Abstract
Sustainability has become the norm for developing new construction with the increasing consciousness of environmental issues and natural resource limitations. Sustainability rating systems, such as LEED, Green Globes, BREEAM and many others, had a significant impact on developing sustainable buildings. In these rating systems, the sustainability criteria and their weights usually differ due to differences in the regional conditions and requirements. Accordingly, there is a critical need to develop a rating system that suits each region according to its circumstances. This paper aims to develop a rating system for sustainable office and administrative buildings in Saudi Arabia. These buildings have significant environmental impacts along with high consumption of water, energy and other resources. A list of 98 sustainability criteria within five main clusters, have been identified through previous research. Based on these criteria, a questionnaire survey has been developed to identify the importance of each criterion compared to other criteria according to the Simos procedure methodology. A total of 377 responses have been obtained from practicing engineers and academia and from public and private organizations that are involved in the construction industry in Saudi Arabia. The Simos procedure has been used to identify the importance weights for the sustainability clusters and criteria. Accordingly, the most trivial and significant criteria have been identified through a Pareto analysis. Consequently, the rating system has been developed based on 57 of the most significant criteria along with their credentials. It is highly recommended to enact some legislations that ensure implementing the proposed rating system in evaluating buildings according to sustainability requirements in order to achieve sustainable buildings that use water and energy efficiently and reduce the negative impacts on the environment.