Comprehensive Assessment System For Built Environment Efficiency Research Articles

Selection of the Most Appropriate Sustainable Buildings Assessment Categories and Criteria for Developing Countries: Case of Ethiopia

Sustainable buildings can save 36% of total energy use, 65% of electricity consumption, 30% of greenhouse gas emissions, 30% of raw materials use, 30% of waste output, and 12% of potable water consumption. Several sustainable building assessment tools were used by both developed and developing countries. However, Ethiopia’s buildings were not critically assessed and evaluated from a sustainability point of view because there was no such type of study conducted so far. This paper aims to explore the most significant and widely used tools as well as the basis for other sustainable building assessment tools, such as Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology (BREEAM), Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency (CASBEE), Sustainable Building Tool (SBTool), Comprehensive Environmental Performance Assessment Scheme (CEPAS), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen (DGNB), and Green Mark and Green Star. The methodology employed is the selection of the 10 most commonly and widely utilized sustainable building assessment tools (SBATs) from the 57 SBATs based on desk review and document analysis. The results of the study identified that all 10 SBATs have their own assessment categories and criteria based on many factors, such as climatic conditions and availability of resources, plus methods employing demographic dynamics and legal aspects of the sector for assessing the sustainable/green buildings. It distinguishes the most commonly and repeatedly used assessment categories and criteria and uses a consensus-based approach with experts in the building sectors, a four-quadrant model, and a circular and helical flow model, to develop a new sustainable building assessment tool suitable for Ethiopia.

Study on insulation retrofitting based on thermal environment and the CASBEE health checklist evaluation

The Carbon Neutral Declaration has been issued in Japan and various initiatives are introducing to realise it, but in the housing sector it is essential to improve the energy efficiency of the stock of over 50 million homes. However, the progress of insulation retrofitting is slow. In particular, there are many challenges in implementing insulation retrofitting in condominiums, including the requirements of residents consent. This study aims to clarify that thermal environment data and the Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency (CASBEE) health checklist for motivating thermal insulation retrofitting and to support the effectiveness of this approach. The thermal environment data compares energy consumption and room temperature before and after the retrofit and quantifies the effect of the retrofit. The CASBEE health checklist displays health characteristics and health rankings for each room and health factor by answering 50 questions about the indoor environment in winter. These are considered to visualise the effects of the renovation of respondents' homes and enable them to realise the need for renovation. This method was applied to Ta housing complex in Kanagawa prefecture and X housing complex in Tokyo, where insulation retrofitting had already been carried out, and an attempt was made to verify the effectiveness of the method by comparing the environmental improvements resulting from insulation retrofitting and the differences in residents' responses. The results of the Ta complex showed that the room temperature was 20°C in the living room and 18°C or higher in the entrance hall, indicating that good environment had been achieved; the CASBEE health checklist also showed an improvement in health characteristics and health ranking in both the Ta and X complexes. The results suggest that the effects of retrofitting in terms of both physical and psychological health are significant. In the future, the results will be presented to the management associations of non-retrofitted dwellings and, in combination with experience sessions in retrofitted dwellings, will be verified as an effective motivational tool.

Influence of residential performance on residents' health status (part II): Nationwide survey of environmental performance of apartment buildings and residents' health status

AbstractThe residential environment clearly affects health. For example, a previous study has established relationships between specific environmental factors and the health status of residents in detached houses. However, studies focused on apartment buildings are still insufficient. Therefore, in this study, a large nationwide questionnaire survey of residents of apartments was conducted. The residential environment was subjectively evaluated using a Japanese Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency (CASBEE) tool: the CASBEE Health Checklist. The results showed that residents living in apartments who score higher on the checklist tend to have a lower prevalence of various diseases, indicating that residential environment may be an important determinant of health. Furthermore, the odds ratios for residents living in apartment buildings were lower for diabetes mellitus, hypertensive diseases, heart diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, chronic lower respiratory diseases, and inflammatory polyarthropathies compared with residents living in detached houses. These findings support the general link between the residential environment and residents' health and suggest that housing typology is an important factor.

