1. LEED
CERTIFICATION
A study By Jonathan James
Case Study: King Abdullah University of Science
and Technology

2. USGBC
● The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), co-founded by Mike
Italiano, David Gottfried and Rick Fedrizzi in 1993, is a non-
profit trade organization that promotes sustainability in how
buildings are designed, built, and operated. USGBC is best
known for the development of the LEED green building rating
systems.
● LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a
voluntary, market-driven program that provides third-party
verification of green buildings.
● It provides building owners and operators with a framework
for identifying and implementing practical and measurable
green building design, construction, operations and
maintenance solutions.

3. How Does It Work?
● For commercial buildings and neighbourhoods, to earn LEED certification, a project must satisfy all
LEED prerequisites and earn a minimum 40 points on a 110-point LEED rating system scale. Homes
must earn a minimum of 45 points on a 136-point scale.
● Projects earn points to satisfy green building requirements. Within each of the LEED credit
categories, projects must satisfy prerequisites and earn points.
● The number of points the project earns determines its level of LEED certification.

4. Main Credit Categories
● Sustainable sites credits encourage strategies that minimize the impact on ecosystems and water
resources.
● Water efficiency credits promote smarter use of water, inside and out, to reduce potable water
consumption.
● Energy & atmosphere credits promote better building energy performance through innovative
strategies.
● Materials & resources credits encourage using sustainable building materials and reducing waste.
● Indoor environmental quality credits promote better indoor air quality and access to daylight and
views.

5. Other Credit Categories
● Awareness & Education encourage home builders and real estate professionals to
provide homeowners, tenants and building managers with the education and tools they
need to understand and make the most of the green building features of their home.
● Innovation & Design address sustainable building expertise as well as design measures
not covered under the five LEED credit categories. Six bonus points are available in this
category.
● Location & Linkages encourage construction on previously developed or infill sites and
promotes walkable neighborhoods with access to efficient transportation options and
open space.
● Green infrastructure & buildings credits reduce the environmental consequences of the
construction and operation of buildings and infrastructure.
● Regional priority credits address regional environmental priorities for buildings in
different geographic regions. Four bonus points are available in this category.

6. LEED In India
● IGBC has licensed the LEED Green Building Standard from the U.S. Green Building
Council and currently is responsible for certifying LEED-New Construction and LEED-
Core and Shell buildings in India. There are many energy efficient buildings in India,
situated in a variety of climatic zones.
● IGBC promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability, based on the principles of 5
elements of nature [ earth, water, fire, air & sky] by recognizing performance in the
following five key areas:
• Sustainable site development
• Water savings
• Energy efficiency
• Materials selection
• Indoor environmental quality

7. King Abdullah University of
Science and Technology
Location : Saudi Arabia
Architect: HOK
Category : University/Lab
Area : 560000 sqm
Project Year : 2009

8. KAUST
● King Abdullah University of Science and
Technology’s (KAUST) campus along the Red Sea
houses one of the world’s most advanced collection
of labs.
● In these buildings KAUST’s internationally
renowned researchers are addressing humanity’s
most urgent scientific challenges related to energy
and the environment, including water conservation,
energy efficiency and food production.
● Integrated into the architecture of the local
environment, KAUST’s 27 buildings include 5.5
million square feet of space and were designed and
constructed in just under 30 months. The campus
includes two million square feet of labs spread
across four interconnected, 500,000-sq.-ft.
buildings.

9. Design Approach
● The team designed the campus as a singular meta-building with all spaces interconnected and
served from a common base. This organization improves energy performance, facilitates
collaboration and gives the campus a distinct sense of place.
● Making the campus as compact as possible addresses the intense sun and formidable climate while
improving proximities among researchers, academics and students. This feeling is heightened by
the occurrence of conference rooms, gardens, shaded courtyards and other programmed spaces
bridging the spaces between buildings.
● A critical role of buildings in this part of the world is to protect people from the intense sun. At
KAUST, shade is provided in a monumental way and the act of shading is celebrated. Dynamic
shadows register the movement of time while changing, dappled light brings character to the space.

11. LEED Platinum In The Desert
● The team’s goal was to significantly reduce the environmental footprint of all KAUST campus
buildings within the project scope.
● The Arabic Bedouin tent inspired designers to create a monumental roof system that spans across
building masses to block sun on building facades and into the pedestrian spine, to facilitate natural
ventilation and to filter light.
● Solar panels covering the surface capture the sun’s energy. Passive ventilation strategies of the
traditional Arabic house influenced the design of iconic, solar-powered wind towers that harness
energy from the sun and wind to passively create air flow in pedestrian walkways.
● Similar to Arabic screening called ‘mashrabiya,’ the campus shades windows and skylights with an
integral shading system that reduce heat loads while creating dramatic dappled light.

15. Solar Towers and Prevailing Wind
Conditions
● Two iconic solar towers on the campus will create a passive pressure difference, using the sun and
prevailing winds from the northwest and microclimate winds blowing in from the Red Sea, to
facilitate a continuous breeze along the shaded courtyards.
● The envelope of the tower consists of two glass curtain wall skins. The outer skin is fully
transparent to allow as much solar energy through as possible, while the inner skin consists of a
highly absorbent tinted glass that gathers solar energy to maximize the hot air within the tower. As
the hot air rises up the shaft of the tower and exits the top, it is replaced with cooler air from the
courtyard.
● The coupled effect of these solar chimneys and local cooling from misters allows campus occupants
to feel comfortable in the exterior courtyard for more than 75 percent of the year.
● The continuously sunny conditions in Saudi Arabia offer more potential for solar power utilization
than in any other place in the world. The monumental roof for the KAUST campus has been
designed to incorporate massive solar thermal arrays to provide domestic hot water to all campus
buildings, and solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays to generate and distribute power to campus buildings
based upon demand. Future arrays can be incorporated to supplement increased energy demands
in the future.

17. Integrated Engineering Systems
HOK’s mechanical, electrical, plumbing and structural engineers led multiple
design teams following parallel paths to support the construction of high-
performance space across 27 buildings. Several innovative engineering strategies
contribute to exceptional performance in the areas of energy and water reduction.
Desert Landscape
The harsh climatic conditions along the Red Sea made the landscape architecture
strategies for KAUST extremely important. The team selected plants, materials,
structures and streetscape furnishings based on their ability to withstand the hot,
humid, marine climate.

18. Illuminating a Campus
The charge of the university is to promote
transformation and discovery of ideas. The
buildings manifest themselves with a similar
dynamism. With the advent of nightfall, when
the setting sun allows for more activity, the
campus is designed to reveal a more active,
outgoing character.
HOK’s lighting design supported KAUST’S
ambitious sustainability goals by achieving
every LEED credit possible. This includes
satisfying the LEED credit for reducing light
pollution while still creating a spectacular
nighttime environment.