A SEMINAR REPORT ON

USE OF GEOMATICS ENGINEERING

IN GREEN BUILDING

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the

requirements for the award of degree
of
MASTER OF TECHNOLOGY
In
CIVIL ENGINEERING
(With specialization in Geomatics)
By

SUBHANSHA ATRAY
(18520012)

GEOMATICS ENGINEERING GROUP

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ROORKEE
ROORKEE-247667 (INDIA)
MAY, 2019
i

CANDIDATE’S DECLARATION

I hereby certify that the work which is being presented in this report in partial
fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Degree of Master of Technology in
the Department of Civil Engineering of the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee
is an authentic record of my work carried out under the supervision of Dr. R.D.
Garg, Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of
Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, India.

Date: (NILESH YADAV) Place: Roorkee Enrolment No. 17520008

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the above statement made by the candidate is correct to the
best of my knowledge.

Dr. R.D. Garg

Associate Professor

Department of Civil Engineering

Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee

Roorkee-247667, Uttarakhand, India

ABSTRACT

Dominant energy consumers in cities today are buildings, accounting for 30-40% of total energy
consumption and 70% of total energy consumption. The building sector therefore presents immense
opportunities for reduction in energy consumption by through the adoption of energy efficient practices.
Green building is one of measures been put forward to mitigate significant impacts of the building stock
on the environment, society and economy. There is lack of a systematic review of this large number of
studies that is critical for the future endeavor. These common themes worked in are the definition and
scope of green building; quantification of benefits of green buildings compared to conventional
buildings; and various approaches to achieve green buildings. It is found that the existing studies played
predominately focus on the environmental aspect of green building. Other dimensions of sustainability
of green building, especially the social sustainability is largely overlooked. Future research opportunities
lay in effects of climatic conditions on the effectiveness of green building assessment tools, validation of
real performance of green buildings, unique demands of specific population, and future proofing.

Green building construction can be largely driven by green building rating systems. Green building
rating systems are voluntary tools intended to promote sustainable building process through approaching
several environmental issues that include sustainable design parameters related to the construction site
and others related to its surrounding context. Decision making software support tools and methods are
needed to guide practitioners on minimizing building’s environmental impact especially for early design
decisions.

INTRODUCTION

Construction industry has significant environmental, social and economic impacts on the society. As one
of key outputs of the construction industry, buildings largely reflect these impacts during its lifecycle.
The positive impacts of construction activities include: providing buildings and facilities to satisfying
human being's requirements, providing employment opportunities directly or indirectly, contributing
toward the national economy and urbanization. The negative impacts of buildings and construction
activities are also well recognized. These include the noise, dust, traffic congestion, water pollution and
waste disposal during the construction stage. A large quantity of natural and human resources will be
consumed. Once completed, buildings continue their impacts on the environment. In addition, the
renovation, refurbishment and retrofitting of building will involve the consumption of natural resources
and energy; GHG emission; production of noise and other pollutants as well. At the end of life of
buildings, the disposal of buildings is also associated with energy consumption and waste production.

There are many definitions of green building. For instance, Kibert defined green building as: “… healthy
facilities designed and built in a resource-efficient manner, using ecologically based principles”. It is
worth noting that green building has been used as a term interchangeable with sustainable building and
high-performance building.

Robichaud and Anantatmula pointed out that there are four pillars of green buildings:

1. minimization of impacts on the environment

2. enhancing the health conditions of occupants
3. the return on investment to developers and local community,
4. and the life cycle consideration during the planning and development process

WHAT IS A GREEN BUILDING?

Green building is a holistic concept that starts with the understanding that the built environment can
have profound effects, both positive and negative, on the natural environment, as well as the people who
inhabit buildings every day. Green building is an effort to amplify the positive and mitigate the negative
of these effects throughout the entire life cycle of a building. While there are many different definitions
of green building out there, it is generally accepted as the planning, design, construction, and operations
of buildings with several central, foremost considerations: energy use, water use, indoor environmental
quality, material section and the building's effects on its site.

A ‘green’ building is a building that, in its design, construction or operation, reduces or eliminates
negative impacts, and can create positive impacts, on our climate and natural environment. Green
buildings preserve precious natural resources and improve our quality of life.

