DEVELOPING ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENCIES RATING SYSTEM FOR EXISTING BUILDINGS IN PALESTINE USING THE ANALYTICAL HIERARCHY PROCESS (AHP)
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Date
2023-09-10
Authors
Aseel Mamoun Al Qudsi
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Abstract
Green Buildings Rating Systems (GBRSs) are receiving much attention among governments worldwide, as they contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and enhancing the construction sector that is considered a significant contributor to Carbon Dioxide (CO_(2 ) ) emissions and the depletion of natural resources. Buildings negatively impact the environment at each stage of their lifecycle, but the operation and maintenance phase accounts for 70% to 90% of all. GBRS provides project stakeholders and decision-makers with a road map and guidelines for enhancing the built environment sustainability and operational performance. Currently, there is no Palestinian GBRS for existing buildings, and the only rating system available targets new construction. This study aims to propose a GBRS for existing buildings in Palestine regarding two criteria: Energy Efficiency and Water Efficiency, as these categories cumulatively weigh 50% to 70% among most GBRSs. Six global and local GBRS were reviewed to develop the most significant energy and water categories sub-criteria to evaluate the ‘greenness’ of existing buildings. Twenty two Palestinian experts were interviewed to prioritize the developed sub-criteria in both categories, and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was conducted as a multi-criteria decision-making approach to analyze responses using the Expert Choice software. The outcome of this study is a Proposed Palestinian Energy Efficiency and Water Efficiency Rating System for Existing Buildings (EX), which consists of a set of weightings and a four-level classification system, in which the AHP is responsible for the developed weighting system for the selected criteria and sub-criteria according to their priority. Finally, to ensure the validity of the developed system, a hypothetical case study in Palestine was evaluated using the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Operation and Maintenance (O+M), in addition to The Palestinian Energy and Water Efficiency based GBRS-EX. Results demonstrate the necessity for Palestine to have its rating version for existing buildings while customizing other GBRS versions cannot be used since GBRSs are influenced by the unique environmental and cultural characteristics of the nation where they are established. The study recommends further research to develop GBRS in Palestine that covers other categories and specific types of buildings.
Keywords: Green Retrofitting Strategies; Energy Efficiency; Water Efficiency; Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP).