Green Building Materials Case Study of CIB Building Certification by Green Pyramid Rating System

The selection of building materials plays a key role to achieve the green buildings' targets. This paper presents the green building materials definition and its criteria of selection. It introduces the concept of the 'big 5' environmental impact categories, that have a fundamental impact on the earth's eco-system which are affected significantly by the materials selection. It explores the definitions and calculation methods for the impact of the building design on these big 5 categories includes: Global warming potential, Ozone depletion potential, Photochemical Ozone creation potential, Acidification potential and Eutrophication potential. Then the paper presents the evaluation criteria of the building materials according to the Egyptian Green Pyramid System "GPRS" showing the case study of CIB Building in Smart Village which was evaluated and accredit by GPRS version for banks and financial Institutions. The building has successfully achieved the highest Green level of GPRS. The conclusion shows that selection of building materials is an important issue which contributes in bringing dramatic improvements on the building performance and energy efficiency leading the way to greener buildings.