With sustainability being an ever-present objective within the context of new buildings or the retrofitting of existing ones, internationally-recognised sustainability ratings appear to be increasingly sought after.
Among the various accessible programmes is LEED, a rating system devised by the US Green Building Council, which can be applied to all building types and phases, including new construction, interior fit outs, operations and maintenance.
Mark Arrigo, Founder and Director at MA Architects and an accredited LEED professional, believes that LEED certification is becoming increasingly important as it defines a high-performance building in terms of its low carbon footprint, low emissions, and the resulting lower contribution to global warming.
“It is proven to improve asset value mainly from the fact that the building will offer a better environment for the users that results in better performance of individuals, better staff retention and lower running costs. It also has an effect on the reputation of a company, and the possibility nowadays to take advantage of schemes relating to sustainable construction and operation.”
With a slogan that describes it as ‘people, planet, profit’, the primary objectives of the LEED framework, says Mark, is to design and construct buildings that create a comfortable and healthy environment for the users of the building and the community, to create buildings that have the least negative impact on our planet or help improve the environment, and to create buildings that are still economically feasible with an aim to save costs in the long run.
“Certification is based on quite of lot of factors, some prerequisites and some optional credits depending on the certification level desired that is based on the score achieved,” says the architect.
“In general, they look at the right location, the right materials, environmentally friendly technologies, products and materials, adequate design that has the least impact on the surroundings, water and energy efficiency and to achieve healthy environments.”
A question that frequently arises about the value of such certification frameworks is the ability to measure the effectiveness of the programme itself. Mark says that not only can effectiveness be measured, but it is mandatory to do so over the period of operation once the building is certified.
“This is mainly done through metering of water and electricity consumption, monitoring the use of renewable resources and user surveys. Use of building management systems can also record and control installations to help achieve these targets.”
Within this context of construction, architecture and design, the MA Architects Founder says “ a sustainable building is one that has a level of self-sustainability, the ideal would be net-zero or carbon-neutral.”
“This means that in all aspects and stages of the construction, right from the sourcing of the raw materials, the management of the site works, through to the operation, the building manages to have a low impact on the environment.”
This is what the industry refers to as a life cycle approach, where all elements of a building are assessed in this way.
“From an architectural perspective, a designer should be able to design with the elements and specify solutions in order to reduce the impact of a building on the environment and surroundings. One main example is source reduction, which put simply, means reducing the need for materials or resources from construction materials to electricity.”
Locally, a few buildings have successfully acquired LEED certification, while others are pending certification. “There seems to be more awareness and willingness to achieve these higher performance targets, which is encouraging.”
As a LEED professional, the architect shares that one aspect that drew him towards accreditation is seeing the tangible effects of global warming, “and realising that there are ways to reduce or slow down this affect.”
“The construction industry on average contributes 35 to 40 per cent of carbon emissions, which is a large portion and therefore a good place to try and make a difference. LEED is one of the leading certifications and is used worldwide, so it made sense to use this platform to better my knowledge and at the same time, give me the tools to potentially even assist with certification of buildings.”
