Green Building Rating Systems as Sustainability Assessment Tools: Case Study Analysis

With the arising of environmental problems from the construction sector, the sustainability issues gained more space, making sustainability assessment tools emerge. These tools are based on the global definition of sustainability that meets Environmental, Economic, and Social criteria, and each system has a different and peculiar methodology. This paper aims to analyse the structure adopted by these European sustainability assessment systems: BREAM UK, DGBN (Germany), ITACA (Italy), LiderA (Portugal), and HQE (France), showing an overview of each system assisted by the SWOT Matrix, enabling the reader to better understand their differences. There are no superior or inferior systems, but each system notably performs much better in a subject or goal.

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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.

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Sustainability Assessment of Products: A Comparative Study of Sustainability Assessment Tools

Volume 11: Systems, Design, and Complexity ◽

10.1115/imece2014-39449 ◽

2014 ◽

Author(s):

Vicente Borja ◽

Javier Ávila ◽

Marcelo López-Parra ◽

Alejandro Ramírez-Reivich ◽

Adrián Espinosa

Keyword(s):

Energy Use ◽

Sustainability Assessment ◽

Software Tools ◽

Point Of View ◽

Assessment Tools ◽

Potential Toxicity ◽

Home Appliance ◽

The One ◽

Sustainability Assessment Tools

The number of existing tools, principles and approaches to assess sustainability in products is growing to meet industry and society needs. For those related to design and development in universities, research institutes and companies it is a fundamental issue to recognize features and details of the sustainability assessment tools in order to select the one that best fits their particular needs. This paper describes the outcomes of a product sustainability assessment carried out at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM. The approach followed by the authors in this assessment was aimed at comparing the results provided by a set of software tools and a previous sustainability integrated-criteria tool developed by the research group. The main contribution of this paper is the insight on the software tools used and on the results of the assessment since the design point of view. The results of the assessment included metrics such as: carbon footprint, energy use, end of life potential, toxicity, eco-toxicity, human toxicity, recyclability, and others. In the first part of the paper, an introduction of the criteria and the software based tools for sustainability assessment used by the authors is presented. Then a justification of the tools used and an explanation on how the comparison was achieved are given. The product used as a case study and the results of its sustainability assessment are presented. The case study part is a home appliance subsystem. In the end of the paper conclusions, insights and further work are given.

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How well is farmers’ social situation captured by sustainability assessment tools? A Swedish case study

International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology ◽

10.1080/13504509.2018.1560371 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 26 (3) ◽

pp. 268-281 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

E. Röös ◽

K. Fischer ◽

P. Tidåker ◽

H. Nordström Källström

Keyword(s):

Sustainability Assessment ◽

Social Situation ◽

Assessment Tools ◽

Sustainability Assessment Tools

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A proposal for measuring sustainability in universities: a case study of Spain

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education ◽

10.1108/ijshe-03-2015-0055 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 17 (5) ◽

pp. 671-697 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Manuel Larrán Jorge ◽

Jesús Herrera Madueño ◽

Yolanda Calzado ◽

Javier Andrades

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Sustainability Assessment ◽

Assessment Tools ◽

University System ◽

Content Type ◽

Different Dimensions ◽

Spanish Universities ◽

Sustainability Assessment Tools ◽

Quantitative Tool

Purpose Numerous sustainability assessment tools are being created and applied in the higher education sector. In light of such diversity, there is a need to provide a common guideline for sustainability assessment which makes easier the comparison among universities. Using as a reference the Spanish university system, the main aim of this paper is to develop a multi-item quantitative tool for measuring sustainability performance at universities. Design/methodology/approach To accomplish this task, the first step was to review the literature on sustainability assessment in universities. After reviewing the literature, the authors found more than 1,000 items. The next step was to select those items which were able to fit to the Spanish university context. On this basis, the authors selected a total of 268 items. These items were discussed in a workshop with senior management members from eight Spanish universities with the aim of analyzing the validity and relevance of the items selected. Findings Then, the proposal for measuring sustainability in Spanish universities was composed of a total of 156 relevant items. In addition, these items were grouped according to seven different dimensions (corporate governance, students, staff, society, environment, companies and continuous improvement). Also, it is important to note that these items were not associated with political risk and they were linked to provide more reliable information to assess sustainability in universities. Originality/value Recent literature have stated that the existing tools specifically developed for assessing higher education institutions performance toward sustainability have some weaknesses. Then, one of the main contributions of this study has been the creation of a new multi-item quantitative tool aimed at measuring the integrated consideration of social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainability in universities.

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Analysis of Consumer Response and Pricing of Smart and Connected Products

Volume 1B: 38th Computers and Information in Engineering Conference ◽

10.1115/detc2018-86304 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Deep N. Patel ◽

Darshan Yadav ◽

Beshoy Morkos

Keyword(s):

Internet Of Things ◽

Technology Development ◽

Consumer Response ◽

The Other ◽

Study Analysis ◽

Rating Systems ◽

Consumer Market ◽

Case Study Analysis ◽

Fundamental Part

The emergence of Internet of Things (IoT) has created an unanticipated rise of smart and connected products in the consumer market. While, smart and connected products have become a fundamental part of our day to day life, consumer’s perspective regarding these smart and connected products still remains an uncharted territory. This paper tries to explore how these “smart” and “connected” products are perceived in the consumer market and what are the key driving factors behind the unparalleled success of these products. In order to answer these questions, the authors first determined the “smartness” and “connectivity” criteria to judge all the products based on the most commonly used rating systems for such products. Followed by a case study analysis to determine if there is a correlation between “smartness”, “connectivity” and other product parameters. It is discovered that “smartness” as defined in the paper, is a resource intensive component of a product and therefore, directly affects the price of a product. On the other hand, consumers are more receptive to “connectivity” aspect of a product. The correlations found in the paper could help fill the gaps between areas of focus for technology development in the industry and user demands.

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