ADOPTABILITY OF LEED GREEN BUILDING RATING SYSTEM IN SRI LANKA

Asanka S. Rodrigo 1, Maasha C. Jayaratne 2

1 2
Department of Electrical Engineering Ceylon Electricity Board
University of Moratuwa-Sri Lanka Colombo 02, Sri Lanka
asanka@elect.mrt.ac.lk maashajayaratne@gmail.com

Abstract - Building design and construction activities worldwide are rapidly growing and they have caused
massive energy and environmental impact. Therefore, the concept of green buildings emerged focusing on
sustainable and integrated resource use. There are many green building rating systems developed by various
countries. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) developed by United States Green Building
Council (USGBC) is considered as the mostly accepted green building rating system throughout the world.
Building benchmarking and ratings like Sri Lanka Building Code (2008) and Green Building Council of Sri Lanka
rating system (2010) are still at the preliminary stage. Therefore, this paper evaluates the most widely used
LEED for New Construction (LEED-NC) rating system for its adoption in Sri Lankan in the context of promoting
concepts of sustainable energy.

Preliminary survey based on interviews was carried out among LEED consultants. The survey identified the
factors affecting the adoption of green building requirements locally. Findings revealed that most of the LEED-
NC credit points are environmentally compatible and technically feasible in Sri Lanka.

Keywords: Green building, LEED, sustainability, rating system.

Introduction

The Concept of Green Buildings

The building design and construction industry has showed interest in improving environmental performance of
buildings and thus the so-called green buildings have gained interest [1]. Even though the green building
concept emerged during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it was in the 1980s, under the cover
of sustainable development and sustainable design, the green building proved to be successful. And it is the
time when publications including the concepts, practices, rating criteria and other green building related ideas
started entering the public horizon.

Green building has now become a flagship of sustainable development in this century that takes the
responsibility for balancing long-term economic, environmental and social health impacts of buildings [2].
There is no doubt that green building concept will benefit an organization not only through greater financial
returns, but also with other benefits, such as improved human health and productivity, reduced detrimental
impacts on the environment and increased standing in the community.

Green Building Rating Systems

A green building rating system is an effective framework for assessing building environmental performance and
integrating sustainable development into building and construction processes, as it can be used as a design tool
by setting sustainable design priorities and goals, developing appropriate sustainable design strategies and
determining performance measures to guide the sustainable design and decision-making processes [2]. It can
also be used as a management tool to organize and structure environmental concerns during the design,
construction, and operations phases [2].

The first green building guideline called Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method
(BREEAM) was introduced in the United Kingdom (UK) in 1990. Since then there has been a rapid growth in the
number of green building guidelines in the world, in last few decades more than 23 countries have developed
their own green building rating systems that are used as a benchmark in evaluating the level of sustainability of
buildings [3].
Nevertheless the concept of green building guidelines and their acceptance has been a relatively recent trend
among the developing countries as compared to the developed world and many developing countries are still
in the process of disclosing their own green building guidelines [2]. This research address green building rating
systems of similar categories related to building design and life cycle performance such as site, water, energy,
materials and resources, indoor environment, waste and pollution.

Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design

LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system for the design, construction and
operation of high performance green buildings developed by the USGBC. USGBC (2009) defines LEED as “a
voluntary rating program whose goal is to evaluate environmental performance from the whole building
perspective over the building’s lifecycle, providing definitive standard for what constitutes a green building”.
LEED provides third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies
aimed at improving performance across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2
emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to
their impacts [4].

Even though the USGBC began development of the LEED green building rating system (version 1.0) in 1994, it
became highly recognized with the introduction of LEED Version 2.0 standard which was released in May 2000
[5]. LEED has experienced an exponential growth since then. As of August 2004, about 1,450 projects were
registered while more than 21,252 organizations including corporations, government agencies, non-profit
organizations and others are members of USGBC as of May 2009 [4]. There are more than 81,155 LEED
Accredited Professionals (LEED-AP) who have passed the examinations of Green Building Certification Institute
(GBCI) and are experts in LEED while over 100,000 individuals are actively engaged in the promotion of LEED
[4].

