Verification of the Adequacy of the Portuguese Sustainability Assessment Tool of High School Buildings, SAHSBPT, to the Francisco de Holanda High School, Guimarães

Sustainable development can be achieved through several activities. The building and construction sector (B & C sector) is one of the major industries, and it can play a crucial role in the improvement of the most relevant environmental impacts. Nowadays, there are major concerns related to sustainability in construction. All types of buildings have different technical aspects; therefore, it is required to develop specific sustainability assessment tools. A school building has peculiarities connected to aspects of sustainability, as it is a building planned to offer adequate environments for the education of adolescents and children. This article shows the application of the SBTool methodology developed specifically for Portuguese high schools, SAHSBPT (Sustainable Assessment for High School Buildings) methodology, that is being elaborated by the first author in her PhD Thesis. This methodology allows architects, engineers and designers to improve sustainability in school buildings, in projects or in the rehabilitation of buildings. The objective of this research is to apply that evaluation tool in order to verify the efficiency of this methodology, as well as to recognize the level of sustainability of the Francisco de Holanda High School Building, in Guimarães, Portugal. The values found in the application of the Sustainable Assessment for High School Buildings in that high schools demonstrate a good result, as the overall value is A, 75% of the total result.

Download Full-text

The Inclusion of a Sustainability Awareness Indicator in Assessment Tools for High School Buildings

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11020387 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 387 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Tatiana Saraiva ◽

Manuela Almeida ◽

Luís Bragança ◽

Maria Barbosa

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

High School Students ◽

High Schools ◽

Sustainability Assessment ◽

Academic Research ◽

Assessment Tools ◽

School Buildings ◽

School Students ◽

Global Environmental Problems ◽

Sustainability Assessment Tools

The growing debate about global environmental problems is evident in several spheres of society. The concern for the future of the planet is used as a political slogan, inspiring the creation of new laws and encouraging academic research that serves this purpose, as well as increasing the number of government agencies concerned with this matter. The 21st century is considered the “century of sustainable development”. Sustainability education in high schools has the potential to make the benefits of civil construction more visible to society and media by showing students, parents, and communities in general how sustainability in the built environment can improve their lives in economic, social, and environmental aspects. This study was applied in three high schools of Juiz de Fora (Brazil) and Guimarães (Portugal). These high schools have similar characteristics regarding teaching patterns and commitment to strengthening sustainability in their respective regions and reflect their socio-economic conditions, governmental strategies, everyday habits, and cultural attributes. The information was collected through questionnaires applied to high school students in 2017. This paper shows the need for including an indicator of sustainability awareness in sustainability assessment tools for high school buildings.

Download Full-text

Social criteria to develop an in use holistic urban sustainable assessment tool: UHU2SAT

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/202123704031 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 237 ◽

pp. 04031

Author(s):

Antonio Sánchez Cordero ◽

Marta Videras Rodríguez ◽

Sergio Gómez Melgar ◽

José Manuel Andujar Márquez

Keyword(s):

Qualitative Research ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Sustainability Assessment ◽

Assessment Tools ◽

Urban Spaces ◽

Urban Mobility ◽

Human Comfort ◽

Operation And Maintenance ◽

Holistic Assessment ◽

Sustainability Assessment Tools

Recently, several urban sustainability assessment tools (USAT) have appeared to reduce the human impact provided by the built environment. Few of them focus on the assessment of urban spaces like squares, streets, and parks, etc., but they don’t operation and maintenance (OM) phase is not considered. It would be necessary to develop an in use holistic urban sustainable assessment tool (UHU2SAT) to specifically assess urban spaces under OM phase. This paper provides a qualitative research among 188 studies, with the aim to classify them according to the impacts they pursue: environmental (ENV), social (SOC) economic (ECO) and Others. Finally, the SOC criteria are reduced up to 21 and arranged into 4 different groups: Human comfort, Urban mobility, SOC Cohesion, and Health & safety. These SOC criteria have been discussed and revised according to the literature review to identify the most suitable indicators for the UHU2SAT. Finally, it can be concluded that this methodology could also be useful to obtain ENV and ECO criteria to provide a holistic assessment of the sustainability.

