Critical Analysis of Energy Efficiency Assessment by International Green Building Rating Tools and Its Effects on Local Adaptation

The adaptation of green building rating systems (GBRS) as tools for providing a reliable evaluation of specific built environments is becoming increasingly significant, since factors such as regional climatic conditions may hinder the direct application of any GBRS in its non-adapted form. Energy efficiency is one of the central categories for evaluating building performance, although the category is weighted differently by leading GBRS, such as the Building Research Establishment Assessment Method, and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Moreover, varying climatic conditions in different counties can affect building performance and result in different levels of energy consumption and CO₂ emissions. This study focuses on the built environment of Saudi Arabia and seeks to improve the accuracy of its newly established GBRS, namely the Saudi Environmental Assessment Method. After reviewing various existing international GBRS, the study finds that they have a deficiency in their building performance ratio and/or matrix that indicates the differences resulting from various climatic conditions. This can engender unfair building assessments when comparing between two buildings in two different climatic zones. Therefore, it is essential to recognize to what degree the climatic conditions can affect a building’s energy performance within the Saudi Arabian context. In order to address this issue, which is the research question of the study, a critical analysis is conducted that reviews international assessment methods and, employing the building simulation tool IES-VE, assesses three distinct climatic zones: (a) the hot arid climate of Riyadh, (b) the hot humid climate of Jeddah, and (c) the mild hot mountainous climate of Al-Baha. In total, 30 typical building models, 10 in each zone, are subjected to a sensitivity analysis, and the results reveal that the different climatic conditions in Saudi Arabia have a significant effect on building performance. The study therefore concludes developing a climatic conditions ratio/matrix is imperative for enhancing the accuracy of the building assessment method employed.