According to USGBC (2009), LEED promotes and recognize performance in the following areas.
 Sustainable Sites
 Water Efficiency
 Energy and Atmosphere
 Materials and Resources
 Indoor Environmental Quality
 Innovation & Design Process

Based on the “points” achieved under the above categories four levels of LEED certification are possible.

Table 1: LEED Certification Levels

Ratings Points Required

Certified 26-32 points

Silver 33-38 points
Gold 39-51 points
Platinum 52-69 points

Benefits of LEED
Following are the benefits of green buildings and LEED certification understood by various studies [5, 6].

Table 2: Benefits of LEED

Environmental Benefits
Enhance and protect
ecosystems and biodiversity
Improve air and water
quality
Economic Benefits Health and Community Benefits
Reduce operating costs Improve air, thermal, and acoustic
environments
Enhance property and asset value and Enhance occupant comfort and health
profits
 Reduce solid waste
Optimize material usage
Conserve natural resources
Improve employee productivity and
satisfaction
Become eligible for financial incentive
programs (e.g. tax credits)
Optimize life-cycle economic performance
Minimize strain on local infrastructure
Provide education and commitment
of all towards sustainability
Contribute to overall quality of life

Factors Affecting Adoption of LEED

According to different researchers, there are several factors which have adversely affected the acceptance of
LEED in different countries and societies. The initial incremental cost related to implementing LEED is
considered one of the major influential factors. It is mostly discussed during the design and estimation of the
project by the architect and its consulting team. Estimations are carried out regarding implementation as well
as product and process costs which included commissioning efforts, while product cost may have included
upgraded equipment, controls and special features [7]. However, according to USGBC (2009), many green
buildings cost no more to build or even less than the alternatives because resource-efficient strategies often
allow downsizing of more costly mechanical, electrical and structural systems. Further complexity may cause an
additional burden on anyone who attempts to follow LEED as certain people possess the perception that the
documentation and certification procedures of LEED are costly and complex as well [7].Further, when applying
LEED-NC in countries other than the United States for which it was originally developed, aspects such as
compatibility, infrastructure, building policy, social needs, social and economic priorities may act as limitations
[2].

However, in addition to the number of benefits of LEED illustrated in table 2, Potbhare and Syal [8] have
identified the flexibility of credit choices, availability of information related to the credits through websites,
reference manuals, and competitive advantage associated with LEED as some positive attributes of LEED which
might have catalyzed its acceptance throughout the world.

LEED in Sri Lanka

Many organizations in different countries have adopted LEED while only a handful of LEED accredited green
buildings currently exist in Sri Lanka. According to USGBC (2010), fourteen Sri Lankan projects have been
accredited by the USGBC under LEED-NC.

Research Methodology
This research aims at evaluating the LEED-NC credit system based on different factors affecting adoptability
and finally to prioritize the credit items for feasible adoption in Sri Lanka. Therefore the views of various
professionals who have involved in the design, construction and management of LEED accredited green
buildings in Sri Lanka are evaluated regarding the adoptability of LEED credit requirements locally. Surveys are
normally used where the views or opinions of many need to be evaluated in order to achieve a conclusion.
Thus, survey research has been identified as the most suitable research approach in order to achieve the aims
and objectives of this study. A quantitative research approach has been used in this research study to quantify
the adoptability of the LEED rating system in Sri Lanka under different criteria, as Rudestam and Newton [9]
have suggested quantitative research approaches for the researches of this type.

Research Techniques
The data collection process of this particular research consisted of two main components as follows.

Preliminary Survey
The main objective of the preliminary survey was to discover the factors affecting the adoption of LEED-NC
green building rating system in the Sri Lankan context and to identify some key common factors out of those
which can be used to evaluate each and every credit requirement of the LEED-NC rating system. Therefore
interviews with three professionals involved in Sri Lankan green projects were carried out. The outcome or the
identified factors under the preliminary survey assisted in the preparation of the questionnaire of the detailed
questionnaire survey.
Detailed Questionnaire Survey
The detailed questionnaire survey constituted two main questionnaires.
 Questionnaire 1- evaluates the professionals’ perception on adopting each and every LEED-NC credit
requirement in Sri Lanka in terms of the factors identified in the preliminary survey.
 Questionnaire 2- to identify the adoption rates of LEED – NC credit criteria in Sri Lanka.