Download Full-text

Adaptation of the SBTool for Sustainability Assessment of High School Buildings in Portugal—SAHSBPT

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app9132664 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (13) ◽

pp. 2664 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Saraiva ◽

de Almeida ◽

Bragança

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Sustainability Assessment ◽

Building Design ◽

Assessment Method ◽

Sustainable Construction ◽

School Buildings ◽

The European Union ◽

Sustainable Building ◽

K 12

The European Union objectives in the Horizon 2020 program aim to reduce environmental impact through strategies such as the improvement of energy efficiency and the use of renewable technologies. With regard to the goal of sustainable development—which integrates environmental, social, and economic dimensions relating to the preservation of the planet and the integrity of consumers—several types of sustainability certification tools are currently used in the construction industry e.g., Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), and the Sustainable Building Tool (SBTool) There are international sustainability methodologies designed specifically for high schools and methodologies specific to the Portuguese reality, such as Natura Domus, LiderA (Liderar pelo Ambiente para a construção sustentável, Leading the Environment for Sustainable Construction) and SBtoolPT (Sustainable Building Tool, Portugal). Currently, with the concern in Portugal to requalify schools, it has become necessary to develop a specific methodology for school buildings according to the Portuguese reality. This work highlights the SBTool methodology that is employed in several countries and can be adapted to basic education institutions as the basis for the formulation of responsible citizens and the development of a country. The main aim of this study is to adapt an already existing assessment tool of sustainability (SBToolPT), maintaining some indicators while modifying and adding others, in order to develop a methodology specifically for conducting a Sustainability Assessment of High School Buildings in Portugal—SAHSBPT. In order to achieve this goal, other methodologies that already incorporate parameters relating to the school environment are analyzed, such as LEED BD + C Schools (LEED Building Design and Construction School), BREEAM Education 2008, and the SBTool for K–12 schools.

Download Full-text

Higher education institution sustainability assessment tools

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education ◽

10.1108/ijshe-09-2014-0132 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 17 (3) ◽

pp. 322-341 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Heloisa Cronemberger de Araújo Góes ◽

Alessandra Magrini

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Sustainability Assessment ◽

Education Institution ◽

Assessment Tools ◽

International Programs ◽

Content Type ◽

Definition Of ◽

Sustainability Assessment Tools ◽

Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to gather elements to propose a sustainability assessment tool (SAT) to be used in higher education institutions (HEIs) in Brazil and the related program to be created for SAT dissemination and HEI monitoring, publication of results and benchmarking. Design/methodology/approach The characteristics of eight SATs were identified, seven of which are applied through widely known international programs to identify aspects to be considered in the definition of the Brazilian model. Findings In Brazil, stakeholders usually do not know how HEIs develop their potential to contribute with the construction of a sustainable development model. There currently is an international trend, which Brazil must join, to assess HEI sustainability through SATs. The comparison between different international SATs and respective programs yields some recommendations for a Brazilian model, such as definition of their purpose, types of questions to be used, the possibility to apply SATs to HEI sub-units, means of dissemination and others. Research limitations/implications The research limitation is the difficulty to obtain information allowing a deeper understanding of sustainability-related activities developed by Brazilian HEIs. Practical implications This paper provides a base on which to construct SAT and program models tailored for Brazil. Originality/value This is the first paper that stresses the importance of adopting a SAT tailored for Brazil, by comparing and discussing models that may be used for that purpose.

Download Full-text

The comparative analysis of neighborhood sustainability assessment tool

Environment and Planning B Urban Analytics and City Science ◽

10.1177/0265813516667299 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 45 (1) ◽

pp. 90-105 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Kuan W Lin ◽

Chih M Shih

Keyword(s):

Assessment Tool ◽

Sustainability Assessment ◽

Green Building ◽

Assessment Tools ◽

Qualitative And Quantitative Analysis ◽

Asian Countries ◽

The Sustainable Development ◽

Garden Cities ◽

Building Assessment ◽

Sustainability Assessment Tools

From Ebenezer Howard’s concept of garden cities to visions of the sustainable development of ecocities, people have engaged in numerous attempts to curb hazards of residential environments and excessive capitalized development resulting from mass industrialization. However, many countries have adopted widely used green building assessment tools to conduct neighborhood sustainability assessment of ecocities. An ecocommunity assessment tool of Taiwan was established according to current green building policies, the content of which focuses on technological aspects rather than on the closely correlated social and economic aspects within ecocities. To thoroughly review neighborhood sustainability assessment tools, this study conducted a qualitative and quantitative analysis of internationally renowned assessment tools and tools used in developed Asian countries. This study concluded that (a) a number of countries have proposed neighborhood sustainability assessment tools that strongly emphasize resource and energy categories but neglect economic development; (b) the neighborhood sustainability assessment tools in Asia possess special characteristics; and (c) indicators of neighborhood sustainability assessment tools must enable mutual links and public participation.

