LEED, Its Efficacy and Fallacy in a Regional Context—An Urban Heat Island Case in California

Min Ho Shin, Hwan Yong Kim, Donghwan Gu and Hyoungsub Kim
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Min Ho Shin: Railroad System Research Center, Korea Railroad Research Institute, 360-1 Woram-dong, Uiwang-si, Gyeonggi-do 437-757, Korea
Hwan Yong Kim: Division of Architecture and Urban Design, College of Urban Sciences, Incheon National University, 119 Academy-Ro, Songdo-dong, Yeonsu-Gu Incheon 22012, Korea
Donghwan Gu: Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, College of Architecture, Texas A & M University, 3137 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843, USA
Hyoungsub Kim: Department of Architecture, College of Architecture, Texas A & M University, 3137 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843, USA

Sustainability, 2017, vol. 9, issue 9, 1-11

Abstract: The use of energy in the building sector has increased rapidly over the past two decades. Accordingly, various building assessment methods have developed in green building practices. However, the questions still remain in regard to how positively green buildings affect regional surroundings. This study investigates the possible relationship between LEED-certified buildings and urban heat island effect. Using GIS with spatial regression, the study found that constructing an LEED building in a 30-m boundary could possibly lower the temperature of the surrounding environment by 0.35 °C. Also, having a higher certification level, such as Gold or Platinum, increased the lowering effect by 0.48 °C, while a lower certification level, such as Certified or Silver, had a lowering effect of 0.26 °C. Although LEED has gained a substantial amount of interest and skepticism at the same time, the study results could be a potential sign that the Sustainable Sites Credits or energy-efficient materials play a positive role in lowering the temperature.

Keywords: LEED; urban heat island effect; regional credits; OLS regression analysis; spatial analysis; land cover; sustainable architecture (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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