The Office of the Federal Environmental Executive defines this term as:

‘the practice of (1) increasing the efficiency with which buildings and their sites use energy, water, and
materials, and (2) reducing building impacts on human health and the environment, through better siting,
design, construction, operation, maintenance, and removal—the complete building life cycle.’

Similarly, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines green building as follows:
The practice of creating structures and using processes that are environmentally responsible and
resource-efficient throughout a building’s life-cycle from siting to design, construction, operation,
maintenance, renovation and deconstruction. This practice expands and complements the classical
building design concerns of economy, utility, durability, and comfort. Green building is also known as a
sustainable or ‘high performance’ building.5

There are a number of features which can make a building ‘green’. These include:

 Efficient use of energy, water and other resources

 Use of renewable energy, such as solar energy

 Pollution and waste reduction measures, and the enabling of re-use and recycling

 Good indoor environmental air quality

 Use of materials that are non-toxic, ethical and sustainable

 Consideration of the environment in design, construction and operation

 Consideration of the quality of life of occupants in design, construction and operation

 A design that enables adaptation to a changing environment

A green building depletes the natural resources to the minimum during its construction and operation.
The aim of a green building design is to minimize the demand on non-renewable resources, maximize
the utilization efficiency of these resources, when in use, and maximize the reuse, recycling, and
utilization of renewable resources. It maximizes the use of efficient building materials and construction
practices; optimizes the use of on-site sources and sinks by bio-climatic architectural practices; uses
minimum energy to power itself; uses efficient equipment to meet its lighting, air-conditioning, and
other needs; maximizes the use of renewable sources of energy; uses efficient waste and water
management practices; and provides comfortable and hygienic indoor working conditions. In sum, the
following aspects of the building design are looked into in an integrated way in a green building.

 Site planning
 Building envelope design
 Building system design ((HVAC) heating ventilation and air conditioning, lighting, electrical,
and water heating)
  Integration of renewable energy sources to generate energy onsite.
 Water and waste management
 Selection of ecologically sustainable materials (with high recycled content, rapidly renewable
resources with low emission potential, etc.).
 Indoor environmental quality (maintain indoor thermal and visual comfort, and air quality)

BENEFITS OF GREEN BUILDING

A green building has lower resource consumption as compared to conventional buildings. Green
buildings consume 40% to 60% lesser electricity as compared to conventional buildings. This is
primarily because they rely on passive architectural interventions in the building design, and high
efficiency materials and technologies in the engineering design of the building. Green Buildings also
attempt to work towards on-site energy generation through renewable energy utilization to cater to its
energy needs. For instance, solar thermal systems can help generate hot-water and replace the
conventional electrical geyser in buildings. Solar PV panels can help generate electricity which can
reduce the buildings dependence on grid power.

Green buildings consume 40% to 80% (depending on the range of measures adopted) lesser water as
compared to conventional buildings. By utilizing ultra-low-flow fixtures, dual plumbing systems, waste-
water recycling systems and rain-water harvesting, green buildings not only reduce their demand for
water use but also look at on-site supply options to cater to its internal and external (landscape) water
demands.

Green buildings generate lesser waste by employing waste management strategies on site. They may
also employ waste to energy or waste to resource (like manure, or compost) strategies on site, to
minimize their burden on municipal waste management facilities and landfills.

Green buildings generate lesser pollution both during construction as well as while in use. Through best-
practices such as proper storage of construction materials, barricading of the site to prevent air and noise
pollution during construction, proper storage and disposal of waste during construction and operation,
and so on, ensures reduced impact on the surrounding environment.

Green buildings ensure proper safety, health and sanitation facilities for the labourers (during
construction) and the occupants (while in use). P Green buildings restrict the use of high ODP (ozone
depleting potential) substances in their systems as well as in finishes.
Green buildings offer higher image and marketability. All of these can be achieved at a minimal
incremental cost with an estimated payback period of about 3–5 years (excepting renewable energy for
power generation).

