An approach for design process of green buildings projects: LEED V4 certification process model

Global warming, pollution and the rapid consumption of natural resources, together with the concept of sustainability made environmentally friendly green building design and construction number one agenda item for the industry stakeholders.. Sustainable building design is actually not a new approach. Design approaches devised in order to take maximum advantage of natural energy sources are also frequently encountered in conventional applications. On together with the expansion of green building approaches, certification systems have developed in order to measure and classify the environmental impact of certain standards related to sustainable buildings by developed countries. In this thesis work, primarily focuses on sustainability and green building concepts, examined green building certification systems and green building certification systems used in our country are investigated. UK originated BREEAM and US originated LEED certification system of green building certification systems became widespread at the international level. According to investigations in this study, the most commonly used in our country is the LEED certification system and the demand for LEED certification system it has been found to increase rapidly today. In this study, intended to create a guiding source for green building design process and in order to demonstrate an effective design process LEED certification system model is used as a tool. In the third part of the thesis, the LEED certification system which is the final version of the revised continuously developed and updated in 2014 after a 5 year period, LEED V4 certification system have been examined. This section LEED V4 certification system provides information about types, LEED V4 BD+C (design & construction) has focused on evaluation categories for new buildings in the system and credit to be taken into account at the design stage and score weights are determined. The fourth section focuses on green building design requirements. In this section firstly, passive ventilation and natural lighting should be considered in green building design strategies were announced. After that the LEED V4 for new construction BD&C design lending requirements summarized and LEED certification system strategies has been identified to be followed in the design process. In the next chapter, for the aim of assessing the design process of LEED applications in our country, two sample projects that received LEED Gold certificate in the new building category and the one project that is candidate of LEED Gold certification in core & shell category are examined. Then interpretation of the designer of projects about the LEED certification and design process has received. As a result of the samples analyzed and the interpretations of the designer, importance of the LEED natural ventilation and lighting system has emphasized in order to LEED certification decision to be given at the beginning of the project design process and meet the requirements of LEED certification. The nature of the multidisciplinary design process that increases the workload on the designers and has been found to extend the design process if not planned well. The scope of the integrated design approach with the LEED certification process for green building design process is intensive and systematic work. This process is an interdisciplinary process that must be managed well. Thus, in the last part of the thesis, the LEED certification process was defined and the green building design process model was created based on the project stage. If the target is receiving LEED certification for a project, this decision should be taken before the start of the project to achieve an effective result and the project should be developed taking into account the requirements of sustainable design. In order to have an efficient LEED design process, the registration of the project in LEED system in the initial design phase of the project is important. In conculusion, by analyzing the natural data and having maximum benefit from natural resources that should be aimed for heating, cooling and lighting systems at the beginning of the design process. Also, in order to meet the targeted LEED credit requirements natural sources may be supported by mechanical systems. One of the most important issues in the LEED certification process is also integrated process management. In this context, at the beginning and in the process of the project, regular intervals negotiations about LEED stage and process should be planned such that all disciplines of the project must participate in. In this manner, coordination of the all project team and have been mastered of the entire project team should be ensured. In this way the entire project team will have more efficient project process in terms of both time and cost, as well as a sustainable project will be made more successful. In summary, in this thesis work, primarily focuses on sustainability and green building concepts, examined green building certification systems and green building certification systems used in our country are investigated. The most commonly used in our country as the LEED certification system and the demand for LEED certification system it has been found to increase rapidly today. So that in this study, intended to create a guiding source for green building design process and in order to demonstrate an effective design process, LEED certification system model is used as a tool. Importance of the LEED natural ventilation and lighting system has emphasized, in order to LEED certification decision to be given at the beginning of the project design process and meet the requirements of LEED certification. Finally, the LEED certification process was defined and the green building design process model was created based on the project stage by taking in to consideration LEED design requirements and passive climatization techniques.