Abstract
To promote environmentally responsible architectural practice, many nations have established their own green building rating system. Among other criteria, recently the indoor environmental quality section has been paid great attention due to Sick Building Syndrome, as this believed to caused by polluted indoor environment. In this context, indoor environmental quality is one of very important sections of each green building rating system and closely related to the very happiness of building users. The goal of this research is to compare and analyze the indoor environmental sections of three green building rating systems, GBCC, LEED v2.1, and BREEAM Office 2005, and find a direction for the improvement of GBCC. First, the three rating systems are analyzed in general to compare the importance of indoor environmental factors in each system. Second, the indoor environmental factors are reclassified within related sub-categories for the comparable analysis. Finally, based upon the comparable analysis, directions for the improvement of GBCC are as follows: 1. GBCC's h4r Environment Section needs to clarify its VOCs criteria based upon types of finish materials. 2. Sound Environment Section's noise control criteria needs to be revised based upon types of building usages and application method. 3. An indoor lighting related section needs to be included in GBCC, as even though light is the one of the most important factors in indoor environment, it has not been included in GBCC yet. 4. The sub-section of Confortable Indoor Environment Section related to the resting space and the universal accessibility are not in accord with the goal of green building rating system. These items need to be dealt within general building codes. 5. The rating evaluation structure and process need to be streamlined.