Some of the benefits of a green design to a building owner, user, and the society as a whole are as
follows:

1. Reduced energy consumption without sacrificing the comfort levels

2. Reduced destruction of natural areas, habitats, and biodiversity, and reduced soilloss from
erosion, etc.
3. Reduced air and water pollution (with direct health benefits)
4. Reduced water consumption
5. Limited waste generation due to recycling and reuse
6. Reduced pollution loads
7. Increased user productivity
8. Enhanced image and marketability

GREEN BUILDING ASSESSMENT TOOLS

A green building rating system is an evaluation tool that measures environmental performance of a
building through its life cycle. It usually comprises of a set of criteria covering various parameters
related to design, construction and operation of a green building. Each criterion has pre-assigned points
and sets performance benchmarks and goals that are largely quantifiable. A project is awarded points
once it fulfils the rating criteria. The points are added up and the final rating of a project is decided.
Rating systems call for independent third-party evaluation of a project and different processes are put in
place to ensure a fair evaluation. Globally, green building rating systems are largely voluntary in nature
and have been instrumental in raising awareness and popularizing green building designs.

A number of assessment tools have been developed to assist the green building developments. It was
developed by the green building council in each country/region. The assessment is undertaken by
accredited professionals that are commissioned by the green building council. The World Green
Building Council has been established to coordinate the efforts of various green building councils over
the world. The structures of these green building assessment tools are similar to a large extent, e.g.
covering various aspects of sustainability, a number of credits available under each category, different
rating tools for various types of projects. There are also extensive studies focusing on developing new
green building rating tools (or customizing existing tools) to accommodate specific local context such as
climatic conditions, economic development level and geographic conditions. Similarly, the heating
related energy consumption received comparatively higher level of importance due to the general wet
and cool climatic condition in the local area. Indeed, the green building assessment tools developed in
different countries have taken the urban climate research findings into consideration to deal with various
climate change issues such as urban heat island.

SOME OF THE SUCCESSFUL INTERNATIONAL RATING PROGRAMMES

BREEAM

Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) was developed in

the United Kingdom in 1990 and is one of the earliest building environmental assessment methods.
BREEAM covers a range of building types including—offices, homes, industrial units, retail units, and
schools. When a building is assessed, points are awarded for each criterion and the points are added for a
total score. The overall building performance is awarded a ‘Pass’, ‘Good’, ‘Very Good’ or ‘Excellent’
rating based on the score. BREEAM has separate criteria/checklist for evaluation of Design and
Procurement and for Management and Operation of buildings. There is also a set of core credits that can
be applied for, in case if the building wishes to go in for ‘Core only’ assessment for building
performance.

BREEAM major categories of criteria for Design and Procurement include the following:

 Management (commissioning period and process adopted, monitoring of commissioning, energy

use in site activities, waste management, pollution minimization)
 Health and comfort (adequate ventilation, humidification, presence of controllable blinds, energy
efficient lighting, thermal and visual comfort, low noise levels)
 Energy (sub-metering)
 Transport (modes of transport to and from site, alternative transport facilities) # Water
(consumption reduction, metering, leak detection)
 Materials (asbestos mitigation, storage facilities, reuse of structures, specifications of envelope,
use of crushed aggregate and sustainable timber)
 Land use (previously used land, use of re mediated contaminated land)
  Ecology (land with low ecological value or minimal change in value, maintaining major
ecological systems on the land, minimization of biodiversity impacts)
 Pollution (leak detection systems, on-site treatment, local or renewable energy sources, light
pollution design, avoid use of ozone depleting and global warming substances)

GBTool

GBTool was developed by the International Framework Committee for the Green Building Challenge,
an international project that has involved more than 25 countries since 1998. GBTool is designed to be
adapted by sponsors to reflect regional conditions and context. It includes criteria in categories such as
Site Selection, Project Planning and Development; Environmental Loadings; Energy and Resource
Consumption; Indoor Environmental Quality; Functionality; Long-Term Performance; and Social and
Economic Aspects. Criteria are assessed using scales that are based on local benchmarks of ‘typical’
practice; buildings can score –1 if below typical practice or from +1 to +5, representing good to very
high performance. All criteria must be attempted. The benchmarks of typical practice and weightings of
criteria are set by the sponsoring organization to represent national, regional, or local codes, practice,
context, conditions, and priorities.

