Establishing a region-based rating system for multi-family residential buildings in Iran: A holistic approach to sustainability

The concerns about deteriorative consequences for three sustainability pillars have highlighted the needs of considering sustainability in developing countries. Since a lack of policy exists about implementation of sustainability aspects in Iran, residential sector has not practically applied certifications. Therefore, a rating system for multi-family residential buildings was established by giving full consideration of sustainability pillars, since little attention was paid to social and economic aspects in Iran. To do so, well-known certifications were studied and Iran characteristics were considered to revise existing categories through 112 local experts' viewpoints. Fuzzy-Analytical Hierarchy Process was implemented for weightings of viewpoints. Results showed 12 categories and 76 criteria with a total score of 115. Energy and water efficiency were the most important categories, showing 20 and 18 points out of 109. For social sustainability, each categories of cultural identity, local heritage, and safety and privacy issues dominates with 0.5 point out of 3. For economic sustainability, each criterion of local material choice and life cycle cost were crucial categories with 0.4 point out of 2. This paper contributes to represent the way to develop a region-based rating system with holistic sustainability approach for buildings such as retail, healthcare, and other types of building.