An-Najah National University Faculty of Graduate Studies Assessing the Life Cycle Cost Saving Associated with Reduced Energy Consumption in Green Schools in Palestine: A Case Study By Sawsan Jamal Dumaidi Supervisors Dr. Luay Dwaikat Dr. Muhannad Haj Hussein This Thesis is Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Engineering Management, Faculty of Graduate Studies, An-Najah National University, Nablus-Palestine. 2020 ii iii Dedication I would like to dedicate this work to my beloved parents who have been supporting me throughout this journey and who gave me strength when I thought of giving up. To my precious husband; Tareq Dumaidi who has encouraged me all the way and who gave me an endless support to make sure that I completed what I started. To my wonderful daughters; Rahaf and Jamila who have been my source of inspiration during this work. To my sisters and brothers, who hold in their eyes the memories of my childhood and my youth. To my friends and relatives who have meant and continue to mean so much to me. I dedicate this work and give a special thanks to my supervisors; Dr. Luay Dwaikat and Dr. Muhannad Haj Hussein who shared their words of advice and helped me to finish this work. iv Acknowledgment First and foremost, I would like to thank God Almighty for giving me the ability and opportunity to complete this work. Without his protection and blessings, this work would not have been possible. I am also deeply thankful to my thesis supervisors; Dr. Luay Dwaikat and Dr. Muhannad Haj Hussein who gave me a very valuable comments that steered me in the right direction whenever they thought I needed it, and Without their participation this work could not have been successfully conducted. I have great pleasure in acknowledging the input of my work to all of whom I have had the pleasure to work with and I appreciate their help and transparency during my research. I would like to thank my family, specially my parents for encouraging and supporting me spiritually throughout my life. I am grateful to my sisters and brothers, whose love and guidance are with me in whatever I pursue. Most importantly, I would like to thank my loving and supportive husband, and my two wonderful daughters, who provide unending inspiration. v vi Table of Contents No Content Page Dedication Iii Acknowledgment Iv Declaration V List of Tables Ix List of Figures Xi List of Abbreviations Xii Abstract Xiii Chapter One: Introduction 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Research Problem 6 1.3 Research Questions 7 1.4 Research Objectives 7 1.5 Research Scope 8 1.6 Research Significance 8 1.7 Research Structure 9 Chapter Two: Literature Review 2.1 Sustainable Development 11 2.2 Green Buildings 13 2.2.1 Sustainable Construction 13 2.2.2 Green Buildings 14 2.2.3 Green Buildings Barriers 18 2.2.4 Green buildings Benefits and Costs 20 2.2.5 Green Buildings in Palestine 24 2.3 Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Cost 27 2.3.1 Life Cycle Assessment 27 2.3.2 Life Cycle Cost 31 Chapter Three: Methodology 3.1 Introduction 41 3.2 Research Philosophy 43 3.3 Research Type 44 3.4 Research Approach 44 3.5 Research Method 45 3.6 Research Population and Sampling 46 3.6.1 Research Population 46 3.6.2 Research Sampling Methods 46 3.6.3 Research Population and Sample Size 48 3.7 Data Collection Approach 53 3.8 Data Analysis Approach 55 3.9 Research Case Study Description 57 vii 3.10 Chapter Summery 59 Chapter Four: Data Collection 4.1 Research Population and Sampling 60 4.2 Collected Data from the Sample 67 4.3 Case Study Data (The Green School) 81 4.4 Life Cycle Cost Components Data 83 4.4.1 Energy Price Inflation in Palestine 84 4.4.2 Buildings Service Life 86 4.4.3 Period of Analysis 86 4.5 Chapter Summery 87 Chapter Five: Data Analysis and Discussion 5.1 Energy Consumption Data Analysis 88 5.2 Energy Life Cycle Cost Baseline for Public Schools in West Bank/Palestine 94 5.2.1 Building Service Life 95 5.2.2 Period of Analysis 95 5.2.3 Energy Inflation Rate 95 5.2.4 Discount /Interest Rate 98 5.3 Energy Life Cycle Cost Baseline for Aqqaba Green School in West Bank/Palestine 107 5.3.1 The Economic Analysis of Aqqaba Green School from Life Cycle Perspective 112 5.4 Energy Life Cycle Cost Baseline for Public Schools in Ramallah City 122 5.5 Energy Life Cycle Cost for Public Schools in Nablus and Jenin Cities 126 5.6 Performance of Aqqaba Green School Compared with Public Schools in West Bank/Palestine with Similar Categories of Students Numbers and Areas 131 5.7 Chapter Summery 137 Chapter Six: Conclusions and Recommendations 6.1 Research Conclusions 138 6.2 Research Limitations 142 6.3 Recommendations 142 6.4 Future Work 143 References 144 Appendixes 161 Appendixes A: Monthly Electricity Consumption Raw Data 161 A.1 Raw Data of the Monthly Electricity Consumption for Nablus Schools 161 A.2 Raw Data of the Monthly Electricity Consumption for Jenin Schools 181 viii A.3 Raw Data of Both Energy Consumption Meter and Net Energy Generation Meter of the PV-system of Aqqaba Green School 196 Appendixes B 198 B.1 Energy Life Cycle Cost Estimation for Public Schools in West Bank/Palestine 198 B.2 Energy Life Cycle Cost Estimation for Aqqaba Green School/ Palestine 204 Appendix C 210 ب الملخص ix List of Tables No Title Page 2.1 The consumed amount of energy in Palestine between year 2001-2017. 42 4.1 The distribution of public schools in West Bank/ Palestine according to governorate. 16 4.2 Selected schools sample from Nablus governorate. 16 4.3 Selected schools sample from Ramallah governorate. 12 4.4 Selected schools sample from Jenin governorate. 16 4.5 Collected data for the sample 07 4.6 The monthly total energy readings exported to the grid from Aqqaba school versus its energy consumption according to electricity bills. 24 4.7 Aqqaba green school areas and number of students. 26 4.8 Historical records of the annual electricity prices in Palestine. 26 5.1 Summary of the Five Number Analysis for the annual energy consumption data without excluding the outliers (kWh/year). 16 5.2 Electricity inflation rate in Palestine. 11 5.3 Total estimated energy LCC for public schools in West Bank/Palestine with 2% energy inflation rate. 676 5.4 Estimated energy life cycle cost for public schools in West Bank/Palestine considering different energy inflation scenarios. 676 5.5 Aqqaba green school monthly energy readings exported to the grid versus its energy consumption from the electricity bills. 667 5.6 Total estimated energy LCC for Aqqaba green school with 2% energy inflation rate. 666 5.7 Estimated energy life cycle cost for Aqqaba green school with different energy inflation scenarios. 660 5.8 Life cycle energy cost saving of Aqqaba green school at different inflation rates. 661 5.9 Estimated energy LCC for public schools that are located in Ramallah city using different energy inflation scenarios. 642 5.10 Estimated energy LCC for public schools that are located in Nablus and Jenin cities with all used energy inflation scenarios. 642 5.11 Energy LCC baselines for public schools with different energy inflation scenarios. 667 5.12 Aqqaba green school building energy index. 664 x 5.13 BEI for public schools in West Bank/Palestine compared to Aqqaba green school. 662 5.14 BEI for public schools with same areas (±250 m2) and number of students (±50) as Aqqaba green school. 661 xi List of Figures No Title Page 3.1 Aqqaba green school first-floor plan with the green areas and entrances. 62 3.2 Photograph of the solar panels for Aqqaba green school PV- system 61 5.1 The annual energy consumption data histogram for the selected public schools sample 16 5.2 The annual energy consumption data Boxplot for the selected public schools sample 14 5.3 The variation of annual energy consumption data for the selected public schools sample 16 5.4 Energy life cycle cost baseline for public schools in Palestine at 2% inflation rate 672 5.5 Energy life cycle cost baseline for public schools in Palestine using different inflation scenarios 670 5.6 Energy life cycle cost baseline for Aqqaba green school 666 5.7 Energy life cycle cost baseline for Aqqaba green school using different inflation scenarios 662 5.8 Aqqaba life cycle energy cost saving at different inflation rates 647 xii List of Abbreviations CO2 Carbon Dioxide. ISO The International Organization for Standardization. LCA Life Cycle Assessment. LCC Life Cycle Cost. PV Photovoltaic. ASTM American Society of Testing and Materials. PCBS Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. CPI Consumer Price Index. EEI Energy Efficiency Index. LEED The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. BREEAM Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method. PBRS Pearl Building Rating System. PHGBC Palestine Higher Green Building Council. SD Sustainable Development. WLC Whole Life Cost. NPV Net Present Value. IQR Interquartile Range. kWh Kilo Watt Hour. ILS Israeli Shekel. kWp Kilo Watt Peak of a system. BEI Building Energy Index. EEI Energy Efficiency Index. xiii Assessing the Life Cycle Cost Saving Associated with Reduced Energy Consumption in Green Schools in Palestine: A Case Study By Sawsan Jamal Dumaidi Supervisor Dr. Luay Dwaikat Dr. Muhannad Haj Hussein Abstract Several literature sources suggest that green buildings outperform non- green buildings particularly in term of economic benefits. Notwithstanding, the green building movement is still nascent in Palestine and few buildings are officially registered and rated as green by the official certification bodies. On a larger scale, it is also argued in the body of literature that building owners and real estate developers are still hesitant to adopt the concept of green buildings. Among others, the economic factors are placed in the forefront of the factors that affect owners’ decisions to go green. In this research, and due to the need to enhance the empirical evidence for the economic benefits associated with reduced energy consumption in green schools locally and globally, an energy life cycle cost analysis is conducted for the first officially registered green school in West Bank/Palestine. Methodologically, in this research an energy life cycle cost baseline for public (non-green) schools in Palestine is established. The energy consumption baseline is essential to measure the actual economic performance of the green school in term of energy consumption. Then, life cycle costing is used as an economic evaluation technique. Part of the life cycle cost analysis, this research also examines how different scenarios for energy price inflation would affect the cost saving associated with reduced xiv energy consumption in the green school compared to public schools in West Bank/Palestine throughout its whole life cycle, which extends for 60 years. It is found in the research that the baseline energy consumption in public schools in West Bank/Palestine is 10,367.63 kWh/year, this corresponds to a building energy index (BEI) of 8.34 kWh/m 2 /year. From life cycle perspective, this yield a baseline life cycle energy cost of 766,370.59 ILS at 2% average annual increase in energy price. While the actual energy consumption in the green school is 8,895.50 kWh/year, this corresponds to a building energy index (BEI) of 6.32 kWh/m 2 /year, which yields a life cycle cost for energy equals 722,262.93 ILS considering 2% average annual increase in energy price. It is also found that the green school saves 24.22% in terms of energy consumption compared to non-green schools. From life cycle perspective, it is also found that the savings from the green school PV-system is 284,187.70 ILS at 2% inflation rate which corresponds to 86.56% from the life cycle energy saving. 