LEED yeşil bina sertifika sistemi uygulamalarının değerlendirilmesi: Avrupa ve Türkiye
Evaluation of leed green building certification system practices: Europe and Turkey
Yazar: EREN BAŞTANOĞLU
Danışman: DR. ŞULE FİLİZ AKŞİT
İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi / Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü / Gayrimenkul Geliştirme Ana Bilim Dalı
Derece: Yüksek Lisans, 2017
Konu: Mimarlık = Architecture ; İnşaat Mühendisliği = Civil Engineering ; Şehircilik ve Bölge Planlama = Urban and Regional Planning
Dizin: Ekolojik mimari = Ecological architecture ; LEED = LEDD ; Çevresel sürdürülebilirlik = Sustainable environment ; İnşaat projeleri = Construction projects

Özet:
Sosyal ve çevresel sorumluluk anlayışıyla tasarlanan ve yaşam döngüsü boyunca çevreye ve insan sağlığına duyarlı yeşil bina kavramı gayrimenkul sektöründe gündeme gelmektedir. Yeşil bina projelerinin uygulanmaya başlamasıyla birlikte, bu binaların çevre dostu özelliklerinin belgelendirilmesi, teşvik edilmesi ve yaygınlaşmasını sağlayan gönüllü yeşil bina sertifika sistemleri ortaya çıkmıştır. Gayrimenkul sektörü açısından bu sertifikaların projeye katma değer kattığı ve kuvvetli bir pazarlama aracı olduğu düşünülmektedir. Fakat, Türkiye'de yeşil bina sertifikasına sahip bir binada uygulanan stratejiler konusunda gayrimenkul sektöründe belirsizlik bulunmaktadır. Bu durum, yeşil binaların geliştirilmesi esnasında ortaya çıkan maliyetler ile ilgili yanlış öngörüler, geliştiricilerin yeşil bina yapımını tercih etmesinde bir engel oluşması, yeşil binaların kiralanması ve satılması esnasında yanlış bilgilendirme ve haksız kazanç gibi sonuçlar doğurabilmektedir.
Bu çalışmada Türkiye'de ve Dünya'da en yaygın kullanılan LEED yeşil bina sertifika sistemi üzerinde durulmuştur. LEED yeşil bina sertifikası, değerlendirme sistemini oluşturan farklı kriterlerin uygulanmasıyla alınmaktadır ve bu nedenle LEED sertifikalı her binanın farklı özellikleri bulunabilir. Avrupa ve Türkiye'de LEED Gold seviyesinde yeşil bina sertifikası almış yeni binalar incelenmiştir. 150'den fazla binanın hangi LEED yeşil bina sertifika sistemi kriterlerini uygulayarak sertifika aldığı listelenmiş ve Avrupa ve Türkiye için kriterlerin uygulanma oranları belirlenmiştir. Bu oranlar üzerinden sertifikalı binalarda özellikle tercih edilen ve tercih edilmeyen özellikler üzerinde durulmuştur. Oranların karşılaştırılması sonucunda ise Avrupa ve Türkiye'deki yeşil binalar arasındaki en önemli farklar ortaya çıkarılmış ve nedenleri irdelenmiştir.
Çalışma sonucunda Türkiye'deki LEED sertifikalı binaların, özellikle enerji performansı konusunda Avrupa'daki LEED sertifikalı binaların gerisinde kaldığı belirlenmiştir. Aynı sertifika seviyesine sahip olmalarına rağmen Avrupa'da bulunan yeşil binalar Türkiye'dekilere göre daha enerji verimlidir. Kirli arsaların temizlenerek kullanılması, binanın sebep olduğu ışık kirliliği, sertifikalı ahşap kullanımı, düşük VOC içerikli zemin kaplamaları ve kullanıcı görüş kalitesi gibi konularda da Türkiye'deki binalar Avrupa'daki binaların gerisinde kalmaktadır. Bu alanlarda Türkiye'deki yönetmeliklerin ve sektörün eğitim seviyesinin eksik kaldığı görülmektedir. Ayrıca, yaygın kanının aksine yenilenebilir enerji üretimi ve yeşil enerji satın alınması gibi uygulamaların yeşil binalarda çok düşük oranda uygulandığı belirlenmiştir.

Abstract:
Global environmental problems such as climate change, resource and water depletion became more and more visible in the last decade and they deeply affect the future of the humankind. Buildings have a large impact in these problems because they consume a considerable part of produced energy and clean water in the world. Green building is the practice of creating structures and using processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient. Green buildings offer a solution to the global problems and thus they became more popular in recent years. Green building certification systems help green building movement to spread and they became very popular in recent years. However, there are still questions in the real estate sector what a green building is and what to expect from a certified green building. This uncertainty may lead to mispredictions about the costs incurred during the development of green building, misinformation during lease and sale of green buildings, distrust to green building certifications and ultimately a reduction in the green building movement.
