By,
Prof. Ranjith Dissanayake
Head, Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of Peradeniya
Ex. Vice President, Green Building Council of Sri Lanka
Introduction Green building is an
in integrative effort to transform the way the built environments are designed,
constructed and operated. This concept should be applied from individual
infrastructure to entire communities. The scope of green building reaches from
the earliest stages of planning to beyond the end of a structure’s life. It
runs up and down in manufacturing and supplying chain. It encompasses the
production and fate of every substance that goes into or out of a green
project. Therefore, scope of green building requires an interdisciplinary
approach.
In this article, we are aiming to
provide our strategies for achieving those valuable and much needed greener
goals and GREENSL Rating System for built environment which is developed by the
Green Building Council of Sri Lanka (GBCSL) and compared LEED Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design which is developed by United State Green
Building council (USGBC).
The ultimate objectives of these
ratings are to achieve a goal of ecological quality and energy conservation,
ethical standards and social equity, economic performance and compatibility,
contextual and aesthetic impact and transferability. The main objective of
developing GREENSL is to consider our own requirements through the local
research outputs.
GREENSL Rating
System for built environment
Using GREENSL Rating System for
built environment transforms the design, construction, and operation of built
environments and shift practice towards higher performance, lower environmental
impact, and ultimately leads to regenerative designs. The section that follows,
describes the certification approach used by the Sri Lanka Green Building
Council and its GREENSL Rating System for built environment. GREENSL is a tool
that helps to create a high-performance, more sustainable built environment by
providing a framework for design, construction, and evaluation. It is up to
green building professionals to use this tool as part of an integrated planning
and design process to achieve real results on the ground. Green building
requires integrated approach, but in practice it depends on new strategies in
the various aspects of design and construction. Accordingly, the heart of this
rating is an introduction to the eight categories used in GREENSL namely,
Management (MN), Sustainable sites(SS), Water efficiency(WE),Energy &
atmosphere (EA), Material & Resources (MR),Indoor environment quality
(EQ),Innovation & design process (ID) and Social & cultural
awareness(SC).
Each chapter reviews the basic
concepts and strategies associated with each credit category, while recognizing
all intimately link relationships and consider together the effective
integrative processes.
Why green building is
important
Green building is important
because of the conventional buildings, land use of the people, the environment,
and our shared natural resources. The cumulative impact of the design,
construction, and operation of built environment has profound implications for
human health, the environment, and the economy. For example, with conventional development
practices,
- Clearing of land for development often destroys wildlife habitat;
- Extracting, manufacturing and transporting materials contribute to the pollution of water and air, the release of toxic chemicals, and the emission of greenhouse gases;
- Building operations require large inputs of energy and water and generate substantial waste streams; and
- Building-related transportation, such as commuting and services, contributes to a wide range of impacts associated with vehicle use energy consumption, and harmful environmental effects.
In general, buildings account for
a high proportion of resource use and waste generation, as follows:
- 15% of potable water consumption;
- 30% of waste output;
- 40% of carbon dioxide emissions;
- 40% of raw materials use;
- 50% of energy use; and
- 70% of electricity consumption.
These values are varied depending
on country, life styles of the citizens and economical level.
Modifying the conventional way in
which homes, schools, offices, shopping centers, hospitals, and cities are
designed can have a beneficial effect on the environment. Green building
practices can minimize human use of natural resources while generating economic
benefits that include lower operational costs and higher human productivity.
Green buildings are efficient and comfortable, and they contain the amenities
needed for a better quality of life, including improved health. Many of the
elements of green building are not new or even unique. For example, Energy
efficiency, Smart growth, Water conservation, and Indoor air quality have been
the main focus on various programs and incentives, both governmental and market
driven. What distinguishes green building is its focus on all of these issues
in an effort to contribute solutions to pressing health, environmental, and
economic challenges through the location, design, construction, and operation
of buildings.
The trend in Sri Lanka towards
green building practices has quickened recently, contributing to a market
transformation in the supply of building products, and services and in the
demand for skilled professionals.
Procedure of getting GREENSL
The rating system of the GBCSL
consists four categories. The categories are determined based on the marks
(points) that are obtained by the project. The total points available are 100.
The four rating categories and required points to obtain a rating are as
follows.
- Platinum – 70 points or above
- Gold – 60~69 points
- Silver – 50~59 points
- YES Certified – 40-49 points
GreenSL Accredited
Projects With the industrial revolution, the built environment in Sri Lanka is
believed to have accelerated impacts inimical to the environment. The
consequences of these environmental damages sometimes caused severe
disruptions. Therefore the environmental consciousness among communities has
been gradually increased. Thus Sri Lanka has become home to many green
buildings than before. The GreenSL Accredited Projects have been
given in the table below.
As the GBCSL, we will guide
industry on how the essential requirements are achieved. Also, we will give all
necessary advises, assistance for preparing time targets, methods, related
documents and evidences etc.
Integrative Approach
The concept of an integrative
approach is a new paradigm that emphasizes connections and communication among
professionals throughout the life of a project. It involves bringing building
owners, operators, architects, planners, engineers, and contractors together
and working through an integrative process of allowing building teams to cross
traditional barriers and develop innovative solutions. The term integrative
design is most often applied to a new construction design process; however, the
concept of integrative design is applicable to any phase in the life cycle of a
building or land-use project.