1 Chapter One Introduction This chapter provides a general overview that outlines the thesis topic and gives a background information that enables the reader to follow this research context. A brief background, research problem, research scope, research objectives, research questions, research significance and structure are also presented in this chapter. 1.1 Background As a result of the modern lifestyle, the world faces several environmental problems that affect the environment and the global climate such as: global warming, CO2 emissions, and ozone layer depletion (Patz et al., 2003). Climate change and its negative impact on the environment has led the world towards what is termed as ―Sustainable Development‖ (Sinha et al., 2013). In 1987, Brundtland Commission defined sustainable development in its report entitled ―Our Common Future‖ as ―meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs‖ (Brundtland, 1987, p. 16). The term ―sustainable development‖ is linked within the context of environmental concerns since its emerged (Hák et al., 2016). According to Sinha et al.(2013), increasing economic efficiency, improving human well-being and preserving natural resources are considered some of the sustainable development goals. 2 In order to achieve sustainable development goals, several manufacturing and industrial sectors were hesitant in adopting sustainable practices. Within this context, research shows that among the other industrial sectors, the construction sector consumes a major share of energy worldwide (Masoso & Grobler, 2010). According to Pe´rez-Lombard et al. (2008), the global contribution of energy consumption for both residential and commercial buildings has increased to reach figures between 20% and 40% of the total final energy consumption in developed countries. Hence, due to the negative environmental impact of the construction sector, a relatively recent concept which is sustainable construction has emerged (Ding, 2008). According to Kibert (2016), sustainable construction can be defined as a way of utilizing resource efficiency and ecological design in creating a healthy built environment. Sustainable construction deals with the social, ecological and economic issues of the buildings by: using resources efficiently, minimizing waste (Salama & Hana, 2010), protecting the nature, eliminating toxics and the reuse of resources (Matar et al., 2008). The increased demand for resource-efficient buildings that use energy and water in minimal rates and the climate change threat on the environment has lead professionals towards the concept of green buildings (Kibert, 2016).Green or sustainable building was defined by (Sinha et al., 2013, p. 46) as: ―practice of creating structures and using processes that are environmentally responsible and resource efficient throughout a building life-cycle from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, 3 renovation, and deconstruction‖. According to Li et al. (2017), reducing consumption of materials, water, and improving indoor environmental health in green buildings can result in the reduction of buildings adverse impacts on the environment. Abdelfattah (2017) suggested that using the land and energy efficiently, increasing the use of recycled materials and conserving water and other resources are all considered as indicators for creating green buildings. Green buildings design aims to protect occupant health and improve their productivity, in addition to optimize the use of resources and to increase building efficiency in energy, water and materials usage throughout the building life cycle (Electric, 2006; Kibert, 2012). The large motivation of green buildings practices in evaluating the effects of structural design on human health and productivity, pay attention to the essential need of developing school buildings design that combine between healthy environment for learning and ways of saving energy (Lysgaard et al., 2015; MAGZAMEN et al., 2017). Green schools appeared to respond to this need, since green schools design can improve the indoor environmental quality of the school by preventing the outdoor exposures (Breysse et al., 2011; Howden-chapman et al., 2009). According to Dwaikat & Ali (2018b) , energy efficiency is considered as a key driver for the green building movement. 4 Within the same context, Hussain (2016) suggests that there are five potential sustainable structure design methodologies illustrated in minimizing material use, embodied energy, material production energy, maximizing structural reuse and the implementation of life cycle analysis and life cycle assessment. According to the International Organization for Standardization ISO 15686-5 (2006), life cycle assessment (LCA), is used to assess and quantify environmental impacts. Davis Langdon (2007a, p. 2) defined life cycle assessment as a method that measures the energy used within a building throughout its life cycle for the purpose of evaluating its environmental performance. Also, when there is a need for comparing different design alternatives of a new building LCA can be used (Davis Langdon, 2007a). In order to have an efficient way for assessing both environmental and financial loads in one assessment, a combination of life cycle assessment and life cycle cost should be used (Buyle et al., 2012). Life cycle cost (LCC), relates to the cost of building and maintaining the structure over its service life (ISO14044, 2006). Accordingly, LCC includes all types of financial costs of a product or process that is needed for assessing total cost over time (Kubba, 2010). Typically, LCC analysis may be used during four different stages of the life cycle of any constructed asset (ISO15686-5, 2008). These four stages are 5 planning phase, construction phase, operating and maintenance phase, and the end of life phase (ISO15686-5, 2008). It must be mentioned that, almost 80% of energy is being consumed during the building’s life cycle operation phase (Liang et al., 2016). Studies on the total energy use during buildings life cycle are needed to measure their energy performance and to develop solutions for reducing energy consumption in buildings (Ramesh et al., 2010). Therefore it is very important to assess and analyze the energy consumption in buildings for the purpose of reducing energy demand, as well as to find effective solutions for improving energy efficiency (Ma & Cheng, 2016; Najihah et al., 2015). In order to assess and measure the energy consumption in buildings, an energy baseline should be established to be used as a benchmark to measure and compare energy usage and to quantify the energy savings that result from energy efficient buildings. It must be mentioned that due to the variation of energy used patterns throughout the world, the availability of a universal energy baseline is yet to be found. In light of the previous discussion, this research is undertaken in order to establish an energy consumption baseline for public schools in West Bank/ Palestine. Furthermore, the aim of the work presented in this research is to present an estimation of the life cycle cost of energy in public schools in West Bank/ Palestine, and to quantify the life cycle cost saving associated 6 with reduced energy consumption in the first green school in Palestine which is Aqqaba green school. Since there is a trend in the Palestinian Ministry of Education to reduce the energy consumption in schools by installing PV-systems in each school. 1.2 Research Problem In 2016, the Palestinian Green Building Council commissioned the first certified green school in Palestine, which is Aqqaba green school. This has been perceived as a practical step in adopting the concept of sustainable construction and green buildings by the Ministry of Education in Palestine. In a master degree research, Hodiri (2018) conducted a research to evaluate the actual performance of Aqqaba green school and reported that the actual performance of the green school is much lower than the expected performance in the design phase, and he found that Aqqaba green school consumed less energy than non-green schools buildings by 4.84%. Hodiri (2018), also reported that the green school generates an income of 2,297 ILS/year from on-grid energy production through a photovoltaic (PV) system installed in the green school. However, these results call for the need to evaluate these benefits for life cycle perspective. Therefore, empirical evidence is required in order to find out if the green solutions adopted in Aqqaba green school are economically feasible from the life cycle perspective. So far, there has not been any empirical evidence that 7 quantify the energy savings for school buildings in Palestine from the life cycle cost perspective. As a result, estimating the life cycle cost of energy consumption in schools will help in determining the size of savings associated with reduced energy consumption in green schools compared to conventional (non-green) ones in West Bank/ Palestine. 1.3 Research Questions This research was conducted to answer the following questions: 1. How much is the average energy consumption of public schools in Palestine? 2. How much is the life cycle cost of energy consumption in public schools in Palestine? 3. How much is the life cycle cost saving associated with reduced energy consumption in Aqqaba green school compared to conventional (non- green) schools in Palestine? 1.4 Research Objectives The main objective of this research is to conduct an estimation of the life cycle cost of energy in public schools in Palestine and to quantify the life cycle cost saving associated with reduced energy consumption in the first green school in Palestine which is Aqqaba green school. In addition, this research was also undertaken to achieve the following objectives: 8 1. Establish energy consumption baseline for public schools in Palestine. 2. Estimate the life cycle cost of energy consumption in public schools in Palestine. 3. Quantify the life cycle cost saving associated with reduced energy consumption in Aqqaba green school compared to conventional (non- green) schools in Palestine. 1.5 Research Scope This research will be conducted in Palestine, specifically for the public sector schools located only in West Bank. Gaza strip will be excluded in this research, because of the limited time for preparing this research and the political obstacles that faces entering Gaza. 1.6 Research Significance This research provides an estimation of the size of savings associated with reduced energy consumption in green schools compared to conventional ones in Palestine from the life cycle perspective. Also, this research measures the economic benefits gained from the green features incorporated in Aqqaba green school. In addition, this research established energy consumption baseline and energy life cycle cost baseline for public school buildings in Palestine. The energy consumption baseline is imperative for future research to assess the actual energy performance of schools in Palestine. 9 1.7 Research Structure This thesis adopts the following structure: Chapter one ―Introduction‖ introduces a general background about the thesis subject, in addition to the research problem statement, research objectives, research questions, research scope and the significance of the study. Chapter two synthesizes the body of relevant literature by presenting reviews for articles, books, reports and previous studies that are related to sustainable development, sustainable construction, green buildings and their benefits, costs and barriers. In addition to dissection of life cycle assessment LCA and life cycle cost LCC methods. Chapter three summarizes the adopted research methodology, explores research population and sampling, data collection techniques, data analysis approach and a brief description of the research case study. Chapter four ―Data Collection‖ provides how the required data was collected, and why the research sample was selected. Also, the chapter explores all the collected data and their sources. Chapter five ―Data Analysis and Discussion‖ presents the detailed steps of how the collected data was analysed, and how the energy life cycle cost baseline was established throughout a detailed discussion of the research findings. 