient Landscaping 2-4 Credit 4.4 Low-Emitting Materials—Composite Wood and Agrifiber
Credit 2 Innovative Wastewater Technologies 2
Products 1
Credit 3 Water Use Reduction 2-4
Credit 5 Indoor Chemical and Pollutant Source Control 1
Energy and Atmosphere 35 Possible Points
Credit 6.1 Controllability of Systems—Lighting 1
Prerequisite 1 Fundamental Commissioning of Building Energy Systems Required
Credit 6.2 Controllability of Systems—Thermal Comfort 1
Prerequisite 2 Minimum Energy Performance Required
Credit 7.1 Thermal Comfort—Design 1
Prerequisite 3 Fundamental Refrigerant Management Required
Credit 7.2 Thermal Comfort—Verification 1
Credit 1 Optimize Energy Performance 1-19
Credit 8.1 Daylight and Views—Daylight 1
Credit 2 On-site Renewable Energy 1-7
Credit 8.2 Daylight and Views—Views 1
Credit 3 Enhanced Commissioning 2
Innovation in Design 6 Possible Points
Credit 4 Enhanced Refrigerant Management 2
Credit 1 Innovation in Design 1-5
Credit 5 Measurement and Verification 3
Credit 2 LEED Accredited Professional 1
Credit 6 Green Power 2
Regional Priority 4 Possible Points
Materials and Resources 14 Possible Points
Credit 1 Regional Priority 1-4
Prerequisite 1 Storage and Collection of Recyclables Required
TOTAL 110
Credit 1.1 Building Reuse—Maintain Existing Walls, Floors and Roof 1-3
Credit 1.2 Building Reuse—Maintain Existing Interior Nonstructural Table 3
Elements 1-2
Credit 2 Construction Waste Management 1
Credit 3 Materials Reuse 1-2
Credit 4 Recycled Content 1-2 The rating system has got four levels of ratings:
Credit 5 Regional Materials 1-2
Credit 6 Rapidly Renewable Materials 1  Certified - 40 - 49 points
Credit 7 Certified Wood 1
Indoor Environmental Quality 15 Possible Points  Silver - 50 - 59 points
Prerequisite 1 Minimum Indoor Air Quality Performance Required
Prerequisite 2 Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) Control 1  Gold - 60 - 79 points
Credit 1 Outdoor Air Delivery Monitoring 1
Credit 2 Increased Ventilation 1  Platinum - 80 points and above
Credit 3.1 Construction Indoor Air Quality Management Plan—During
Construction 1 Other International Rating Tools for buildings.
  BREEAM international Levels are

3000 more buildings are certified by BREEAM outside UK. In 2008 BRE launched bronze for above 40% overall and 45% IEQ
BREEAM EUROPE AND BREEAM GULF.[5]
Silver for above 55% overall and 50% IEQ
 CASBEE- Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental
Gold for above 65% overall and 55% IEQ
Efficiency developed in Japan in 2001 and assesses four main categories: Energy
Efficiency, Resource Efficiency, Local Environment and Indoor Environment. It Platinum for above 75% overall and 65 IEQ
measures every category into two categories i.e. quality and other for loading
Third party approved assessor is required.
and divides the former by later. The buildings are rated from Class C, B-,B+,A and
S(excellent).[5]

 Green Star developed in Australia in 2003 with BREEAM as its basis. Points are
Earned in Management, Indoor Environment Quality, Energy, Transport, Water,
Materials, Landuse and Ecology, Emissions and Innovation. And grading is
awarded by an approved third party assessor in the form of %. Minimum of 45
points are needed to be scored. There are three levels of certification. [5]

Best practices(45-59)****

Australian Excellence(60-74)*****

World leadership(74 and above)******

Casestudies
Hong Kong Building Environmental Assessment Method(HK-BEAM)
ACCESS and BRIDGE- “Very Good” BREEAM rating.
Developed with BREEAM and launched in 1996. By 2009 170 buildings were certified in
HK and China. Four levels of certification may be achieved, with minimum
requirements for both the overall score and the indoor environmental quality(IEQ)
score. [5]
Access, Brussels, Belgium Bridge, Brussels, Belgium
Client : Access Immo SA  Client : Bridge Immo SA
Architect : DSW Architects (Bruxelles)  Architect : Bureau Cerau (Bruxelles) 
Area : 12.000 m² Area : 13.000 m² Fig 7
Fig 6

Some of the key features of the building which secured the Very Good rating include:

 The design ensures that all lighting, heating and ventilation systems allow zoning
arrangements to be modified. This will give buildings occupants a greater degree
of control.