GBTool major categories of criteria include the following.

 Energy consumption is assessed through total use of non-renewable energy (embodied and
operational), electrical demand, usage of renewable energy, and commissioning.
 Resource consumption is assessed through materials use (salvaged, recycled, bio-based and
sustainably harvested, locally produced, designed for disassembly, re-use, or recycling) and
water use for irrigation, building systems, and occupant use.
 Environmental loadings include GHG emissions, other atmospheric emissions, solid wastes,
storm water, waste water, site impacts, and other local and regional impacts.
 Indoor environmental quality is assessed through indoor air quality, ventilation, temperature and
relative humidity, daylight and illumination, and noise and acoustics.
 Other criteria include selection of appropriate site (in terms of land use, brown fields, access to
transportation and amenities), project planning, urban design (density, mixed uses, compatibility,
native species, and wildlife corridors), building controls, flexibility and adaptability,
maintenance of operating performance, and a few social and economic measure
LEED

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) was developed and piloted in the US in 1998
as a consensus-based building rating system based on the use of existing building technology. The rating
system addresses specific environmental building related impacts using a whole building environmental
performance approach. The Indian Green Building Council has adapted LEED system and has launched
LEED India version for rating of new construction. In addition, Indian Green Building Council (IGBC)
has launched several other products for rating of different typologies of buildings including homes,
factories, among others.

The following are key components of the LEED system.

 Sustainable sites (construction related pollution prevention, site development impacts,

transportation alternatives, storm water management, heat island effect, and light pollution)
 Water efficiency (landscaping water use reduction, indoor water use reduction, and waste water
management strategies)
 Energy and atmosphere (commissioning, whole building energy performance optimization,
refrigerant management, renewable energy use, and measurement and verification)
 Materials and resources (recycling collection locations, building reuse, construction waste
management, and the purchase of regionally manufactured materials, materials with recycled
content, rapidly renewable materials, salvaged materials, and FSC certified wood products)
 Indoor environmental quality (environmental tobacco smoke control, outdoor air delivery
monitoring, increased ventilation, construction indoor air quality, use low emitting materials,
source control, and controllability of thermal and lighting systems)
 Innovation and design process (LEED accredited professional, and innovative strategies for
sustainable design)

GRIHA

Most of the internationally devised rating systems have been tailored to suit the building industry of the
country where they were developed. TERI developed a tool for measuring and rating a building’s
environmental performance in the context of India’s varied climate and building practices. This tool, by
its qualitative and quantitative assessment criteria, would be able to ‘rate’ a building on the degree of its
‘greenness’. The rating shall evaluate the environmental performance of a building holistically over its
entire life cycle, thereby providing a definitive standard for what constitutes a ‘green building’. The
rating system, based on accepted energy and environmental principles, seeks to strike a balance between
the established practices and emerging concepts, both national and international. The guidelines/criteria
appraisal may be revised every three years to take into account the latest scientific developments during
this period. On a broader scale, this system, along with the activities and processes that lead up to it, will
benefit the community at large with the improvement in the environment by reducing GHG (greenhouse
gas) emissions, improving energy security, and reducing the stress on natural resources

GRIHA is a five-star rating system for green buildings which emphasizes on passive solar techniques for
optimizing indoor visual and thermal comfort. In order to address energy efficiency, GRIHA encourages
optimization of building design to reduce conventional energy demand and further optimize energy
performance of the building within specified comfort limits. A building is assessed on its predicted
performance over its entire life cycle from inception through operation. GRIHA was developed as an
indigenous building rating system, particularly to address and assess non-air conditioned or partially air-
conditioned buildings. It has been developed to rate commercial, institutional and residential buildings
in India emphasizing national environmental concerns, regional climatic conditions, and indigenous
solutions. It stresses passive solar techniques for optimizing visual and thermal comfort indoors, and
encourages the use of refrigeration-based and energy-demanding air conditioning systems only in cases
of extreme thermal discomfort and integrates all relevant Indian codes and standards for buildings and
acts as a tool to facilitate implementation of the same.

