A Review of International Green Building Certification Methods: A Roadmap for a Certification System in Turkey

Stakeholders in the construction industry are demonstrating their commitment to solve environmental problems by building in a more environmentally friendly way through using environmental standards for their buildings. The construction sector’s sense of social responsibility is also generating a demand for certification systems to measure the environmental performance of buildings. This paper summarizes the approach used by some of these rating methods, demonstrates a comparative approach between these rating systems, and discusses the minimum conditions available in Turkey that will enable the effective use of these standards. The authors aim to provoke a discussion about whether Turkey needs its own green building accreditation system. They suggest developing a system which better aligns with sustainability principles and free flows of information based on the lessons learnt from other certification systems.