10 Chapter six ―Conclusions and Recommendations‖ summarizes the research conclusions, limitations, recommendations and suggestions of possible future work. 11 Chapter Two Literature Review This chapter provides a summary of the literature that addresses the topic of sustainable development and sustainable construction. This chapter also presents green buildings concepts, costs and advantages, in addition to a brief description of green buildings in Palestine. Besides, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Cost (LCC) concepts, elements and equations that comprise the main objective of this research are discussed and highlighted in details in this chapter. 2.1 Sustainable Development Due to the environmental movement of the early 1970s, the concept of ―sustainability‖ began growing (Akbarnezhad, 2014). In general, sustainability means continued development or growth by achieving balance between economics, equity and environmental impacts without deterioration and depletion of natural resources (Kibert, 2012). The starting point of the concept of sustainability appeared in 1972 in the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment without the use of the term sustainable development (Handl, 2012).This conference stresses “the need for restraint on natural resource use, consistent with the carrying capacity of the earth, for the benefit of present and future generation” (Handl, 2012, p. 4). However, in 1987 the term ―sustainable development‖ was suggested by the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development (Brundtland, 1987). Also an effort was exerted for linking the 12 issues of economic development and environmental stability in the Brundtland Commission (Abdelfattah, 2017). Therefore, Bruntland Commission ended up with published report (Our Common Future) that defined the concept of sustainable development as ―the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs‖ (Brundtland, 1987, p. 16). The definition of sustainable development suggests that human, economic and natural systems are interdependent. Also it emphasizes the importance of environment and the quality of human life (Kibert, 2012). In addition, sustainable development is considered as a pattern of growth, in which resources can be used to meet human needs with the importance of preserving the environment to ensure that these needs can be met in the present and for upcoming generations (Abdelfattah, 2017). Therefore, sustainable development is about finding better ways of doing things for the future and the present (Kates et al., 2005), besides achieving a good balance between the environment, the society and the economy (Giddings et al., 2002). The importance of sustainable development stems from its objectives. Abdel Fattah (2017) mentioned five main objectives of sustainable development which can be summarized as improving quality of life, promoting equity, sustaining natural resources, protecting humans health, and finally meeting international obligations. 13 As a result of those objectives and in order to increase the economic efficiency, improve human well-being and to rapidly move towards zero energy construction, sustainability has become a key consideration of building practitioners (Sinha et al., 2013). Besides, the environmental impact of construction and environmental building performance assessment have led professionals towards sustainable construction design (Ding, 2008). 2.2 Green Buildings 2.2.1 Sustainable Construction The huge consumption of global resources and the environmental pollution that caused by construction industry, led the world towards sustainable construction design that ensures the achievement of sustainable development goals and minimize construction impacts on the environment (Ding, 2008). Sustainable construction was defined in Agenda 21 for Sustainable Construction in Developing Countries as ―a holistic process aiming to restore and maintain harmony between the natural and built environments, and create settlements that affirm human dignity and encourage economic equity‖ (Du Plessis, 2002, p. 8). Moreover, in 1994, the Conseil International du Batiment defined the goal of sustainable construction as "creating and operating a healthy built environment based on resource efficiency and ecological design" (Kibert, 2016, p. 1). 14 Sustainable construction aims to achieve the goals of economic sustainability by: making more efficient use of resources in order to increase profitability, social sustainability: by providing customers satisfaction in order to achieve their needs at all stages of the construction process, and finally environmental sustainability by minimizing waste and preserving natural resources in order to protect the environment (Salama & Hana, 2010). Intrinsically, sustainable construction has principles that should be applied across the entire life cycle of the construction (Kibert, 2012). These principles can be summarized as: reducing resource consumption, using recyclable resources, protecting the nature, eliminating toxics, reuse resources, focus on quality, and applying life cycle costing (Matar et al., 2008). Technically, these principles should be applied to the built environmental resources: energy, water, land, materials and ecosystems, during the entire life cycle (Kibert, 2012). The use of sustainable construction principles in creating actual structure quality and characteristics refers to what is called high-performance buildings or green buildings (Kibert, 2016). 2.2.2 Green Buildings Although, sustainable development and green buildings are related, they are not the same (Sinha et al., 2013).Green designs involve using the imagination and technical knowledge to design and build in compliance 15 with the environment requirements. The challenge is to find the balance between the environmental considerations and the economic constraints (Haddad, 2010). Besides, buildings should maintain a group of environmental aspects during the stages of their construction, operation, disposal and recycling, in order to be considered as sustainable building (Dwaikat & Ali, 2016). According to Filippi and Sirombo (2015, p. 1), a green building is defined as “a healthy facility designed and built in a cradle-to-grave resource- efficient manner, using ecological principles, social equity, and lifecycle quality value”. Another definition of green building is “a current design attitude which requires the consideration of resources reduction and waste emissions for the period of its whole life cycle” (Wang et al., 2005, p. 1). Furthermore, Connor et al.(2015, p. 7) defined green buildings according to the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) Standard E2114- 06a as “a building that provides the specified building performance requirements while minimizing disturbance to and improving the functioning of local, regional and global ecosystems during and after its construction and specified service life.” According to Kibert (2012), green buildings aim to decrease the building adverse impact on environment and human health. Besides, it aims to increase the building efficiency in using energy, water and materials throughout the building life cycle. 16 As an application of the green building concept, green schools have emerged. This is because it combines healthy environment for learning and ways of saving energy (Lysgaard et al., 2015). According to Dwaikat and Ali (2018b), energy efficiency is considered a key driver for the green building movement. Green buildings are expected to be a highly energy and water preservation structures. According to Kibert (2012), green buildings are based on employing renewable energy resources, implementing passive design, and designing buildings that are resistant to conductive, convective, and radioactive heat transfer. Also, green buildings design contains different approaches for waste water treatment and storm water management that leads to water preservation through the use of low- flow plumbing fixtures, water recycling and rainwater harvesting. In order to measure the environmental performance of buildings, green rating systems worldwide were established. According to IFMA (2015), several rating systems that offer certifications are currently available throughout the world, some of the most widely used systems are: The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. It was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. Initially, LEED rating system was established for new construction, recently however, most of the LEED rating systems focus on the design and construction stages of a building (IFMA, 2015). 17 Another rating system is the Green Globes. It was offered in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. It has two rating systems, one for existing buildings and the other for new buildings (IFMA, 2015). In 1990, the British Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) was launched in UK. This system’s evaluation is expressed as a percentage of success over total available points: 85% for Outstanding, 70% for Excellent, 55% for Very Good, 45% for Good and 30% for pass classification. It is worth mentioning that there is an international version of BREEAM for certifying projects worldwide (BRE Global, 2016). The Green Star rating system is used in Australia, New Zealand and South African. Green Star ratings are available for every building type, with the exception of free standing homes (IFMA, 2015). Furthermore, using the elements of LEED and BREEAM, a new rating system, referred to as Estidama, was developed (Elgendy, 2010). Estidama Pearl Rating System was established in 2010 by Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council. There are five levels of certifications which can be obtained using the Pearl Building Rating System (PBRS) : one Pearl (All mandatory credits), two Pearls (All mandatory credits + 60 points), three Pearls (All mandatory credits + 85 points), four Pearls (All mandatory credits + 115 points), and five Pearls (All mandatory credits + 140 points) (Abu Dhabi Urban Planing Council, 2010). 18 Locally, the Palestinian green buildings guidelines were established in 2013 by the Palestinian Engineers Association with the help of Palestine Higher Green Building Council (PHGBC). The Palestinian green buildings guidelines were established to reduce the environmental problems that faces Palestine in particular. According to Palestine Engineers Association (2013), Palestine environmental problems includes limited resources of energy and water and the high operating cost of buildings in Palestine. The Palestinian green building guidelines have classified the Green buildings into four main categories according to the total points earned by the building: the Diamond category which include a rating of 160 points or more, the Golden category with 140-159 points, the Silver category with 120-139 points and the Bronze category with 100-119 points. 2.2.3 Green Buildings Barriers There are several barriers that prevent widespread applications of the concept of green buildings around the world (Chan et al., 2016). In the Malaysian construction industry, Samari (2013) surveyed 167 professionals for discovering barriers to green building in Malaysia. They found that the lack of credit resources to cover the upfront cost, lack of demand, higher final price of green buildings units and risk of investment are the main barriers of green buildings. Also in almost 60 Nigerian companies Ikediashi (2012) found that the main barrier to sustainable green building is top management reluctance for promoting sustainable construction, in addition to lack of awareness and sufficient training and tools. 