Development of benchmarks and weighting systems for building environmental assessment methods : opportunities of a participatory approach

Sustainable construction is a tenns that emerged with the introduction of the concept of sustainable development in construction. Therefore, sustainable construction embraces socio-economic, cultural, biophysical, technical and process-orientated aspects of construction practice and activities. The progress towards sustain ability in construction may be assessed by implementation of good practice in building developments. Therefore, building environmental assessment methods are valuable tools of indicating such a progress as well as promoting sustainable approaches in construction. An effective building environmental assessment method requires definition of explicit benchmarks and weightings. These should take into account environmental, social and economic contexts of building developments. As the existing building environmental assessment methods largely ignore socioeconomic impacts of building developments, the implementation of a participatory approach in the development of benchmarks and weighting systems could greatly contribute to a more meaningful incorporation of social and economic aspects into the assessment process. Furthennore, the participation of stakeholders in establishing qualitative benchmarks and weights should increase the credibility of such a process. The participatory approach could allow for education of all stakeholders about the potential environmental, social and economic consequences of their decisions and actions, which is so vital for achieving their commitment to strive towards sustainable construction.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Environmental and Geographical Science

Year dc:date.issued

2001

Author dc:creator

• Kaatz, Ewelina

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Hill, Richard

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/4767

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/4767