The building design process
begins when the basic programmatic needs and requirements for the project are
determined. Schematic design follows, as the basic scheme that will be used to
meet the project goals in development. During design development, the scheme is
further refined into a design, and each component of that design is fleshed
out. Finally, construction documents are prepared to translate the design into
something that can be built.
In a conventional design process,
the architect, the engineers (civil, mechanical, electrical, structural), the
landscape architect, the construction contractors, and all others work
relatively independently on their individual scopes of work, handing off work
products to other professionals along the way. This separation of the
disciplines and generally linear design process can limit opportunities for
integration and synergy, particularly with construction contractors and other
specialists who traditionally become engaged only towards the end of the
process.
In contrast, in an integrative
design process, all the disciplines come together at the beginning to discuss
the project goals and requirements. A clear statement of sustainability and
performance goals guides this team to find new approaches to the project. As
the project progresses through the design phases, each element of the design is
reviewed to verify whether it meets the original goals and intent of the owner.
In this way, the project team engages in a more integrative approach that
allows for deeper integration and collaborative problem solving.
In an integrative process, the
property owner, designers, construction
contractors, and
other project team members
establish a mutual understanding
of the project’s goals, priorities,
and budget as early as
possible. Input from the major
stakeholders and members of
the design team is essential
before schematic design begins,
particularly since many
of the decisions associated
with environmental impacts are
made early in the design process,
starting with the location
of the project.
GBCSL Associate Professional
In order to promote greener
concept as well as to apply the
integrative design process in
Sri Lanka, we need to train professionals.
The Associate Professional
Training Course conducted
by the Green Building
Council of Sri Lanka (GBCSL)
is designed to train property industry
professionals to perform
as Green Professionals who
could lead the transformation
of construction industry in Sri
Lanka with Green building
practices to ensure the future
wellbeing of our Planet. For
more information GBCSL secretariat
can be contacted
through
srilankagbc[at]gmail[dot]com or
0112579130 or visiting Green
Building Council Sri Lanka,
“Vidya mandiraya”, No: 120/
10(Part),Wijerama Mawatha,
Colombo 07.
GBCSL has been training professionals
such as architects,
engineers (civil, mechanical,
electrical, and structural), landscape architect town planers,
Quantity surveyors, facility
managers, academics, environmentalist,
the construction
contractors, project managers,
executives and other relevant
professionals. They are trained
together. The training program
covers all areas such as Management,
Sustainable sites,
Water efficiency, Energy & atmosphere,
Material & resources,
Indoor environment
quality, Innovation & design
process and Social & cultural
awareness normally in four
days. Then they are grouped
to form an integrated team of
professionals such as Architects,
Engineers (civil, mechanical,
electrical, and structural),
Landscape Architects,
Construction Contractors,
Project Managers and other
relevant professionals depending
on the availability. These
groups are assigned to design
projects and they will have to
use the integrative design processes
and the projects will be
presented and evaluated.
The participants in this training
course are required to sit
for an examination conducted
by the accreditation board of
the GBCSL. Duration of the examination
will be two hours.
Those who are successful at
the examination will be
awarded with the certification
of ‘Associated Professional of
the GBCSL’ (GSLAP).
There are three levels:
- GREENSL Green Associate
- GREENSL Accredited Professional
- GREENSL Fellow
Time frame of Obtaining
Green Rating
Obtaining a Green rating is
not a task limited to several
days or weeks. It must
start at the preliminary design
stage of the project
and continue up to the commissioning
stage. Thereare procedures to follow
during site selection, initial
planning on construction
such as erosion control,
site cleaning procedure,
reusing topsoil, existing
habitat protection,
development of footprint
reduction, and assisting
the architect and engineers
on designing the
structure in such a way
that the structure will use
maximum daylight and
natural ventilation etc.
During the design stage,
the design team should
achieve the Green targets
related to sustainable
site development,
water and energy efficient
design concepts
including obtaining
proper atmospheric conditions,
indoor environment
qualities and we
will focus on selection of
environmentally friendly
material etc. Quality
monitoring and submitting
progress reports to
GBCSL throughout the
construction stage
should be done. GBCSLwill take part in site visits,
inspections, discussions
and meetings.
Finally, verification of the
commissioning plan, the
onsite commissioning
and building tuning procedure
etc should be
done at the completion
stage. Re-commissioning should be done after 12
months.
Conclusion
Both GBCSL and USGBC are
members of WGBC (World
Green Building Council) and
both have similar objectives
in their respective countries.
Therefore, GREENSL and
LEED are similar rating developed
by respective council
but GREENSL is much
more relevant to Sri Lankan
context as it has been developed
considering our own requirements
and through the
local research outputs.
GBCSL would like to request
all building which are rated
other than GREENSL to go for
a re certification.
GREENSL Rating system is a
more appropriate tool for
evaluating built environment
than LEED in Sri Lanka. With
consideration of social atmosphere
and environmental
impacts in Sri Lanka,
GBCSL provides better approaches
for Sri Lanka than
LEED as the process is
much in line with Sri Lankan
needs.
Reference
GREENSL Rating System for
Built Environment which is
developed by the Green
Building Council of Sri Lanka
(GBCSL), 2015 January
LEED, Leadership in Energy
and Environmental Design
which is developed by United
State Green Building Council
(USGBC), 2011.
Adopted from SLEN Magazine.
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