19 According to Chan et al. (2016), barriers that prevent green building are divided into five main categories as follows: 1. Economic issues that result from the lack of incentives, higher investment cost, risk of investment and time delays since any project delay in employing green practices will result in a serious economic implications (Chan et al., 2016; Samari et al., 2013). 2. Technology and training issues: most of the green technologies are complex and require technical considerations in order to meet the desired sustainability goals (Ikediashi et al., 2012). 3. Information, Knowledge, and Awareness Issues: without sufficient research and information it is difficult to create public awareness for green buildings (Chan et al., 2016). 4. Management and Governmental issues: top management support for the adoption of green buildings and the governments involvement and support in formulating green buildings codes, regulations and evaluation standards are very important (Ikediashi et al., 2012). 5. Attitude and Market: lifestyle, behavior of stakeholders, and culture cannot be properly controlled in the green buildings market (Chan et al., 2016). 20 2.2.4 Green buildings Benefits and Costs Construction sector is considered to be one of most the costly investments, because of buildings operation and maintenance costs. In a study conducted by Dwaikat & Ali (2018a) for a green office building in Kuala Lumpur, it was found that operating cost forms 48% of a total life cycle budget, while building maintenance cost forms about 27%, which is higher than the design and construction cost. According to Kats et al. (2003), a financial benefit that is 10 times higher than the cost of constructing buildings which meet green design criteria can be achieved by lower maintenance cost, reduced energy and water consumption and improved health and productivity. Also, In a study conducted by Morrissey and Horne (2011) in Australia about the energy efficiency in residential buildings using the energy life cycle cost analysis, it was shown that when designing a building that is more thermally efficient, the energy cost savings associated with the building design exceeds the higher construction cost. Benefits of green buildings drive the world to build and operate facilities in a green manner (Electric, 2006). Green buildings are considered to be more efficient in using resources like energy, water, materials, and land (Electric, 2006). Because green buildings provide cost savings since they save energy, use less water, have a lower operating and maintenance costs, generate less waste and provide solutions to pressing health, environment 21 and economic challenges (Electric, 2006). Also, green buildings improve employees and students health, comfort, and productivity by using natural day lighting and better air quality (Electric, 2006). According to a detailed review conducted on 121 LEED rated buildings by Hewitt (2008), green buildings are considered to be more energy efficient than conventional buildings by 25-30%. Likewise, in a study for a precast concrete manufacturing facility (a green manufacturing facility) located in Pennsylvania, Ries et al.(2006) found 30% decrease in energy consumption and 25% increase in productivity. In addition, Yudelson (2008) reports that green buildings use (30-50) % lower energy and water than non-green buildings. Moreover, the Green Building Councel in Australia (2006) found a reduction of building annual operating costs due to 60% decrease in energy and water consumption based on several Australian and international case studies and research. Also, the Green Building Councel in Australia (2006) found 1-25% productivity increase. According to Fowler and Rauch (2008), the US General Services Administration conducted an evaluation of 12 of its green designed buildings against the average performance of US commercial buildings in 2007. The evaluation focused on evaluating financial metrics, occupant satisfaction, and environmental performance. The results confirmed that the green designed buildings emit 33% CO2 less than the national average, 22 have 13% lower maintenance cost, 26% less energy usage and 27% higher levels of occupants satisfaction (Kim M. Fowler & Rauch, 2008). According to Fowler et al. (2010), a second US General Services administration study of was carried out on another 10 representative green buildings from its national portfolio, in addition to the 12 sustainable green buildings that were evaluated in 2007 as mentioned above. The selected buildings were evaluated for waste generation and recycling, occupant satisfaction, operations and maintenance, carbon emissions and energy use. The results confirmed that buildings in new study emit 36% CO2 less than the national average, have 25% less energy usage, 19% lower aggregate operational costs, and 27% higher levels of occupants’ satisfaction than national average. These results were consistent with those obtained from the first one (Fowler et al., 2010). According to Kats et al.(2003), an increment in the cost of building green by 2% would achieve life cycle saving by 20% of the total construction cost which equals more than ten times the initial investment. A study was conducted in 2005 by the US department of Energy Information Administration in order to collect data about how much US households spend on energy. A sample of 4381 households in the United States were surveyed. The result showed that they spent about $201 billion on energy in 2005, which equals $8.93 per m 2 (U.S. Green Building Council, 2011). 23 In 2007, a study for the purpose of estimating the cost of green buildings compared to conventional buildings was conducted. According to Kats (2013), the study was performed on 170 US green buildings. Data about water and energy usage, health and productivity were collected and analyzed, the study ended up with a cost of green buildings 2% more than conventional buildings. Studies by Morris & Matthiessen (2007) were performed in 2005 and 2007 on 221 green and non-green buildings found that there is no statistical differences between the cost of green and non-green buildings. Dwaikat and Ali (Dwaikat & Ali, 2018b) analyzed the actual energy performance of a green building in use. An energy saving of 71.1% compared to the industry baseline was found in the investigated green building. Also Dwaikat and Ali (2018b) found that from life cycle perspective an increment of 1% in average annual energy price can cause 5,756 kWh/m 2 savings which equals $2,796,451 in the investigated green building. The sited of literature suggests that the green building has numerous benefits, particularly, in term of the economic performance. Green buildings design has the potential to lower maintenance and operational costs, optimize the use of resources and increase building efficiency in energy, water and materials usage throughout the building life cycle, as well as maximization of utility and investment returns in the building sector. 24 2.2.5 Green Buildings in Palestine About 80% of Palestinian territories energy sources come from neighboring countries to meet their energy demands (Ismail et al., 2013). Almost all energy consumed in Palestine is imported with heavy taxes, therefore energy price is considered to be relatively high (Abu-hafeetha, 2009). According to Yaseen (2007), a notable growth in energy demand levels in Palestine is expected to happen due to the development plan in Palestine that aims to improve the quality of life for the Palestinians. Table 2.1 below represents the amount of energy consumption in Palestine between 2001-2017 as published by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (2018). Table 2.1: The consumed amount of energy in Palestine between year 2001-2017. Year 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 The consumed amount of energy (megawatt-hour) 2,049,979 2,137,910 2,217,818 2,591,243 2,390,119 2,360,438 Year 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 The consumed amount of energy (megawatt-hour) 2,956,376 3,054,139 3,515,840 3,280,240 3,505,890 4,845,514 Year 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 - The consumed amount of energy (megawatt-hour) 4,743,316 4,641,898 5,216,380 5,289,136 5,387,990 - 25 Table 2.1 supports the fact that the energy demand in Palestine has been growing, as the consumption has increased by 61.10% from year 2001 to 2017. In Palestine, the residential sector has an energy consumption percentage of 50%, while the industrial sector has a percentage of 15%, the pumping stations have a percentage of 15% and the commercial and governmental sectors have a percentage of 10% (Ibrik & Mahmoud, 2002; Mahmoud & Ibrik, 2002). Palestine is witnessing increased energy demand due to the improvement of living conditions and increased population growth which cause increasing demand for building services and comfort levels (Pe´rez et al., 2008; Yaseen, 2007). According to Ismail et al.(2013), a reduction in energy consumption can be achieved by the improvement of energy efficiency in different sectors in Palestine. Countries like Palestine are still taking the initial steps towards achieving sustainable development, while developed countries have been developing and implementing standards and regulations for sustainability (Rustom, 2014). Recently, the concerns about implementing the concept of green buildings in Palestine are increasing according to Palestine Engineers Association (2013). And different institutions that are concerned with sustainable issues have been established such as ―Palestine Higher Green Building Council‖. 26 The purpose of implementing the concept of green buildings in Palestine is to fill the gap between sustainable and typical designs in Palestine, and to enhance the use of the available resources in an efficient way during building construction and operation stages (Palestine Engineers Association, 2013). Also, the need for sustainable green building in Palestine is highlighted even more due to the limited control over energy and water resources due to the political complications (Palestine Engineers Association, 2013). According to Palestine Engineers Association (2013), the Palestine Higher Green Building Council issued the ―Green buildings Guidlines - State of Palestine‖ in order to be followed in the different stages of constructing green buildings in Palestine. The Palestinian Green Buildings Guidelines divides green buildings in Palestine into four main categories according to their rating based on the outcome of the required assessment process (Palestine Engineers Association, 2013). The four categories of green buildings in Palestine are: Bronze category buildings, Silver category buildings, Golden category buildings, and Diamond category buildings (Palestine Engineers Association, 2013). As an application of the green building concept in Palestine, green schools have emerged. In general, Palestinian public schools mainly use energy for purposes of lighting, electrical heaters and small fans as HVAC systems are not available in Palestinian public schools (Haj Hussein et al., 2016). 27 According to Haj Hussein et al. (2016) and due to the lack of heating systems in public schools, students and teachers attempt to compensate for needed heating inside classrooms by closing doors and windows. This method has a negative impact on students’ performance and the air quality inside classrooms (Haj Hussein et al., 2016). Therefore, new systems and procedures should be proposed to improve environmental comfort and energy-efficiency (Haj Hussein et al., 2016). This can be achieved by implementing the green schools’ concept. An obvious example of green buildings in Palestine is Aqaba Green School. Aqaba green school which was established in Tubas city in 2016, is considered to be the first certified green school in Palestine. It was established with a cost of 1,300,000 USD in accordance with the Palestinian Green Building Guideline. Based on the literature review regarding green buildings, very limited studies have been carried out on green buildings in Palestine. In spite of the numerous publications and studies worldwide. 