Environmental sustainability assessment methods for buildings in South Africa

In the past, economic instruments for environmental purposes were strongly resisted by industry, government and the public. As such, they were used only in exceptional circumstances. More recently, there has been a realisation that economic instruments can be a powerful complement to direct regulations. Consequently, economic instruments1 are playing an increasingly important role in the environmental management of buildings. The activities of the construction industry are driven by economic forces, so using market mechanisms is a logical strategy to pursue the objectives of sustainable construction2 . Perhaps the question is not whether economic mechanisms should be employed to improve environmental building performance, but rather how this should be achieved. This paper suggests that it can be achieved by using the economic instrument of ecolabelling to create market competition for improved building performance. Ecolabelling has traditionally been associated with household products, but has more recently been applied to a wider range of products, including buildings and building materials. The basis for building ecolabels is provided by the results of building environmental assessments, which evaluate building performance. In developed countries, these assessments have stimulated market demand for 'green' building developments. Building environmental assessment methods have used the concept of ecolabelling to provide consumers with an additional benchmark in renting or purchasing buildings.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Environmental and Geographical Science

Year dc:date.issued

2001

Author dc:creator

• Barker, Greg

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9868

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/9868