Israel has decided on a green building obligation throughout the country, including all types of structures, the state’s Ministry of Environmental Protection (MoEP) said on Wednesday.
 
Israel has had its own voluntary Green Building Standard, for buildings with reduced environmental impact, IS-5281 since 2005. The standard is based on a point rating system, awarding up to 5 stars based on the number of points achieved (55 – 100) in 8 categories.
 
The Israeli Green Building Standard (‘Buildings of Lesser Environmental Harm’), Standard 5281, was upgraded and expanded in 2011 in cooperation with the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Standards Institute of Israel, the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Building and Housing and the Israeli Green Building Council.
 
While the old standard only applied to residential and office buildings, the revised version defined seven standards for seven types of buildings: residential, offices, healthcare institutions, public, commercial, education and tourism buildings.
 
The 5281 standard encompasses issues pertinent to every green building: energy, land, water, building materials, health and welfare of building users, waste, transportation, building site management and innovation.
 
Each issue is divided into sub-categories that include rating and assessment criteria, and the score is determined in accordance with the project’s compliance with the requirements.
 
A building is deemed a ‘green building’ if it meets the minimal requirements for each of the categories, as well as additional preconditions to minimize the building’s “environmental footprint.” The standard has five levels, ranging from one star to five stars.
The binding regulation, signed by Israel’s Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, in coordination with the Environmental Protection Minister Gila Gamliel, will come into effect in March 2021, Xinhua news agency reported.
 
The standard relates to both new and existing buildings that undergo renovation and can be applied to most types of buildings in Israel such as residential, office, educational, commercial, public health and industrial buildings.
 
According to the MoEP, the new regulation will also correct social inequality, with green construction currently carried out mainly in the socio-economically strong cities, and not in weaker ones in northern and southern regions.