 The reduction of energy consumption by: providing presence and daylight

controls on all lighting; greatly reducing air permeability to prevent heat loss and
Fig 8

draughts; and installing an innovative lift technology with regenerative drives,

where energy generated by descending lifts is fed into the buildings' electrical
loads such as lighting.

 Strictly limiting the volume of waste produced. It is expected that almost 100%
of non-hazardous waste will be diverted from landfill – for example, through on-
and off-site reuse of aggregates. [1]
 Client: Hearst Corporation

Architect : Sir Norman Foster

Area: 79500 sq.m

Building height 182m

No.of storeys : 42

Facts

Hearst Tower, Manhattan, New York.  Hearst Tower rises from behind the preserved facade of the old 6-story 
 The triangulated steel frame uses 21% less steel than a traditionally framed
building.
 90% of the 10,480 tonnes of steel used in construction comes from recycled
material.
 The building is naturally ventilated for up to three quarters of the year.
 Light sensors in the building measure the amount of natural light coming in, and
automatically minimize the usage of electric lighting inside.
 A system on the roof collects rainwater and, instead of directing it into the
sewer system, uses it to water plants throughout the building and to replace
moisture lost through air conditioning.
 A three-story water feature named "Icefall" courses through the grand atrium
inside the entrance. The sheet of flowing water is supplied by the rainwater
collection system, and helps to humidify and to chill the lobby.
 Interior walls are kept to a minimum in order to maximize penetration of natural
light throughout the building.
For LEED GOLD Rating[6]
 The lobby is connected to the Columbus Circle subway station. As part of the  Record low absenteeism or incidence of illness
tower's development, the Hearst Corporation funded major improvements to  Score brownie points for the savings achieved and leaving a lighter
various access points to this station.[6] [7] environmental footprint
But the trend has been revolutionary, its being more evolutionary[*] . the
builders need to keep themselves constantly updated with the newly changing
green technologies. They should be accustomed to the requirements stated in
the energy assessment tools such as LEED, BREEAM or others,

The ideal situation should involve three stages during the entire building process
Energy Rating systems for Tall buildings  Preconstruction
People and planning authorities are aware that the space is limited more so in  Construction
cities and the resources too are becoming dearer to the build the new ones.  Post construction
Construction Industry has always been keen onto build buildings, the possibly
The rating systems have led to bring in these three stages and are able to:
fastest way so as to let the tenants occupy space at earnest ensuring early cost
recoveries. In the run to achieve this though, various code requirements are  Bring down or eliminate the first cost premium for the green buildings
meant to be fulfilled. It requires knowledge and experience for the right kind of  Raise the minimum performance standard of energy and water efficincey along
design and sustainable building strategies to be incorporated and needs to be with indoor environmental quality and site selection
developed cohesively along with the owner, the builder, the designer, the tenant
 Increase the no. Of clients blindly aiming for higher rating for their building
and also the facility operator. All their inputs lead onto form the essentials for
 Restorative and net positive in tall buildings with aspects of energy, water,
the project such as the design brief, the plans, specifications and the budgets to
waste, materials and environmental quality inside and outside the building.
identify possible sustainable features in developing a cost based program based
 Minimum load on the grid by use of alternative sources of energy such as wind
[4][8]
strategy.
and solar
Its only now that major commercial tenants have been clearly stating that they
 Use of technologies to discharge water and air that is cleaner than they take in.
want green buildings for the broker community on the note that buildings
deliever: The tall buildings will do more justice in an urban environment when:

 Healthier environments to live and work

 The overall quality of living in and around a tall building will score above the
 Result in productive workforce
mere benefits of living in a dense and tall city.
  The ability to depend minimally on the resources available, prucrring mostly
from onsite energy sources and not from the grid.
 The provision of a natural environment within the stacked spaces for.e.g sky
gardens, sky bridges and courts creating mini ecosystems and microclimates
 Building typologies being primarily defined by the local climate and materials
and etc.
  Analysing the proliferation in the trend for asymmetrical Tall Buildings and its
impact on design, construction and costs.
 Analysing the latest trend of achieving phased occupancy whilst construction
continues to reap better economic returns
 Retrofitting an existing Tall Building to extend its profitability over its lifecycle. [8]

Synergies Between Leading LEED and BREEAM Rating Systems

The main difference between the two methods is the process of certification. BREEAM
has trained assessors who assess the evidence against the credit criteria and report it
to the BRE, who validate the assessment and issue the certificate. While LEED does not
require training, there is a credit available if an accredited professional (AP) is used.
The role of the AP is to help gather the evidence and advise the client. The evidence is
then submitted to the US-GBC which does the assessment and issues the certificate.

