Hamayesh Arwin Alborz همایش آروین البرز Journal ... فصلنامه پژوهش‌های نوین در عمران، معماری و شهرسازی | CAUJR 2 2 2026 10 12 Gaps in the 19th issue of National Building Regulations of Iran (NBRI) through the LEED Lens and its Enhancement Strategies Gaps in the 19th issue of National Building Regulations of Iran (NBRI) through the LEED Lens and its Enhancement Strategies 26 38 FA Fatemeh Pahlavan Master of Science in Civil Engineering-Construction Engineering and Management at Tehran University of Science and Research, Iran Fatemeh Pahlavan Master of Science in Civil Engineering-Construction Engineering and Management at Tehran University of Science and Research, Iran Mehdi Ravanshadnia Associate Professor at Tehran University of Science and Research, Iran Mehdi Ravanshadnia Associate Professor at Tehran University of Science and Research, Iran 2026 09 27 Iran's building sector accounts for approximately 40% of the country's total energy consumption, with per-capita building energy use exceeding five times the global average . The 19th issue of the National Building Regulations of Iran (NBRI), first enacted in 1991 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 19 has not delivered the projected 30–50% energy savings . This study examines the structural and substantive gaps in the energy criteria of Issue 19 by benchmarking it against the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, which allocates approximately 33% of its total points to the Energy and Atmosphere category . Through a systematic comparative analysis, six critical gaps are identified: (1) the absence of mandatory commissioning and verification procedures, (2) the lack of renewable energy production requirements, (3) no provision for building-level energy metering and monitoring, (4) the prescriptive rather than performance-based compliance framework, (5) the omission of demand response and grid interaction mechanisms, and (6) 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 19. Iran's building sector accounts for approximately 40% of the country's total energy consumption, with per-capita building energy use exceeding five times the global average . The 19th issue of the National Building Regulations of Iran (NBRI), first enacted in 1991 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 19 has not delivered the projected 30–50% energy savings . This study examines the structural and substantive gaps in the energy criteria of Issue 19 by benchmarking it against the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, which allocates approximately 33% of its total points to the Energy and Atmosphere category . Through a systematic comparative analysis, six critical gaps are identified: (1) the absence of mandatory commissioning and verification procedures, (2) the lack of renewable energy production requirements, (3) no provision for building-level energy metering and monitoring, (4) the prescriptive rather than performance-based compliance framework, (5) the omission of demand response and grid interaction mechanisms, and (6) 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 19. https://www.caujr.ir/downloadfilepdf/18600