The “START” framework to evaluate national progress in green buildings and its application in cases of Singapore and China

Abstract

Current studies provide little knowledge for a holistic assessment of green building (GB) studies and practices. This study addresses the gap by developing a systematic and multidisciplinary framework called “START” that integrates five interactive dimensions of GB, including S-stakeholders, To-total building life cycle concerns, A-actions of government, R-relevant contexts, and Ta-targets to facilitate scholars and policymakers' analysis of GB development and progress. A comparative review of Singapore's and China's GB journey has been conducted to illustrate the application of the framework. Results indicate that both countries face common challenges of achieving economic sustainability of GB due to market failure and lack of non-technical support. However, Singapore has made better progress in environmental and social sustainability than China. Singapore's GB program inclusively covers the whole building life phases whereas China mainly emphasizes on planning/design phase. Collectively, effective governance, strict law enforcement, engaged stakeholders, matured economy and emerging technologies facilitate the GB implementing in Singapore. Additional efforts are required for China to cope with its complexity and heterogeneity regarding climate zones, hierarchy of authority, and disparity of economy and resources allocation in various regions. The framework helps facilitate policymakers to comprehensively assess GB progress and highlights the importance of incorporating non-technical drivers, such as social, psychological, political factors, into multi-disciplinary research of GB programs.