Green building rating systems and environmental impacts of energy consumption from an international perspective

The aim of this research was to explore potential benefits and challenges of adopting green building rating system on a global level. A building information modeling (BIM) of an illustrative building was developed and situated in different international locations with the goal of representing varying climate types, economic conditions and energy sources. The base BIM was individually changed to meet local codes and reasonable heating and cooling systems while in compliance with the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). Life-cycle environmental impacts related to energy use with electricity generation mix were calculated. Discrepancies were observed in the results between the different sites with differences clearly increased with more diversified energy sources. Range of variation in equivalent CO2 emissions was more than 10,000 tons for the same building and the same level of LEED certification. We explored the need for LEED to require buildings with higher environmental impacts to achieve higher levels of energy performance based on associated impacts.