Unit of Analysis and Sampling

The questionnaire 1 considered the personal view of individuals regarding the LEED –NC green building rating
system. Therefore, the individual professional became the subject or unit for analysis. Therefore eighteen
professionals were randomly selected as the sample for this research study to represent the population.

For questionnaire 2, LEED-NC accredited and registered projects in Sri Lanka were selected as the unit of
analysis for this evaluation and all the projects accredited under Version 2.2 or later versions were selected as
the population.

Data Analysis
A statistical data analysis process was used in this research study to analyse the collected data. Percentages,
weighted mean and the correlation analysis were the descriptive statistical tools employed in this research
study.

Weighted Mean Rating

The following equation is used to evaluate the LEED-NC credit requirements based on the factors identified in
the preliminary survey with the use of a five point Likert scale. The mean rating calculated using the following
formula ranged between 1 and 5 based on the five point scale used and could be interpreted according to the
meanings given for the values of the scale in each scenario.

Mean Weighted Rating 

 (Vi  Fi )
n
Where,
Vi - Rating given by the respondent
Fi - Frequency of responses
n - Total number of responses

Percentages
Percentage calculations were used to determine the trends in the adoption of the credit items based on the
data collected from questionnaire 2.

Results and Analysis

Considering the views of the LEED consultants, following factors affecting the implementation of LEED-NC; five
negative factors and five positive factors could be identified as follows.

Table 3: Factors Influencing Adoption of LEED-NC

Negative Factors Positive Factors

Lack of awareness environmental responsibility

Lack of technology and expertise Government tax concessions

Complex and costly documentation Improvements in employee
procedure productivity and satisfaction
High initial cost Reduction in operation cost
Reluctant to change and take risks High market demand
One of the main objectives of the research is to evaluate the credit requirements of the LEED-NC green building
rating system to understand its adoptability in the Sri Lankan context. Preliminary survey identified many
positive and negative factors affecting LEED in the local context and out of all, three evaluation criteria such as
environmental compatibility, initial cost and technical feasibility were developed.

In the questionnaire 1 respondent were asked to rate their views on these factors (environmental
compatibility, initial cost and technical feasibility) for each credit point based on their experience of working on
LEED-NC certified projects in Sri Lanka. Each credit point was rated on a five-point Likert Scale. The scale
ranged from very low- (1) to very high-(5) for environmental compatibility and technical feasibility with values
of ‘low’ (2), ‘average’ (3) and ‘high’ (4) in between. For the initial cost, it varied from ‘very low’ (5) to ‘very high’
(1) respectively.

Analysis Based on Environmental Compatibility

LEED-NC credit system was originally developed for the United States even though currently it is used
worldwide. Therefore most people believe that the credit requirements are unsuitable for the local context.
Therefore, this component of the questionnaire aimed at studying the appropriateness of the credit system for
the geographic, climatic and the existing environmental conditions of Sri Lanka.

According to the findings of this research, most of the credit items are having more than average (more than 3)
mean rating showing that those credit requirements are environmentally compatible even in the Sri Lankan
context. It was evident that optimizing Energy Performance under the Energy and Atmosphere category
received the highest mean of 4.56 resulting in very high level of environmental compatibility in Sri Lanka.
Further, many credits could be identified as having high level (3.5 < mean < 4.5) of environmental compatibility
based on the scale used. All the other credit items except Brownfield Redevelopment received average mean
ratings showing that those credit requirements are environmentally suitable for Sri Lanka.

Brownfield Redevelopment under the Sustainable Sites category was the only credit given a very low rating
(1.53) by the respondents. Brownfields are the damaged sites where development is complicated due to
environmental contamination. Therefore the reason for the non compatibility could be identified as the
unavailability of lands defined as ‘brownfield sites’ in Sri Lanka

Analysis based on Technical Feasibility

Technical feasibility, which includes the knowledge, expertise and equipment to accomplish the credit
requirements, was evaluated with the professional views and can be interpreted as follows. According to the
results of mean values obtained, it was noted that most of the credits are technically feasible in the Sri Lankan
context as they have achieved mean ratings of more than 4 (high technical feasibility) while some credit
requirements tend to possess low technical feasibility in Sri Lankan context.