2.3 Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Cost 2.3.1 Life Cycle Assessment The growing awareness of sustainability and the manufacturing operations that drive the conservation of resources led to the need for an environmental assessment tool that provides scientific basis for 28 environmental sustainability (Curran, 2013). What is called Life Cycle Assessment appeared. Life cycle assessment, or LCA is defined by International Standardization Organization ISO 15686-5(2006) as ―a method for evaluating environmental burdens by assessing and measuring energy used in the lifecycle of a building‖. Curran (2013, p. 273) identified Life Cycle Assessment as ―an analytical tool that captures the overall environmental impacts of a product, process or human activity from raw material acquisition, through production and use, to waste management‖. Life cycle assessment technique is used to assess the environmental performance of a building throughout its life cycle. It also used to compare different design alternatives of a new building (Davis Langdon, 2007). Furthermore, LCA is considered as a tool for assessing the ecological burdens and human health impacts all the stages of products, processes and activities (Klöpffer, 2014). when making LCA, the results obtained can help designers, engineers and building users in promoting sustainable development in the future in a more logical way (Abd Rashid & Yusoff, 2015). It must be mentioned that ISO14040 and ISO14044 are relevant international standards for describing the principles and framework for conducting and reporting LCA studies. Therefore, ISO14044 series set up four phases for conducting any LCA study (ISO15686-5, 2008): 29 1. Goal and scope definition phase: scope includes the system boundary, while the level of LCA depends on the subject and the intended use of the study. 2. Inventory analysis phase: this phase includes the input/output data for the system being studied and the collection of the required data for the achievements of study goals. 3. Impact assessment phase: this phase assesses the product system's life cycle inventory results in order to better understand their environmental significance. 4. Interpretation phase: the final stage where the results of life cycle inventory are summarized and discussed in order to reach out conclusions and recommendations that meet the goal and scope definition. Each phase in the life cycle assessment has specific standard to be followed. For example: ISO 14040 was developed for principles and framework, ISO 14041 for goal and scope definition and inventory analysis, ISO 14042 for life cycle impact assessment and finally ISO 14043 for interpretation (Davis Langdon, 2007). Research by Abd Rashid and Yusoff (2015) was conducted to review the LCA methods. The researchers found that LCA implementation can promote sustainability in building industry by mitigating the environmental impacts in the development stage. Also, the research aimed to distinguish materials that significantly affect the environment, and it found that 30 concrete is responsible for the highest embodied energy consumption in buildings. They further argue that building material with lower embodied energy does not necessarily have lower life cycle energy. Moreover Abd Rashid and Yusoff (2015) found that the highest energy consumption in buildings happen in the operation phase. In a review for several case studies on LCA in the construction industry by Buyle et al. (2012), they found that the LCA methodology has some inherent limitations that should be taken into account when conducting any study such as: the different estimation of lifespan for each case, the difficulty in comparing between cases because of their specific properties (lay-out, climate, and comfort requirements), the isolated approach of environmental issues in construction sector and the difficulty in predicting individual inhabitant behavior, since it is consider as an issue of concern when considering energy consumption. However, according to Buyle et al.(2012), only a few researchers include both financial and environmental aspects in their research. Therefore and in order to give a more complete picture, economic evaluation such as Life Cycle Costing (LCC) should be taken into consideration along with the environmental evaluation. 31 2.3.2 Life Cycle Cost Buildings design was intended to only reduce the initial costs of the buildings, but recently attention is being paid for calculating buildings operating costs too (Davis Langdon, 2007). Therefore, when assessing and evaluating buildings, economic evaluation for buildings should be conducted. Different types of related costs should be taken into consideration such as: initial costs, energy and water costs and replacement costs (Fuller, 2016). For economic evaluation concepts such as: life cycle costing, whole life cycle cost and life cycle cost appeared (ISO15686-5, 2008). Life cycle costing can be defined as ―a technique for estimating the cost performance and finding if a required project meets the performance requirement‖ (ISO15686-5, 2008, p. 6). While whole life cost, WLC, is defined as ―all significant and relevant initial and future costs and benefits of an asset, throughout its life cycle, while fulfilling the performance requirements‖ (ISO15686-5, 2008, p. 11). In recent time, sustainable construction sector has been paying attention to life cycle costing evaluation. However, the application of life cycle costing is still limited in the construction sector due to the misunderstanding of life cycle costing methodology and application (2018a). Besides, according to Kubba (2010), the adoption of life cycle costing approach in the construction sector is still limited due to: issues related to the typical corporate structure that dissociates direct and operating costs, imperfect https://www.thesaurus.com/browse/in%20recent%20times https://www.thesaurus.com/browse/in%20recent%20times 32 understanding of the life cycle costing methods and benefits, shortage of needed life cycle cost input data, and the difficulty in calculating performance in comparison to calculating direct cost calculations (Kubba, 2010). Life-cycle cost analysis can be defined as ―a method for assessing the total cost of facility ownership‖ (Fuller, 2016, p. 1). According to Cabeza et al.(2014, p. 5), life cycle cost, LCC, is ―an economic evaluation technique for determining the cost of operating and owning a certain asset for a certain period of time‖. According to Fuller (2016), minimum life cycle cost is considered to be the easiest measure for economic evaluation, because it aims to estimate the total cost of the project and to choose the optimal design that provides the lowest costs. Therefore, it is preferable to conduct the life cycle cost analysis at the design stage of the project. LCC can be applied for both small and large facilities (Cabeza et al., 2014). In addition, LCC is useful when having different projects with a need for selecting the one which maximizes net savings, especially if they have the same performance requirements but differ in their initial costs (Fuller, 2016). In order to perform LCC analysis of buildings, ISO15686-5(2008) can provide a clear definition and a common methodology for performing LCC. 33 According to ISO15686-5(2008), LCC analysis should cover costs over a defined period of analysis that includes the physical, technical, economic or functional life of a building. Typically, life cycle cost analysis may be used during four key stages of the life cycle of any constructed asset: project investment and planning, design and construction, occupation and finally disposal stage ISO15686-5(2008). At the investment and planning stage, LCC analysis can provide an evaluation of different investment scenarios, While during the design and construction stage, LCC analysis can provide choices between alternative designs for constructed asset and choices among alternative components that have acceptable performance (ISO15686-5, 2008). According to Kubba (2010), when there is a need for assessing total building cost over time, all costs need to be identified for each year and corresponding amount, and then they must be discounted to present value, and finally added to arrive at the total lifecycle costs for each alternative. According to Kubba (2010) and ISO15686-5(2008), the costs that may be included in LCC analysis are divided into four main categories: 1. Initial design and construction costs: initial costs that may include investment costs for land acquisition, construction and equipment needed to operate a facility (Fuller, 2016). 34 2. Operating costs: according to ISO15686-5(2008), operating costs usually include energy, water, sewage, waste, recycling, and other utilities. According to Fuller (2016), operational costs are usually assessed for the building as a whole. However, at the design stage it is difficult to predict the energy costs, but they can be obtained from engineering analysis or from computer programs (Fuller, 2016). Energy cost is usually calculated based on its consumption rate and price projection that assumed to increase or decrease at a rate which might be different from general price inflation rate (Fuller, 2016). According to Dwaikat and Ali (2018a),when conducting energy LCC analysis of a certain building, the total building energy usage (kWh/year) and electricity price tariff ($/kWh) are needed. Furthermore, water cost also can be treated similar to the energy cost, but when calculating the water cost, sewage costs and water usage costs should be taken into consideration (Fuller, 2016). Similar to energy, when conducting water LCC analysis of a certain building, the total building water usage (m 3 /year), and water tariff ($/m 3 ) are needed. 3. Maintenance, repair, and replacement costs: According to Reidy et al.(2005), maintenance refers to ―the costs incurred to keep the building systems running properly‖. Usually, maintenance activities include inspection, monitoring, maintenance planning, testing, repairing and replacements (Davis Langdon, 2007). 35 According to Fuller (2016), operation, maintenance, and repair costs are difficult to estimate in comparison to other building expenditures. It is important to know that operating and maintenance costs have a high variation from one building to another, even if they are same in age and function (Fuller, 2016). 