Both schemes share common components (Table besides). Early involvement of the
assessor or AP at the design stage is beneficial to the project and the final rating. Both
schemes drive the market to improve building design. The judging criteria also keep
pace with legislative developments and current best practice. [3]

LEED has some 66 LEED Accredited Professionals in UK and the US=GBC lists ten UK
LEED registered buildings. For e.g. Herman Millier HQ, Cheltenham (BREEAM excellent)
and Van de Kamp Bakery, at Los Angeles City College. The bakery gained a certified
LEED rating and a Good BREEAM 2005 rating. The latest versions of both LEED and Fig 9, 10 http://www.nyc-architecture.com/MID/MID124.htm accessed 21st may
11:34
BREEAM have post occupancy credits. Many governments and corporate houses are
choosing either BREEAM or LEED to rate their buildings. [3]

While some national green building council are developing their own environmental Table References

assessment methods, some are adapting one of the existing schemes. Providing Dual
Tab 1,2 http://www.building.co.uk/sustain_story.asp?storycode=3153065
assessment is only adding to the data bank for better building design practices and
Tab 3 www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=5719 accessed 20 th may 2010
benefitting the industry in general on a global scale.
11:45
Different climatic and geographical issues need to be ranked differently to match
regional environment and regulations. BREEAM has long been able to adapt to local Tab 4 BREEAM or LEED //www.bsria.co.uk/news/breeam-or-leed/ accessed 21st may
contexts. With BREEAM Bespoke, for example, the assessor can work with BRE to 2010 09:33
develop assessment criteria specially tailored to a building where it doesn't fit neatly
References
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developed by individual national green building councils. Canada was the first, 2010 11:02
followed by India. Countries such as Brazil and Italy are looking to have their own [2] BREEAM – BREEAM 98 for offices by Roger Baldwin,Alan Yates, Nigel
Howard,Susheel Rao. Published in 1998.
versions soon.The Dutch Green Building Council has also adopted BREEAM as its
favoured environmental assessment method. There is room for both to co exist and [3] BREEAM or LEED http://www.bsria.co.uk/news/breeam-or-leed/ accessed 20 th
partner than being rivals. [3] may 2010 23:01 http://www.building.co.uk/sustain_story.asp?
sectioncode=284&storycode=3135155&c=3 18th may 2010 16:55
Image References
Fig 1,2 STERN report
[4]Delievering sustainable tall buildings http://www.cibse.org/pdfs/Ant
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/30_10_06_exec_sum.pdf accessed
%20Wilson.pdf accessed 20th may 2010 21:33
18th may 2010 14:24
http://www.marcusevans.com/marcusevans-conferences-event-details.asp?
EventID=16605&SectorID=21 accessed 19th may 2010 11:51
Fig 3 Building Life Cycle images http://www.epmtech.jotne.com/project-information-
[5] Guide to green building rating systems by Linda Reeder
owners.442302-79297.html accessed 21st may 12:19

Fig 4,5 BREEAM – BREEAM 98 for offices by Roger Baldwin,Alan Yates, Nigel [6] Hearst Tower http://www.emporis.com/application/?
Howard,Susheel Rao. Published in 1998. nav=building&lng=3&id=135112 accessed 21st may 2010 11:30
[7] Hearst tower http://www.nyc-architecture.com/MID/MID124.htm accessed 21st
Fig 6,7,8 Acces and bridge http://www.b4f.eu/references03-en.php accessed 21st may 11.35
may 2010 11:02 [8] Michael Deane, 2008
http://www.ctbuh.org/Portals/0/Repository/T4_Deane.6128390e-b506-4554-8beb-
5213a6f1a373.pdf accessed 19th may 2010 11:47

[9] Stern Report -

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/30_10_06_exec_sum.pdf accessed
18th may 2010 14:24