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Cole, R J (1999) Building environmental assessment methods: clarifying intentions. Building Research & Information, 27(04), 230–46.

  • Type: Journal Article
  • Keywords: design tools; environmental assessment method; feedback; labelling; sustainable development
  • ISBN/ISSN: 0961-3218
  • URL: http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/link.asp?id=fr9wc21v62pa56cr
  • Abstract:
    The intentions for, and the thinking behind, the Green Building Challenge (GBC) assessment framework and its development are made explicit. Three separate roles for environmental assessment of buildings are disentagled (stimulating owners to improve a building's performance, informing decision-makers during the design stages and delivering objective measurements of a building's impact on natural systems). Some significant lessons from the development exercise are identified and further implications and directions for developing environmental assessment methods for buildings are discussed. A distinction is made between 'green' and 'sustainable' agendas and their implications for the future development of building environmental assessment methods. This is essential in order to clarify the many roles and applications demanded of these tools. The considerable practical overlap between the 'green' and 'sustainable' agendas suggests that they can be reconciled within a single tool. 'Green' performance is most usefully described in relative terms in comparison to similar buildings in the region, while absolute energy and mass flows are a prerequisite for assessing progress towards sustainability. A fewer number of carefully elected performance measures are required to provide a measure of a building's role in ecological sustainability than to describe its green performance. The GBC process has clarified the roles and applications demanded of different tools and these lessons will be integrated into the restructuring and application of GBTool, and add significantly to the wider debate on environmental assessment.