GIS

Geographic information systems are used in many ways to filter and analyze multiple types of spatial
data. This tool can be used and applied to many data sets and areas across the globe and may also be
used to measure and analyze environmental factors in communities. Given the wide range of potential
applications within the tool, GIS can also be applied to prioritize brownfield sites to be invested in by
governments and/or private companies. Early studies by Thomas were aimed at using a multi-attribute
site prioritization tool as well as GIS as a decision support tool for brownfields. However, proposed
variables for the analysis were too coarse to differentiate between brownfield sites within a city (e.g.,
regional infrastructure and labor resources, financial incentives), while at the same time introducing
subjectivity (e.g. local community acceptance). Furthermore, a connection to green buildings was
lacking altogether from the study. However, the study clearly identified the need for a method to
differentiate among and prioritize brownfield sites for redevelopment. More recently, Nogues et al.
(2015) developed a GIS-based multicriteria decision analys is to prioritize brown field re-development
in a depressed post industrial district and concluded that the primary factor determining brownfield
redevelopment was availability of urban facilities and proximity to urbanized areas. Another study by
Wang et al. (2015) also aimed at developing a multi-attribute framework to support land-use planning by
using GIS; however, the study did not focus on brownfield redevelopment or green buildings. Studies by
Chrysochoou et al. (2011, 2012) proposed an indexing scheme to screen large areas to prioritize
brownfield redevelopment where multiple variables were chosen based on three different criteria:
socioeconomic, smart growth, and environmental factors. Variables chosen for the analysis included
property values, unemployment, soil permeability, and proximity to parks and open spaces, among
others. These indices were ranked by users on a scale from 0 to 2 for each brownfield site analyzed,
potentially introducing subjectivity to results. Scores were then added and input into GIS to prioritize
brownfield redevelopment in a region. Even though the study aimed to prioritize brownfield
redevelopment, the method used is distinctly different from the one used in this study, where thegoal
was to assess and prioritize brownfield sites for green building suitability based on the LEED rating
system. The connection between the variables used and green buildings remains weak, and no direct
connection was attempted in the studies by Chrysochoou et al. (2011, 2012). Furthermore, the ranking
system and selected indices were manually and arbitrarily formulated by the researchers. In this study,
the criteria used in the analysis were based on the LEED rating system and were ranked based on the
point scale used in the LEED certification checklist. In addition to aiding optimal site selection for green
building construction, another reason the credits from the LEED rating system were used was to provide
an objective set of criteria to be analyzed, with clearly defined thresholds for point assignments. The
methodology employed here can beappliedto other locations by preparing and substituting geographic
data layers specific to each location.

Building construction industry is recognized by having an increased impact on the environment in terms
of energy and raw materials consumption, water use, resulting solid landfill waste and carbon dioxide
emission (Newell, 2009). Reducing these effects has been a worldwide concern that encouraged
different countries to develop green building rating systems, e.g. LEED, BREEAM, GBTool, CASBEE
and GBCA provide guidelines to rate the performance of green buildings (Gou and Lau, 2014, and Ali
and Al-Nsairat, 2009).
REFERENCES

[1] WBCSD. Energy efficiency in buildings, business realities and opportunities. The World Business
Council for Sustainable Development; 2007.

2] USEIA. International Energy Outlook 2010. U.S. Energy Information Administration, Office of
Integrated Analysis and Forecasting, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC 20585; 2010.

[3] ABS. Yearbook 2009–2010. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Canberra, Australia; 2010.

[4] WBCSD. Vision 2050: the new agenda for business. World Business Council for Sustainable
Development; 2010.

[5] Kibert CJ. Sustainable construction: green building design and delivery. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley
and Sons, Inc; 2008.

[6] Robichaud LB, Anantatmula VS. Greening project management practices for sustainable
construction. J Manage Eng. 2010;27(1):48–57.

https://www.worldgbc.org/what-green-building
Application of GIS in Site Selection

Location: City of Bridgeport

Brownfields are properties that are or are perceived to be contaminated by hazardous substances,
pollutants, or contaminants. Such sites may be abandoned, closed, or underused industrial or commercial
facilities. These sites provide opportunities for reinvestment and redevelopment that protects or
improves the environment, reduces blight in communities, uses existing infrastructure, and promotes
smart growth. There are economic, environmental, and social factors that come into consideration when
choosing a site to redevelop, which makes the selection and prioritization process cumbersome.

