Stakeholder’s Perspective on Green Building Rating Systems in Saudi Arabia: The Case of LEED, Mostadam, and the SDGs

Abstract

This paper discusses in detail the current level of awareness of the Saudi Arabia stakeholders regarding the use and application of green building rating systems. The paper used a mix of qualitative and quantitative research methods through an exploratory method that utilized an online survey targeting experts and construction stakeholders to fill the gap of previous research papers and support the argument of the increase in the level of the awareness of stakeholders in the use and application of green building rating systems in Saudi Arabia. This research aims to focus on the level of awareness of the Saudi construction market stakeholders on green building rating systems in Saudi Arabia with focus on the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design system LEED and Mostadam. It also investigated which rating system responds to the need of the Saudi construction market with regard to energy conservation and water consumption more effectively. The methodology utilized in this research used a combination of primary and secondary data where the primary data were a survey sent to Saudi construction stakeholders where a total of 1320 respondents participated in the survey. Results from this research showed a promising number of agreements between the participating stakeholders to the level of awareness of green building rating systems in Saudi Arabia and to the willingness to use internationally recognized rating systems such as LEED and the use of locally recognized systems such as Mostadam. Furthermore, the research aims to link the results with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a focus on SDGs 6 and 7. The results show a high level of appreciation and agreement to the importance of energy and water conservation in green buildings that will be using either LEED or Mostadam in Saudi Arabia and accomplish the targets outlined under the SDGs.

Sustainable Building Standards, Codes and Certification Systems: The Status Quo and Future Directions in Saudi Arabia

“…In Saudi Arabia, the Mostadam Certification System was developed a few years ago. Furthermore, research by Al-Surf et al discussed the level of AEC stakeholders' awareness in Saudi Arabia with regard to green certification systems and the results have shown that the level of awareness has improved with respect to previous studies [156]. In addition, 57.5% of the respondents elected to use LEED, while the remaining 42.5% chose to use local recognised systems in Mostadam.…”

Very High Resolution Images and Superpixel-Enhanced Deep Neural Forest Promote Urban Tree Canopy Detection

“…According to data published by pertinent authorities, nearly 70% of the world's population will reside in urban settings by 2050 [30]. The rapid growth of the global urban population drives the dynamic development of cities [31]; urban areas provide a home to 10 billion trees [1], which will play an increasingly essential role in preserving livable cities in the face of population and climatic pressures.…”

Systematic literature review: the nexus of users’ social characteristics to environmental performance mandates in post occupancy evaluation (POE)

“…Hence, it is rational to address stakeholders’ legitimacy and power as the performance mandates in the environmental performance. Al-Surf et al (2021) mentioned that individuals must become sustainability change-makers if they are urged to engage and create sustainable buildings. The stakeholders that involve during the planning and procurement phase of the green buildings must require the capabilities in knowledge, skills and behaviour that legitimate them to contribute to sustainable development (Al-Surf et al , 2021).…”