QSAS

Key takeaways

QSAS belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect QSAS to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of QSAS from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Qatar Sustainability Assessment System (QSAS) was a green building certification system developed for the State of Qatar. It was established to promote a sustainable built environment that minimizes ecological impact while addressing the specific regional needs and environmental conditions of Qatar. In 2012, QSAS was rebranded as the Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS) to reflect its expanded applicability beyond Qatar. QSAS is no longer in use under its original name.

Overview QSAS was developed by the Gulf Organisation for Research and Development (GORD) in collaboration with the T.C. Chan Center for Building Simulation and Energy Studies at the University of Pennsylvania . Since its deployment in 2009, over 128 buildings in Qatar have been certified through QSAS. In December 2010, QSAS was adopted into the curriculum of the environmental design faculty at King Fahd University and Qatar University. In March 2011, the State of Qatar integrated QSAS into the Qatar Construction Specifications [QCS] making the implementation of certain criteria mandatory for buildings developed in Qatar. The development of the rating system took advantage of a comprehensive review of combined best practices employed by a mix of established international and regional rating systems. This review has been performed while taking into consideration the needs that are specific to Qatar’s local environment, culture, and policies. This has led to adaptations and additions to sustainability criteria. Measurements for the rating system are designed to be performance-based and quantifiable. The result is a performance-based sustainable building rating system customized to the unique conditions and requirements of the State of Qatar.

Rating system QSAS consists of a series of sustainable categories and criteria, each with a direct impact on environmental stress mitigation. Each category measures a different aspect of the project’s environmental impact. The categories define these broad impacts and address ways in which a project can mitigate the negative environmental effects. These categories are then broken down into specific criteria that measure and define individual issues. These issues range from a thorough review of water consumption to an assessment of light quality. Each criterion specifies a process for measuring individual aspects of environmental impact and for documenting the degree to which the requirements have been met. A score is then awarded to each criterion based on the degree of compliance. The eight categories of QSAS are the following: Urban Connectivity [UC] The Urban Connectivity category consists of factors associated with the urban environment such as zoning, transportation networks and loadings. Loadings on the urban environment include traffic congestion and pollution. Site [S] The Site category consists of factors associated with land use such as land conservation or remediation and site selection, planning and development. Energy [E] The Energy category consists of factors associated with energy demand of buildings, the efficiency of energy delivery, and the use of fossil energy sources that result in harmful emissions. Water [W] The Water category consists of factors associated with water consumption and its associated burden on municipal supply and treatment systems. Materials [M] The Materials category consists of factors associated with material extraction, processing, manufacturing, distribution, use/re-use, and disposal. Indoor Environment [IE] The Indoor Environment category consists of factors associated with indoor environmental quality such as thermal comfort, air quality, acoustic quality, and light quality. Cultural & Economic Value [CE] The Cultural and Economic Value category consists of factors associated with cultural conservation and support of the national economy. Management & Operations [MO] The Management and Operations category consists of factors associated with building design management and operations.

Rating system resources QSAS consists of several resources used to facilitate the assessment of sustainability performance for buildings in Qatar. Target users for the resources are building planners, developers, owners, designers, engineers and environmentalists. The major resources available to QSAS members include the following:

RFP Preparation: A guide to facilitate the preparation of an RFP and Project Brief in the pre-design stages of development Assessment Manuals: Outline the specific measurements, submittals, and scores for each criterion that is assessed for each building type. Design Guidelines: Consist of recommendations to be used as guidance for realizing sustainable buildings in Qatar. Training Manual: Covers the detailed instructions and examples for completing each criterion. Energy Manuals: Documents the application and implementation of the CEN/ISO energy performance standard and all its related standards to all buildings in Qatar. Toolkits: Computational systems provided to facilitate the evaluation of a project's performance under the assessment system. The toolkits compute the final project score and certification level for the project using each criterion score entered by the user. Calculators: Normative measures provided for many criteria to evaluate the project's performance and compute a final criterion score. Project Management System (PMS): Online tool used by project teams to document, upload, and certify their projects in the assessment system.

QSAS schemes QSAS has been developed to rate different building types as well as projects on the Neighborhood scale for each phase of a building’s lifespan. The building schemes that can be rated with QSAS include:

Commercial Core & Shell Schools Residential Mosques Hotels Light Industry Sports Neighborhoods Phases that can be rated using QSAS include:

Design Construction Operations: New/Existing Buildings The various schemes use similar categories and criteria across each system to facilitate use. The measurements, calculations, simulations, scoring ranges, and weights change accordingly for each building type and project phase.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with QSAS

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what QSAS claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to QSAS before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about QSAS ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of QSAS

In research: QSAS appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses QSAS in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: QSAS is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Building energy rating, Building engineering, Environmental design, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for QSAS outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study QSAS in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what QSAS means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain QSAS out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is QSAS in simple terms?

Qatar Sustainability Assessment System (QSAS) was a green building certification system developed for the State of Qatar. It was established to promote a sustainable built environment that minimizes ecological impact while addressing the specific regional needs and environmental conditions of Qatar.

Why does QSAS matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study QSAS?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on QSAS.