June 9th, 2016: Canadian University Dubai (CUD) professor of architecture, Dr. Hamoud Dekkiche, has shared his recent research findings on green building at the International Conference on Sustainable Design, Engineering and Construction.
Speaking at the conference, which took place in Tempe Arizona, USA, Dr. Dekkiche addressed the importance of integrating LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) into the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Rating System.
Dr. Dekkiche’s presentation was based on research conducted in partnership with Dr. Ali Taileb of Durham College, Ontario, in relation to a LEED Gold rated building located in Toronto. The research set out to analyze how different building envelope solutions and construction materials affect the results of a building’s environmental assessments over a life cycle of 60, 80 and 120 years.
Speaking about the research methodology and findings, Dr. Dekkiche sad, “Two options were examined and compared to the base case: the first option was to replace the copper wall system with a cedar cladding system and the second option was to replace bricks with stucco.
“The study has shown that by replacing the exterior copper clad with cedar cladding a 33% fossil fuel consumption is achieved, along with a reduction of 39.75% in terms of global warming potential. By replacing the exterior brick with a stucco system, a reduction of only 13% of fossil fuel consumption is achieved, with a similar reduction of 13% in terms of global warming potential.
“The study shows that when LCA is implemented, higher standards of sustainability can be achieved. Hence, the importance of integrating the LCA tool in the LEED rating system in order to accurately evaluate green buildings.”
Dr. Dekkiche was among a line-up of academic and industry experts who shared their latest research and ideas on sustainability and resilience at the international conference. His paper has now been published in the Procedia Engineering Journal produced by Elsevier.
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