Download Full-text

The Evolution of the Sustainability Assessment ToolSBToolPT: From Buildings to the Built Environment

The Scientific World JOURNAL ◽

10.1155/2014/491791 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2014 ◽

pp. 1-10 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Guilherme Castanheira ◽

Luís Bragança

Keyword(s):

Best Practices ◽

Built Environment ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Sustainability Assessment ◽

Well Being ◽

Assessment Tools ◽

European Cities ◽

Current Trends ◽

Sustainability Assessment Tools

This paper analyses the current trends in sustainability assessment. After about 15 years from the launch of sustainability assessment tools, focused on buildings evaluation, the paradigm of sustainability assessment tools is changing from the building scale to the built environment scale. Currently European cities and cities around the world are concerned with sustainable development, as well as its evolution. Cities seek a way to adapt to contemporary changes, in order to meet the required needs and ensure population’s well-being. Considering this, the new generations of sustainability assessment tools are being developed to be used to guide and help cities and urban areas to become more sustainable. Following the trend of the most important sustainability assessment tools, the sustainability assessment toolSBToolPTis also developing its version for assessing the sustainability of the built environment, namely, the urban planning projects and the urban regeneration projects, to be developed in Portugal, theSBToolPT-UP. The application of the methodology to three case studies will demonstrate its feasibility; at the same time this will identify the best practices which will serve as reference for new projects, thereby assisting the development of the tool.

Download Full-text

Coverage Analysis of Indonesia Sustainability Assessment Tools: Similarity in Dimension and Assessment Results

International Journal of Engineering & Technology ◽

10.14419/ijet.v7i2.34.13911 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 7 (2.34) ◽

pp. 52

Author(s):

Rahmat Nurcahyo ◽

Komang Tattya Lokhita A.K ◽

Djoko Sihono Gabriel

Keyword(s):

Manufacturing Industry ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Sustainability Assessment ◽

Assessment Tools ◽

Future Research ◽

Sustainability Performance ◽

Coverage Analysis ◽

Sustainability Assessment Tools ◽

Sustainability Assessments ◽

Assessment Results

The number of sustainability assessment tools in Indonesia is growing rapidly, concerns are raised on whether the assessment results of different tools present similar and valid conclusion about the sustainability performance in manufacturing industry. In this paper, we analyze dimensions of sustainability assessment tools and compare the structures of sustainability tools in Indonesia. Using a coverage analysis to demonstrate the similarity and differences between two sustainability assessments in Indonesia (PROPER and Industri Hijau) we then compare the results of both and analyze it. This study shows that two sustainability assessment tools in Indonesia which are PROPER and Industri Hijau have high variations in their structures, indicators, criteria, and sub-themes despite their similar dimension and purpose. Consequently, these sustainability assessment tools show differences in assessment results and conclusions on the sustainability performance of firms. Future research may propose a new integrated sustainability assessment tool so there will be only one sustainability assessment tool in Indonesia.

Download Full-text

Evaluation of sustainability assessment tools for road construction projects applied on an asphalt road rehabilitation project in Germany

10.32920/ryerson.14644317 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Bettina Ziller

Keyword(s):

Construction Projects ◽

Sustainability Assessment ◽

Road Construction ◽

Assessment Tools ◽

Evaluation Tool ◽

German Market ◽

Standards And Guidelines ◽

European Standards ◽

General Demand ◽

Sustainability Assessment Tools

The increasing awareness of the need for sustainable development in road construction and the growing number of different assessment tools worldwide has led to a general demand for a tool specific to the German market with its current environment and regulations. This thesis briefly reviews the overall development of the sustainability concept and then applies different tools for the evaluation of road constructions using the example of a small rehabilitation project in Germany. Further, a brief overview of the existing international and European standards and guidelines will be given, followed by a more detailed description of the Swiss method NISTRA, the application of the British asPECT, the Canadian Athena Pavement LCA and the French SEVE. Partly limited access to the tools and the small amount of available data due to the project size has led to rather limited results and it remains to be seen if a bigger project and a better access would result in a more sophisticated outcome. It can therefore be concluded that the sustainability evaluation tool for small rehabilitation projects specific to Germany would need a more simplified handling and structure then what is currently available.

Download Full-text