Because some of the Green building credit criteria are based on site location relative to urban
surroundings, GIS could be used to assist with quantification of brownfield development if geographic
data layers for brownfields and their urban surroundings were available. This GIS data analysis could
assist investors and governments with screening for suitable sites quickly and cost effectively.

Methods

GIS tool: ArcMap

Criteria: LEED v4 for Building Design and Construction (USGBC 2015).

The geographic data layers: A CSV file business list database with Standard Industrial Classification
(SIC) coding purchased from BusinessesDatabase.com

The details are provided below organized by the LEED criteria.

Credit LEED Description GIS Method

Points (ArcMap
1 Sensitive 1 Locating development and footprint that
Land has been previously developed or is not a
Protection designated prime farmland, floodplain,
or habitat for endangered or threatened
species, or that is a certain distance away
from water bodies or wetlands.
 2 High 2 A brownfield site requiring remediation
Priority Site qualifies for High Priority Site points.
3 Surrounding 2-3 Surrounding Density points are awarded 400-m buffer created
Density by the average residential, around brownfields, a
nonresidential, or combined density spatial join with the
within 400 m (¼ mi) of the project area. Census Block used to
identify the census
blocks to calculate the
average residential
density (ARD) for these
census blocks.
4 Diverse 1-2 awarded based on proximity of the 800-m buffer created
Uses proposed entrance of the new around brownfields, a
construction to publicly available spatial join with the
diverse-use facilities and amenities. The LEED Businesses layer.
award of Diverse Uses points is based All use type counts
upon how many examples of these use greater than 2 were re-
types are within 800-m (½ mi) walking assigned a value of 2
distance of the proposed construction.
5 Access to 1-5 awarded based upon the availability of 400-m buffer previously
Quality bus, streetcar, or rideshare stops within created was spatially
Transit 400-m (¼ mi) walking distance or of joined with the Bus
commuter transit (light or heavy rail, Transit layer using the
commuter rail, or ferry) stations within Maximum statistic for
800-m (½ mi) walking distance. numeric attributes.
The 800-m brownfields
buffer was then joined
Commuter Stations layer.

Conclusion:
More than 6% of brownfield sites analyzed were qualified to potentially receive10 points out of a total
13 points analyzed based on the LEED scorecard. The analyzed 13 points were solely based on site
selection and do not include improvements associated with building design, construction, or operation.
The potential 10 points are significant because that total could result in upgrading the rating of a green
building from Certified to Silver, or from Silver to Gold.
Location: Ramadan city

The Egyptian national strategy aims at putting clear guidelines and standards for the city development in
vacant and abandoned land, and provides efficient intra and intercity connectivity to reduce commute
time. This is in addition to promoting the concept of energy efficiency and applying continuous
monitoring and follow up parameters, and finally, promoting waste management and recycling plans
(GOPP, 2013). Also, it aims at promoting for the overall branding of the city as a green and smart city.

Methods:

GIS tool:

1. ArcGIS 10.1: to create a database layering, geo-referencing maps, and used the GIS spatial
analysis functions for performing the multi-criteria weighting and evaluation techniques.
2. Google earth online program: to geographically locate LEED certified and registered projects in
Egypt
 Criteria: LEED v4 for Building Design and Construction (USGBC 2015).

Conclusion

Sustainable building design and construction requires conducting a complex process to optimize all
interrelated design parameters. LEED LT category discusses the sustainability of the surrounding
context, while LEED SS category discusses the sustainability of the construction site itself.

GIS application can support decisions related to obtaining LEED LT as well as LEED SS credits to
facilitate multicriteria analysis and decision making. The study presents a predictive analysis obtained
from GIS application to identify suitable land parcels considering sensitive land protection, high priority
development sites, surrounding density and diverse uses, and access to quality transit on the context
level. The method can be generalized and applied in similar contexts to create mapping criteria for
sustainable sites particularly in new development areas