This study aims to clarify the properties of green certified buildings and help the construction sector what to expect from a green certified building in Turkey in comparison to Europe as a role model. The study focuses on LEED green building certification system which is the most widely used system in Turkey and in the world. The LEED green building certification evaluates the buildings total environmental impact and it is based on the implementation of different green building practices separated under credits and categories. Each credit has a certain number of points depending its environmental impact and if the criteria of the credit are met by the building those points are achieved. Buildings can achieve the certification by implementing different criteria as long as they earn the required number of points in total. Therefore, each building with LEED certification may have different green building features although they acquired the same certification level. This may lead to varieties in certain performance criteria between green certified buildings. For example, a building with low energy performance but better site selection can achieve the same LEED certification level as a building with high energy performance but worse site selection. In this study, it is aimed to find out which criteria are chosen in what percentage in Turkey and in Europe.
All new buildings with green building certification at LEED Gold level in Europe and Turkey have been examined in this study. More than 150 buildings were examined regarding their LEED certification implementation. LEED criteria that buildings achieved, LEED score, location and type of the buildings are listed. Average application percentage for each LEED credit is calculated for Europe and Turkey. As a result of revealed credit implementation percentages conspicuous credits are listed into categories: most frequently implemented criteria that should be expected from a LEED Gold certified building, less frequently implemented LEED criteria that shouldn't be expected from a LEED Gold certified building, criteria which are significantly more or significantly less implemented in Europe compared to Turkey.
Most frequently implemented criteria both in Europe and Turkey includes site selection credits. It is found out that LEED Gold certified buildings are mostly located in urban areas with high surrounding development density and many public transportation opportunities. This means that buildings with good location thus higher value choose to pursue LEED certification. Besides, site selection credits, credits that require less effort and implementation costs are frequently chosen. These credits include; water efficient landscaping with low consuming plants, waste management during construction, low VOC paints, preferred parking spots for green vehicles such as hybrid or electrical cars, bicycle storage areas. It should be noted that even though the usage of green vehicles and bicycles are very few in Turkey, the criteria are implemented in most of the buildings only because it is easy to implement. It can also be said that low-VOC paints are widely available in the sector and do not have significant cost increase. Another credit that is widely implemented is to have a LEED Accredited Professional in the project team. This means that almost all projects worked with a LEED consultant during the design and construction.
Some credits are implemented very few both in Europe and Turkey and should not be expected from a LEED Gold certified building. On-site renewable energy production and green energy purchase from grid aren't implemented in most of the buildings. On the contrary of the green building perception renewable energy production such as photovoltaic panels are not common among the LEED Gold certified buildings. It can be said that due to high first costs, renewable energy production is not chosen. This is one of the main misperceptions of the real estate sector and public about LEED Gold certified buildings.
Other credits which are less frequently implemented are about material selections such as certified wood, quickly renewable materials, urea-formaldehyde content of composite wood products. It can be concluded that these types of materials are not widely available in construction sector and result higher first costs.
Some credits are implemented much more frequently in Europe than in Turkey. The most important credit among these is about the energy performance of the building. It is found out that LEED Gold certified buildings in Europe are much more energy efficient than the ones in Turkey. It can be said that Turkish real estate sector is far behind the European sector in terms of energy efficiency. The main reason for this is believed to be the lack of mandatory regulations. Most real estate developers do not choose to build energy efficient buildings if there aren't mandatory regulations because of the high first costs of the energy efficiency measures. Additionally, it can be said that architectural energy efficiency strategies are less commonly implemented in Turkey compared to Europe and the real estate sector should be educated more about energy efficiency.
Brownfield redevelopment is revealed as one of the undeveloped implementation in Turkey. The credit about brownfield redevelopment is not implemented in any buildings in Turkey where it is implemented in many in Europe. The credit requires assessment of the possible brownfield and improvement of the site according to related standards. Although, brownfield sites in urban transformation areas are common in Turkey, buildings didn't achieve this credit. The main reason for this is believed to be lack of regulations and expertise in the sector about brownfields.Another credit which is less implemented in Turkey is about outside views of the building. If it is considered that LEED Gold certified buildings are valuable buildings mostly located in urban sites, it is concluded that the lack of outside views in a building is resulted by the lack of local regulations about urban planning. Buildings in Turkey have more occupied spaces without windows probably located in basements. It is advised to improve urban planning regulations.
Some criteria related to material selections are also less implemented in Turkey which shows that European construction sector is more developed in environmentally friendly materials. Light pollution reduction criteria are also less implemented in Turkey which shows that Turkish developers chose façade lighting of the buildings rather than to achieve this point.
The credits that are less implemented in Europe than Turkey are mainly about water efficiency. It is found out that LEED Gold certified buildings in Turkey implemented more strategies such as rainwater re-use, grey water re-use and water efficient fixtures. Also, it can be seen that some credits that can be achieved only with future declarations such as energy measurement plan, thermal comfort survey are implemented more in Turkey. These credits do not require initial proof to earn the related points and they can be earned even though they are not implemented. It is advised that green building certification systems should revise these credit to have more strict documentation in order to prevent any uncertainties.
To conclude, it is found out that local regulations, education level of project participants and first costs are the main factors effecting the properties of a green certified buildings. It is advised to improve local codes about energy efficiency, urban planning and brownfield redevelopment in Turkey. Additionally, real estate sector should be educated better about green building practices.