THE IMPORTANCE OF STANDARDS IN GREEN BUILDING CERTIFICATION SYSTEMS

Climate change, limited resources, and high energy consumption imposed the use of the term "sustainability" on daily life. Since the construction industry consumes a significant amount of energy, sustainability has gained importance for professionals and researchers who focus on construction. Several certification systems such as BREEAM, CASBEE, SBTOOL, GREENSTAR, and LEED have been developed and introduced around the world, with LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) being one of the most recognized and rigorous tools for the assessment and recognition of "green" buildings. LEED is generally based on standards such as those issued by ANSI, ASHRAE, and IESNA, already widely used in the US. LEED's credibility and popularity as a certification system encourage professionals in other countries to use LEED too. However, limited success is achieved in non-US environments. To overcome this problem, studies were conducted in various countries like India, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Abu Dhabi, and Turkey to explore how LEED can best be adapted to local conditions. Regardless of the country where a green building certification system is used, assessments of sustainable practices need to be adopted during design (site selection, selection of materials, energy-efficient design, etc.), construction (project management, resource use, construction methods, etc.), and operation (energy use, water use, indoor environmental quality, etc.), which require adequate standards. However, the standards in some countries may or may not be similar to US standards. Particularly in developing countries, standards may range from non-existent to locally developed instruments, while US standards are preferred in some. The development of standards is a complex process and has a high impact on the effectiveness of practices in the construction industry, particularly in sustainable design and construction. This study is expected to draw attention to the standards that are in effect in the US and that are commonly referred to by LEED. The intent is not only to expose the standards related problems in the countries that use LEED or a variation of LEED in their green certification processes, but also to function as a guideline in any attempt to develop standards for this purpose. This study contributes to the sustainability efforts of professionals in different countries. These professionals are expected to benefit from this study by deliberately creating new codes, standards and regulations, or adjusting the existing codes, standards and regulations to reflect the local conditions in their respective environments, and to facilitate the implementation of sustainability principles in their respective countries.