4. Disposal and end of life costs: disposal costs are ―costs associated with disposal of the asset at the end of its life cycle, including taking account of any asset transfer obligations‖ (ISO15686-5, 2008, p. 2). While, end of life cost is the net cost of disposing assets at the end of their service life or interest period (ISO15686-5, 2008). Typically, these costs include: decommissioning, deconstruction, demolition of a building, recycling, recovery and disposal of materials, and transport costs (ISO15686-5, 2008). According to the International Standard ISO15686-5(2008), LCC analysis should be conducted using total area of the asset or functional unit or the number of persons accommodated. Accordingly, costs in LCC can be expressed in real or nominal costs, and present or discounted terms. ISO15686-5(2008) identified nominal costs as costs that are affected by general price inflation or deflation. While real costs as the current value of goods or services that are not affected by general price inflation or deflation. Typically, LCC analysis is preferred to be expressed in real costs rather than nominal costs because of the uncertainty of future values. LCC uses net present value (NPV) concepts, NPV is an economic measure that 36 takes into account discount factors, cash flow, time, etc (ISO15686-5, 2008). According to ISO15686-5(2008), when conducting a LCC analysis, certain data, costs, elements and components should be taken into consideration. Such as: 1. Building service life 2. Period of analysis 3. Discount rate 4. Inflation or Deflation rate  Building service life: Building service life is defined by Rauf and Crawford (2015, p. 141) as ―the period of time in which a building is in use‖. Also, ISO15686-5 (2008) identified the service life of a building as ―the period during which the asset is intended to be used for its function or business purpose‖. Building service life data help in defining the needed type and time to maintain and replace building materials. However, when increasing the service life of a building, material replacement cycles will increase (Fu et al., 2013). While decreasing buildings service life will cause a more frequent replacement of the whole building, which will increase the demand for the initial embodied energy over a specific period of time (Fu et al., 2013). 37 A study for investigating the relationship between the service life and the life cycle embodied energy of buildings was conducted by Rauf and Crawford (2015). Rauf and Crawford (2015) calculated the embodied energy for a residential building that having a service life of 1-150years. The study resulted in a reduction of 29% in the life cycle embodied energy for the case study when extending its life by 50-150 years. This indicates that the life cycle embodied energy demand of a building is affected when the building service life variates. Keeping in mind that embodied energy represents the consumed energy during the production of a building, from the acquisition of natural resources to product delivery (Ciravoglu, 2005). Furthermore, in view of increasing energy prices (Morrissey & Horne, 2011) suggested that 25-40 years’ time horizon consider to be significant for the cost savings from higher efficiency standards. Moreover, according to ISO15686-5(2008), the building estimated service life should be at least as long as the design life.  Period of analysis: ISO15686-5(2008) and Reidy et al.(2005) identified period of analysis as the period of time over which life cycle costs are being analyzed. According to ISO15686-5(2008), the period of analysis may cover the whole life cycle of the assets. But it is recommended not to extend the analysis period over 100 years, because results may become insignificant beyond this period. Accordingly, Heralova (2017) suggested that the length of analyzed period should be 10 to 12 years for private sectors and 25 to 30 years for public ones. However, in order to make a life 38 cycle cost analysis LCCA comparisons valid, the period of analysis must be the same for all alternatives (Reidy et al., 2005).  Discount rate: Discount rate is the rate that reflects the time value of money (BULL, 2014). When it is used to find the equivalent present value of a future amount of money, then it is called discount rate. But if it is used to convert a current value of money to its equivalence in future value, then it is called interest rate (Jawad & Ozbay, 2006). Reidy et al.(2005) identified the time value of money as the inequality between the value of money today and the value of the same amount of money to be spent in the future. According to ISO15686-5(2008), discount rate for public sector is determined by the central government. While discount rate for private sector should represent the opportunity cost of investing the capital that may be: the interest cost of a loan for the investment, the interest lost on reduction of cash on deposit, the returns lost on investment, the actual return achieved on capital investment in the business, or the required rate of return of an investor in a new business. Typically, it is essential to determine a discount rate in conducting a life cycle cost analysis, in order to find the equivalent value for each alternative in a common base date when comparing different investment alternatives (Dwaikat & Ali, 2018a). 39 According to Reidy et al.(2005), in order to discount future costs to their present value, formula 2.1 is used: ( ) (2. 1) Where: (PV) = the present value (in Year 0) (FY) = the value in the future (in Year Y) (DISC) = the discount rate. (Y) = the number of years in the future.  Inflation / Deflation rate: inflation rate reflects the increment in the general price level of goods and services. In contrast, deflation rate reflects the decrement in the general price level of goods and services (ISO15686- 5, 2008). Inflation rates can be obtained from frequently issued periodic reports by official governmental bodies. Normally, these reports contain data about the consumer price index (CPI) for different types of goods and services (Dwaikat & Ali, 2018a). The consumer price index (CPI) is a measure of the rate of price change through time for goods and services (Statistics Canada, 2012). 40 The fluctuation related to price of energy has been much higher than the general price inflation (Mirzadeh & Birgisson, 2015). Therefore, the energy price inflation is considered to be an important variable that should be addressed separately from general price inflation when performing life cycle cost analysis (Mirzadeh & Birgisson, 2015). When using nominal costs in LCC analysis, inflation or deflation factor should be included in the discount rate. On the other hand, inflation or deflation factor should not be included in the discount rate if real costs are used in the analysis (ISO15686-5, 2008). Since this research is conducted for estimating the energy life cycle cost for public schools in West Bank/Palestine, the previous mentioned LCC elements and components should be taken into account when conducting the analysis of the needed energy life cycle cost baseline in chapter five. 41 Chapter Three Methodology This chapter presents the research methodology that has been adopted in this research. The chapter starts with a discussion of the adopted research philosophy, type, and approach. Then population and sampling process, data collection and data analysis approaches are outlined and discussed. The chapter ends with a brief description of the adopted case study for this research. 3.1 Introduction According to Saunders et al.(2008), research philosophy means knowledge and its nature development. Therefore, the chosen research philosophy will lead us to assumptions that forms our research strategy and methods. As suggested by Saunders et al.(2008), choosing the appropriate research philosophy and approach depends on the research questions that the researcher wants to answer. Saunders et al.(2008), mentioned in his book entitled ―Research methods for business students‖ four different types of philosophies: Positivism, Interpretivism, Realism and Pragmatism. Positivism can be identified as the perspective that argues that reality is stable and can be observed from an objective viewpoint (Saunders et al., 2008). Interpretivism means that humans feelings and beliefs are part of their knowledge. While Realism means what the senses show us as reality 42 is the truth. On the other hand, Pragmatism, which will be adopted in this research, states that mixed methods are appropriate within one study and that the researcher should adopt what is in the interest of his/her research and gives it value. Pragmatism allows the researcher to choose the most suitable research method regardless of his philosophical stands in relation to ontological and epistemological study (Saunders et al., 2008). Research can be defined according to Kothari (2004) as a scientific and systematic search for relevant information on a specific topic. Kothari (2004) determined four types of researches in his book entitled ―Research Methodology: Methods & Techniques‖: descriptive vs analytical, applied vs fundamental, qualitative vs quantitative and conceptual vs empirical. Descriptive research describes the state of affairs as it is at present and researcher can just report what has happened without having control over variables. While analytical research analyzes facts and information that already exist in order to evaluate current situations (Kothari, 2004). Applied research is established to find solutions for immediate problems. While fundamental research, aims to theory formulation (Kothari, 2004). Qualitative research is an exploratory research that is concerned with understanding the underlying reasons and opinions attributed to a social or human problem. Qualitative research is applicable for qualitative phenomena, and the data analysis is inductively building from particular to general themes. Researchers who engage in qualitative research are following the inductive style and focusing on the individual meaning. 43 While quantitative research relies on measurements of quantity and it used for testing objective theories by analyzing numerical data using statistical methods. Researchers who engage in quantitative research have assumptions about testing theories deductively away from being bias. Also, they can be used to generalize and replicate the findings. Furthermore, Conceptual research depends on abstract ideas. While empirical research, depends on experience or observations only (Kothari, 2004). These types of research are generated by different types of research approaches and methods, depending on time needed for the research, its purpose of research and the research environment. Research methods such as: questionnaires, interviews, case studies and analysis of historical records and documents can be defined as techniques used for research conduction (Saunders et al., 2008). While according to Saunders et al.(2008), Deduction and Induction are representing two main types of research approaches. In the deduction approach, the researcher first develops theories and hypothesis, then he designs the research strategy. While in induction approach, the researcher first collects data, then he develops appropriate theories depending on the result of the data analysis for his research. 3.2 Research Philosophy The research philosophy that was adopted in this research is Pragmatism, since Pragmatism argues that the research question is the most important determinant of the adopted research philosophy. Besides, Pragmatism 44 believes that the researcher should study what interests his research and gives it value (Saunders et al., 2008). Accordingly, Pragmatism applies a practical approach that helps collect and interpret data by integrating different philosophical perspectives. Also it states that mixed methods are appropriate within one study (Saunders et al., 2008). 3.3 Research Type In order to achieve the objectives of this research, a quantitative research was conducted due to the dependency of this research on the numerical data of the monthly energy consumptions readings for the selected public schools. Furthermore, quantitative research analysis conducted through the use of diagrams and statistics. However, the main advantage of quantitative research is that it is based on meanings derived from numbers and not from the researcher personal judgments (Saunders et al., 2008). 3.4 Research Approach The research approach that was followed for achieving the research objectives is the deductive approach. According to this approach, the researcher develops a clear theoretical position or conceptual framework before starting with data collection. Then he continues by subsequently testing the theories and ideas that he has already developed using the required data (Saunders et al., 2008). 