Inclusion of Well-Being and Ecological Values in Green Building Assessment Tools
- Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Published in The Second NZAAR International Event Series on Natural and Built Environment, Cities, Sustainability and Advanced Engineering, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 8 December 2016, pages 58 to 62. New Zealand Academy of Applied Research. ISSN 2463-5979 (online), 2463-5960 (print).
Abstract
Many building sustainable rating tools rate the effectiveness of a building’s contribution to a better world environment by measuring its performance in relation mostly to energy with additional emphasis in other aspects such as water, waste, indoor environment quality, transport, materials, and emissions. A simplified analysis is tabled to highlight the limited direct response of most green building rating tools to the health and well-being of building occupants. Inquiry into this deficit identifies a few salient points as a preamble to a larger discussion of use of rating tools to assess effectiveness of sustainability and the impact on ecology. Past notions of a sustainable planet resided in the making of sustainable buildings that reduced consumption of energy and other resources. The increased interest in creating healthier office environments as a sustainable action needs further analysis especially in relation to the ecological environment.
Keywords: Sustainability; Rating Tools; Health and Well-Being; Ecology; Biophilia
Rights
Copyright © New Zealand Academy of Applied Research Ltd 2016. All rights reserved. Reproduced in the GDI Academy archive from the original proceedings without change to the authors’ text.