Gaps in the ۱۹th issue of National Building Regulations of Iran (NBRI) through the LEED Lens and its Enhancement Strategies

Iran's building sector accounts for approximately ۴۰% of the country's total energy consumption, with per-capita building energy use exceeding five times the global average. The ۱۹th issue of the National Building Regulations of Iran (NBRI), first enacted in ۱۹۹۱ and subsequently amended, represents the sole mandatory regulatory instrument for building energy conservation in the country. However, growing evidence indicates that the implementation of Issue ۱۹ has not delivered the projected ۳۰–۵۰% energy savings. This study examines the structural and substantive gaps in the energy criteria of Issue ۱۹ by benchmarking it against the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, which allocates approximately ۳۳% of its total points to the Energy and Atmosphere category. Through a systematic comparative analysis, six critical gaps are identified: (۱) the absence of mandatory commissioning and verification procedures, (۲) the lack of renewable energy production requirements, (۳) no provision for building-level energy metering and monitoring, (۴) the prescriptive rather than performance-based compliance framework, (۵) the omission of demand response and grid interaction mechanisms, and (۶) insufficient attention to refrigerant management and greenhouse gas accounting. For each identified gap, evidence-based enhancement strategies are proposed that account for Iran's socio-economic context—including subsidized energy pricing, limited access to green building technology, and the absence of a national building sustainability assessment framework. The findings contribute to the ongoing discourse on aligning Iran's regulatory instruments with internationally recognized sustainability benchmarks and provide actionable recommendations for the next revision cycle of Issue ۱۹.

کلیدواژه ها:

۱۹th issue of National Building Regulations of Iran ، LEED ، renewable energy ، refrigerant management ، greenhouse gas accounting