45 3.5 Research Method Research methodology is defined by Kothari (2004) as the logic and sequence of steps used by the researcher to study his research problem. Since the main objective of this research is to estimate the energy life cycle cost of public schools in Palestine, and to quantify the life cycle cost savings associated with reduced energy consumption in Aqqaba green school, the researcher found that the appropriate method to be followed for achieving the research objectives is mixing between the adoption of a case study and survey. The survey is required in order to collect statistical data to establish an energy consumption baseline for public schools in Palestine, while the case study is required in order to measure the actual energy performance for a green school under operation. Generally, the methodology that was followed in this research is illustrated in the following steps: 1. Defining the research problem, scope, objectives and questions, then sourcing information from various literature sources such as books, peer reviewed journals, and governmental reports. 2. Selecting the research sample using statistical methods. 3. Starting the data collection process. 4. Editing and tabulating the collected data and performing data analysis. 46 5. Drawing results and conclusions from the analyzed data. 3.6 Research Population and Sampling 3.6.1 Research Population Since Aqqaba green school is the first public green school in Palestine, this research population is considered to be all the public sector schools that are located in West Bank/Palestine. Gaza strip has been excluded in this research because of the various obstacles of entering Gaza, the different climate zone of Gaza and the limited time for preparing this research. It is worth mentioning that Aqqaba green school will be taken as a case study for this research. 3.6.2 Research Sampling Methods In order to measure the actual energy performance of the case study, an energy consumption baseline is required. As mentioned earlier, establishing an energy consumption baseline requires statistical data either from the population or from a statistically representative sample to generalize the findings. According to Weiss (2011), there are two types of statistics, descriptive and inferential. Descriptive statistics is used for the purpose of summarizing and organizing information. While Inferential Statistics is used for measuring the reliability of conclusions for a certain population depending on the sample information that is obtained from the population. 47 Therefore, an appropriate method for obtaining a sample from a certain population must be used, in order to ensure that the selected sample can provide conclusions that can be statistically generalized for the entire population. According to Creswell (2010), there are two types of sampling: Probability and Nonprobability sampling. In probability sampling, a representative sample from the population is selected and the researcher can make generalizations to the population. While in nonprobability sampling, the researcher selects the sample that is already available and that the available sample has the characteristics that the investigator seeks to study. Also, in nonprobability sampling the researcher may not be interested in generalizing findings to a population. According to Creswell (2010), there are two types of nonprobability sampling approaches that can be used: convenience and snowball sampling approaches. Convenience sampling can be identified according to Creswell (2010, p. 619) as ―a quantitative sampling procedure in which the researcher selects participants because they are willing and available to be studied”. While, snowball sampling can be identified as ―a sampling procedure in which the researcher asks participants to identify other participants to become members of the sample.” (Creswell, 2010, p. 628). 48 On the other hand, according to Weiss (2011), there are different types of probability sampling methods that can be used, such as: 1. Simple Random Sampling: which gives each member of the subset an equal probability of being chosen. 2. Cluster Sampling: which is appropriate when the members of the population are widely scattered geographically. When using Cluster sampling, firstly the population must be divided into clusters, then a simple random sampling of the clusters is obtained. Then all members of the obtained clusters in previous step are considered to be the needed sample. It is worth mentioning that there are two types of cluster sampling, one stage sampling; where all of the elements within selected clusters are included in the sample, and two stage sampling; where a subset of elements within selected clusters is randomly selected for inclusion in the sample. 3. Stratified Sampling: which is more reliable than cluster sampling. When using stratified sampling, firstly the population must be divided into strata, then sampling is done from each stratum (the strata are often sampled in proportion to their size), finally members obtained in previous step will represent the needed sample. 3.6.3 Research Population and Sample Size Since the main objective of this research is to establish an energy life cycle baseline for public schools in west bank/ Palestine, a random sample of existing public schools from all over the West Bank will be analyzed, in 49 addition to Aqqaba green school as a case study to evaluate the actual performance of this school as a green building against the industry baseline Also, for accomplishing this research objective, the data about the public schools’ location, area, number of students and a time-series data about the actual energy consumptions will be collected from the Statistics and Planning Department of the Palestinian Ministry of Education and the utility service providers. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Education (2018), Statistics and Planning Department, there are 1825 governmental schools in West Bank distributed over 17 governorates. Therefore, due to time and budget limitations in conducting this research, it is decided to collect data for a statistically representative sample from the population, rather than collecting data for the entire population. Since public schools in West Bank are already divided into groups (based on their locations) which is compatible with the concept of the Cluster Sampling method, the sample of this research will be selected following the rules of Cluster Sampling method (two stage sampling). The selection of the research sample using Cluster sampling method is performed as follows: 50 1. Listing all the public schools in West Bank in clusters (clusters represent governorates) and then selecting the required number of clusters by simple random sampling using random number generator available in MS Excel Professional plus 2016. 2. Performing the second stage of clustering on the elements (schools inside each selected governorate) that are inside the selected clusters by selecting the required number of schools from each selected cluster by simple random sampling using random number generator in MS Excel Professional plus 2016. Consensus is yet to be reached regarding the sample size in statistics (Weiss, 2012). How large is the required sample size for a certain study is one of the most frequently asked questions in statistics (Naing et al., 2006). In other words, researchers have different opinions of how to determine the appropriate sample size (Bartlett et al., 2001). According to Ajay & Micah (2014), there are several factors that affect the needed sample size. These factors include: the purpose of the study, population size and level of precision. The level of precision, which is called sampling error, is the range in which the true value of the population is estimated to be. It is recommended to use 5% level of precision. However, according to Naing et al.(2006) if there is a resource limitation, a larger level of precision in case of a preliminary study may be used (e.g. >10%). 51 Accordingly, Ajay & Micah (2014) suggested that there are different approaches for determining the sample size including: 1. Using a census for small populations: in this approach the entire population is being used as the sample, this approach is applicable for small populations (less than 200). Using census for large populations is considered to be impractical due to costs considerations. 2. Imitating a sample size of similar studies: in this approach the same sample size for similar studies is used. But a risk of repeating errors that were made in determining the sample size of the previous study may occur. 3. Using published tables: in this approach published tables which provide the sample size for a given set of criteria are used. These tables of sample sizes reflect the number of obtained responses. It is important that measured attributes of the sample size follow the normal distribution. 4. Applying formulas to calculate a sample size: sometimes the researcher may need to calculate the necessary sample size for a different combination of levels of precision, confidence, and variability using a certain formula. According to Cochran (1963), in order to yield a representative sample for proportions in large populations Equation 3.1 can be used: (3. 1) 52 Where: (n0) = the sample size. (Z 2 ) = the abscissa of the normal curve that cuts off an area α at the tails (1 - α equals the desired confidence level). (e) = the desired level of precision. (p) = the estimated proportion of an attribute that is present in the population (q) = 1-p. The previous formula can be implemented when the data has a normal distribution. In this research, the researcher decided to use ―Thompson formula‖ (Equation 3.2) for obtaining a representative sample. The size of population following Thompson formula is given by (Thompson, 2012): ( ) (( )( ⁄ )) ( ) ( 3. 2) Where: (n) = the required sample size. (N) = the total number of populations. (1825 school) (d) = the percentage error. (0.10) 53 (p) = estimated proportion of property offers and neutrals. (0.50) (Z) = the upper α/2 of the normal distribution curve. (1.96 for 95% confidence level). Furthermore, according to the central limit theorem that states “that for a large sample size, the possible sample means are approximately normally distributed, regardless of the distribution of the variable under consideration‖ (Weiss, 2011, p:293), which conclude that the sample size should be equal or higher than 30 regardless of the distribution of the variable under consideration in order to be considered large enough (Weiss, 2011). However, for obtaining a representative sample size of population for this research and in order to generalize the results over the population, the researcher decided to use Thompson formula for determining the required sample size, as can be seen in chapter 4, section 4.1. And then using Cluster sampling method for selecting the needed sample as mentioned earlier in this section. 3.7 Data Collection Approach In data collection phase, the needed data for this research was collected from the Ministry of Education in Ramallah city, utility service providers, and Municipalities. 54 For the purpose of answering the research questions, the following types of data were collected:  Historical records of energy consumption data for selected public schools were gathered from the utility service providers: Jerusalem District Electricity company in Ramallah city and Northern Electricity Distribution company in Nablus city. The collected energy consumption data for public schools covered a period of five years (2014-2018) for each school, because of the policies of the utility service providers that prevent revealing data for more than five years.  