Green Power (1.94) and Renewable Energy (2.42) under the category of Energy and Atmosphere were
identified as difficult to achieve with the available technology in Sri Lanka. Further, the credits for Rapidly
Renewable Materials (2.27) and Recycled Content (2.67) under the Materials and Resources category cannot be
attained locally as such materials are locally impossible to find. Even to control Indoor Chemicals and Pollutant
Sources (2.80), the required materials and equipment were found unavailable in the country. However, it was
discovered that most of the credit requirements are technically feasible in the Sri Lankan scenario.

Analysis based on Initial Cost

The initial incremental cost or the additional cost incurred to implement a particular LEED credit requirement is
a decisive factor affecting the adoption,

According to the professionals, Site Selection (Mean value: 4.58) and Development Density and Community
Connectivity (4.71) had the highest ratings for initial incremental cost. Therefore it is been seen that these
credit requirements had a very low initial incremental cost compared to the construction of a normal, non-
green building. Further, Site Development (4.02), Alternative Transportation (3.65), Light Pollution Reduction
(3.57), Enhanced Commissioning (3.86), Construction Indoor Air Quality Management Plan (4.13),Regional
Materials (4.40), Materials Reuse (4.13), Building Reuse (4.07), Construction Waste Management (3.80) tend to
possess low initial incremental costs based on the scale used.

According to the professionals’’ responses, Green Power (1.31), Renewable Energy (1.02), and Optimize Energy
Performance (1.27) under the Energy and Atmosphere category received the lowest ratings due to very high
initial costs involved in achieving these credits includes highly technical equipment as well as processes.
Further, introducing Innovative Wastewater Technologies (1.81), achieving adequate Daylight and Views (2.13)
as well as eliminating Heat Island Effect (2.32) include high initial costs for their implementation.

Therefore, it is evident that according to the professional view, certain credit requirements cost higher while
most of the others can be attained without incurring significantly high initial incremental costs.

Current Adoption Rates of LEED Credits

Identifying the current trends of adopting LEED-NC credit requirements in Sri Lanka is another objective of this
research study. Therefore, the credit points adopted in each of the 14 LEED-NC green projects in Sri Lanka
should be analyzed and the adoption rates in percentages are to be achieved. In order to quantitatively
measure the relationship between the factors affecting the adoption of LEED and the adoption rates,
correlation analysis can be carried out. Pearson’s Coefficient of Correlation is to be calculated separately for
each sub-section of the LEED-NC rating system as well as for the total credit system together. Further a better
framework for the adoption of LEED in Sri Lanka is also to be identified by further analysis in this study.

Conclusion
Sustainable development is a concept which has gained momentum in the past two decades. Thus, the concept
of green buildings emerged initiating a new approach to save water, energy and material resources in the
construction and maintenance of the buildings while reducing the adverse impact of buildings on the
environment and occupants as well as minimizing costs. In the Sri Lankan scenario, LEED is gaining recognition
as there is no green building design and construction guideline developed specifically for the Sri Lankan
context. A handful of LEED accredited green buildings currently exist in Sri Lanka while a few more are in the
process of pursuing LEED.

This particular research study focused on evaluating the LEED-NC green building rating system in the local
context and finally a framework was developed for feasible adoption of LEED-NC which results in the design
and construction of a sustainable building. The study was carried out based on the perceptions of professionals
involved in LEED projects in the country and questionnaire surveys were employed to collect data.

Therefore, it can be argued that even though LEED-NC is perceived to be unsuitable and unachievable in the
local scenario, according to the findings of this research, it tends to possess high environmental compatibility,
high technical feasibility and can be accomplished with average initial incremental costs in the Sri Lankan
context.

Identifying the current trends of adopting LEED-NC credit requirements in Sri Lanka is another objective of this
research study. Therefore, the credit points adopted in each of the 14 LEED-NC green projects in Sri Lanka
should be analyzed and the adoption rates in percentages are to be achieved. In order to quantitatively
measure the relationship between the factors affecting the adoption of LEED and the adoption rates,
correlation analysis can be carried out. Pearson’s Coefficient of Correlation is to be calculated separately for
each sub-section of the LEED-NC rating system as well as for the total credit system together. Further a better
framework for the adoption of LEED in Sri Lanka is also to be identified by further analysis in this study.

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