Abstract

Public authorities in developing countries have a significant role in the application of sustainability in the building sector. They are responsible for: (i) adopting new regulations and guidelines about sustainability requirements in the design, construction, and management of buildings and (ii) the use of sustainability as an essential requirement for the construction and renovation of public buildings. However, since the application of sustainability in the construction sector approach is still embryonic in developing countries, a significant effort is required to adopt international knowledge and experience in sustainability. This paper aims to fill this gap by developing a framework for assessing the sustainability of public buildings in the Palestinian territory. The framework includes establishing sustainability indicators for public buildings based on the literature review and the opinion of a panel of experts. The paper presents the methodology followed to identify these indicators and uses the Step-Wise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis method (SWARA) for their ranking and weighting. As a major result, the paper provides a set of indicators for assessing the sustainability of public buildings and the ranks and weights of these indicators. The set of indicators is organized in the following categories: energy efficiency, water efficiency, green city, and Indoor environment.

Keywords: Public buildings; Sustainability; Developing countries; Social; Economic; Green; Energy; Water; Indicator; Framework