The monthly energy consumption reports of Aqqaba green school were gathered from the Municipality of Tubas city, in addition to Aqqaba green school photovoltaic (PV) system data.  Data about the schools’ names, locations, areas, number of students and gender in each selected school were collected from the Ministry of Education in Ramallah city.  Historical records of energy price changes in Palestine were gathered from the Palestinian Electricity Regulatory Council, Jerusalem District Electricity company and Northern Electricity Distribution company. More detailed discussion and description of the collected data is presented in the next chapter (chapter four). 55 3.8 Data Analysis Approach For the purpose of establishing the energy life cycle baseline for the public schools in West Bank /Palestine, the following approach for analyzing the data will be followed: 1. The monthly consumption data for each school in the selected sample will be converted to annual consumption for the purpose of reducing the variation in the monthly consumption data. 2. The average of the annual consumption data for each school (that was available for the five years period from 2014 to 2018) will be calculated to obtain the average annual energy consumption for each school in the selected sample. 3. The schools that are provided with PV-systems will be excluded from the analysis due to the unavailability of their energy consumption and energy generated data. 4. The average annual energy consumption data will be ordered in an ascending order for calculating the annual energy consumption outliers for the selected sample. The annual energy consumption outliers will be identified by performing the five-number summary analysis (min, Q1, median, Q3, max) in order to calculate the interquartile range (IQR). 5. After identifying the outliers of the annual energy consumption data and excluding the schools that have PV-systems, the sample arithmetic 56 mean of the annual energy consumption will be calculated by dividing the sum of the average annual energy consumption for the sample over the sample size. 6. The cost of the average annual energy consumptions will be calculated by multiplying the mean of the annual energy consumption with the electricity price tariff. 7. The electricity price inflation rate in Palestine will be calculated using the historical records of the annual change in electricity prices in Palestine that are available for the years 2011 to 2018. The inflation rate will be calculated by subtracting the current electricity price (A) from the original electricity price (B) and then divide the result by the original electricity price (B): ((B-A)/B) *100%. 8. After defining the inflation rate, interest rate, and the period of analysis, the energy life cycle cost analysis will be performed to obtain the required baseline using Equation 3.3 (ISO15686-5, 2008): ( ) (3. 3) Where: (F) = future value (nominal cost). (P) = cost in the base year. (e) = expected percentage of annual cost increase. 57 (n) = number of years between the base year and the occurrence of the cost. 3.9 Research Case Study Description In this research, estimating the life cycle cost of energy consumption in public schools will help in determining the size of savings associated with reduced energy consumption in green schools compared to conventional ones in West Bank/Palestine. Since Aqqaba green school is considered to be the first green school in Palestine, it was taken as a case study for this research. Aqqaba secondary school for girls which, established in Tubas/Nablus city in 2016 with a cost of USD 1,300,000, is the first green school in Palestine to be implemented according to the Palestinian Green Building Guide that was launched in 2013 (Global Communities, 2016). The Green Building Guide provided a clear rating system for the classification of green buildings with six categories that must be available in the project to be considered green. These six categories include site sustainability, energy efficiency, water efficiency, quality of internal environment, quality of use of materials and resources and creative ideas and integrated design of the building (Hijleh, 2017). Aqqaba school has a built area of 1,500 m 2 distributed as follow: 8 classrooms, library, two laboratories, play and green areas. In addition, it has 3 water wells, recycling system for grey water and solar panels for 58 electricity generation. Figure 3.1 below shows the first-floor plan of Aqqaba green school with the green areas and entrances (Global Communities, 2016). Figure 3.1: Aqqaba green school first-floor plan with the green areas and entrances. According to the Electricity Department in the Municipality of Tubas city, Aqqaba green school is supplied with a 15 kWp capacity photovoltaic (PV) system. It is a grid-connected system that connected to the main grid. This means that while the green school is being supplied with the total energy demand from the utility service provider, the whole generated energy by the PV-system is being exported to the grid that is operated by the utility service provider. At the end of each month, an officer from the utility service provider records the energy consumption meter and energy generation meter readings. The total energy consumption readings are being subtracted from the total net generated energy at the end of each year. If there is a surplus of energy then the utility services provider credits 59 75% of it to the green school’s account at the local electricity tariff. Figure 3.2 below shows Aqqaba green school PV-system solar panels photograph. Figure 3.2: Photograph of the solar panels for Aqqaba green school PV-system. 3.10 Chapter Summery This chapter presented the research design. The researcher adopts pragmatism as the research philosophy which represents the researchers stand and perspective concerning the epistemological studies. This, allowed the researcher to design a mixed-method research approach where survey and case study as research strategies were adopted. The research can be classified as quantitative research as it is based on numerical data which is collected and analyzed following quantitative methods. In the subsequent chapters (Chapter 4 and 5) more detailed discussion about the data collection and analysis process is presented. 60 Chapter Four Data Collection This chapter presents the data collection process and the collected data that is needed to achieve the objectives of the research. Research population and sampling procedure are discussed in this chapter. The chapter discusses the different types of data that have been collected for the purpose of achieving the research objectives. 4.1 Research Population and Sampling In this research, the population was essential to be identified in order to establish the energy life cycle cost baseline for public schools in West Bank/Palestine. Accordingly, the population in this research consists of all public schools that are located in West Bank/Palestine. Therefore, the Statistics and Planning Department in the Palestinian Ministry of Education was contacted to obtain the total number of public schools that are in use in West Bank. According to Statistics and Planning Department of Palestinian Ministry of Education (2018), there are 1825 public schools under operation in West Bank. These schools are distributed over 17 governorates as shown in Table 4.1. 61 Table 4.1: The distribution of public schools in West Bank/Palestine according to governorate. Governorate Number of schools Governorate Number of schools Governorate Number of schools 1 Ramallah 196 7 Bethlehem 133 13 Jerusalem suburbs 74 2 Nablus 180 8 North Hebron 104 14 Salfit 73 3 South Hebron 164 9 Qabatya 91 15 Jerusalem 51 4 Jenin 154 10 Yatta 85 16 Tubas 45 5 Hebron 153 11 South Nablus 82 17 Jericho 22 6 Tulkarm 138 12 Qalqilya 80 Accordingly, a statistically representative random sample of public schools from the population was selected using Cluster Sampling method (two stage sampling). Cluster sampling is a recommended sampling technique for cases in which the population is widely spread out geographically (Weiss, 2012). As discussed earlier in Chapter three section 3.6.3, Thompson formula (Equation 3.2, in Chapter 3) is adopted to determine the sample size. Equation 3.2 gives a sample size of 91 schools as the required sample size of the population considering an error of 10%. The following steps explain how the two stage Cluster sampling method was used for selecting the required sample:  Step 1: the researcher divided the schools into groups/clusters according to their geographical locations and governorates. Since the public schools in West Bank are distributed all over 17 governorates, each governorate was considered as a cluster where the total number of schools in each cluster is known (see Table 4.1 above) 62  Step 2: a simple random sample, using random number generator available in MS Excel Professional Plus 2016, from the 17 clusters (governorates) was obtained. The randomly selected clusters for this research were Nablus and Ramallah governorates. Since the two selected governorates have similar climate, a third governorate with different climate characteristics (Jenin governorate) was intentionally selected and added to the randomly selected clusters in order to increase the representativeness of the sample.  Step 3: the elements (schools) inside each selected cluster (Nablus, Ramallah and Jenin) were also sampled by the same simple random sampling technique used in step 1 in order to obtain the calculated minimum sample size of 91 schools as mentioned earlier. For each selected governorate the number of needed schools was determined by: A. Calculating the total number of schools that are located in Nablus, Ramallah and Jenin governorates (180+196+154= 530 school) respectively. B. Then determining the needed sample size ratio of each governorate {Nablus: (180/530) *100% = 33.96%, Ramallah: (196/530) *100%=36.98%, Jenin: (154/530) *100%=29.06%)}. C. Then multiplying the ratio of each governorate by the required research sample size in order to determine the needed number of schools from each governorate {Nablus:33.96%*91=30.90=31 schools, Ramallah: 36.98%*91=33.65=34 schools, Jenin: 29.06%*91= 26.44= 27 schools}. 63 The selected research sample size must contain at least 31 schools from Nablus governorate, 34 schools from Ramallah governorate and 27 schools from Jenin governorate. Accordingly, the number of schools that were selected from each randomly selected governorate was as follow: Nablus governorate 37 schools, Ramallah governorate 47 schools and Jenin governorate 30 schools. It is worth mentioning that the increase in the number of selected schools from each governorate was due to the availability of their data. In total, 114 school were selected which is about 25% higher than the calculated minimum sample size of 91 schools as calculated earlier using Thompson rule. See Tables 4.2, 4.3, 4.4 for the selected schools in Nablus, Ramallah and Jenin governorates. Table 4.2: Selected schools sample from Nablus governorate. Nablus governorate School name School name School name 1 Imam Shafi'i elementary school for girls 14 Al-Itihad elementary boys school 27 Ruhi Alhindi elementary boys school/Tel 2 Samir Saad Eddin secondary school for girls 15 Abdul Rahim Jardaneh secondary boys school 28 Zeinabia elementary school for girls 3 Abdulmagith Al-Ansari elementary boys school 16 Jamal Al-Masri elementary girls school 29 Omar Al-Mukhtar elementary girls school 4 Khadija om Al- Mouminine mixed elementary school 17 Qusin secondary school for girls 30 Haj Mohammed Ali Qarman elementary school for boys 5 Yousef Al-Barqawi elementary boys school 18 Alnizamia (B) elementary school for girls 31 Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum elementary boys school 6 IRAQ AL-