Selection of the Most Appropriate Sustainable Buildings Assessment Categories and Criteria for Developing Countries: Case of Ethiopia

Sustainable/green buildings can save for 36% of total energy use, 65% of electricity consumption, and 30% of greenhouse gas emissions, 30% of raw materials use, 30% of waste output, and 12% of potable water consumption. Several sustainable/green building assessment tools were existed and used by both developed and developing countries. However; Ethiopia's buildings were not critically assessed and evaluated from sustainability points of view because there was no such type of studies conducted so far. This paper aims to explore the most significant and widely used as well as the basis for other sustainable/green building assessment tools such as Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology (BREEAM), Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency (CASBEE), Sustainable Building Tool (SBTool), Comprehensive Environmental Performance Assessment Scheme (CEPAS), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen (DGNB), Green Mark and Green Star. The methodology employed for this paper is the selection of the 10 most commonly and widely utilized SBATs from the 57 SBATs based on desk review and document analysis. The results of the study identified that all these 10 SBATs have their own assessment categories and criteria based on many factors like climatic conditions, availability of resources plus methods employed demographic dynamics, and legal aspects of the sector for assessing the sustainable/green buildings. It distinguishes the most commonly and repeatedly used assessment categories and criteria and uses a consensus-based approach with experts in the building sectors, a four-quadrant model, and a Circular and Helical flow model, to develop a new sustainable building assessment tool (SBAT) suitable for Ethiopia.

SEM-PLS Approach to Green Building

Green buildings refer to buildings that decrease adverse environmental effects and maintain natural resources. They can diminish energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, the usage of non-renewable materials, water consumption, and waste generation while improving occupants’ health and well-being. As such, several rating tools and benchmarks have been developed worldwide to assess green building performance (GBP), including the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) in the United Kingdom, German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB), Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) in the United States and Canada, Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency (CASBEE) in Japan, Green Star in Australia, Green Mark in Singapore, and Green Building Index in Malaysia. Energy management (EM) during building operation could also improve GBP. One of the best approaches to evaluating the impact of EM on GBP is by using structural equation modelling (SEM). SEM is a commanding statistical method to model testing. One of the most used SEM variance-based approaches is partial least squares (PLS), which can be implemented in the SmartPLS application. PLS-SEM uses path coefficients to determine the strength and significance of the hypothesised relationships between the latent constructs.

Economic impact of environmental efficiency on sales price and used transaction price of apartment buildings empirical analysis using the assessment data of CASBEE Yokohama

AbstractThe aim of this study is to analyze the effects of environmental efficiency of buildings on real estate prices. Therefore, based on the Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency (CASBEE) of the local government, we investigated 485 apartment buildings assessed by CASBEE Yokohama. The analysis results revealed the following three points: When the Built Environment Efficiency (BEE) value increased by one point, the average unit price increased by 5.5%. A one‐point increase in the BEE value has a positive impact of 1.63% on the annual rate of change of used transaction price. It is economically advantageous to purchase an apartment building with a high BEE value when considering future sales.

Quantified CO2-related indicators for green building rating systems in China

Buildings’ CO2-related indicators are essential in checking negative effects of global warming on the environment. They are required in Green Building Rating Systems (GBRS) to promote low-carbon development. Most of Asian GBRS consider CO2-related evaluations. In China, Assessment Standard for Green Buildings (ASGB) includes CO2-related indicators; however, the standard lacks the necessary specification for quantisation and compulsory requirements for evaluation. There is a lack of research regarding its updated version, ASGB-2019. The objective of this paper is to propose a framework of CO2-related indicators in ASGB-2019, compared with Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency (CASBEE) and Green Building Evaluation Manual (EEWH). CO2-related indicators were compared in terms of structure, weights, evaluation and calculation methods. CO2-related indicators cover the first and second level indexes and are included in direct and indirect evaluation in all three GBRS. While scopes of CO2-related indicators are different among these three GBRS, weights from large to small are EEWH, CASBEE and ASGB. CASBEE and EEWH would give more importance to CO2-related calculation than ASGB. The proposed framework will guide CO2-related evaluations in ASGB-2019 by combining qualitative and quantitative methods. For ASGB-2019, the scope of CO2-related indicators should be broadened to include the Required and Encouragement indicators, the weights could be around 50% for broad scope and 16% for narrow scope. The CO2 emissions calculation should be an indispensable indicator.

Practical Implementation of the Indoor Environmental Quality Model for the Assessment of Nearly Zero Energy Single-Family Building

The article presents a practical implementation of the indoor quality model. The indoor environmental quality (IEQ) model, including its essential elements (TCindex—thermal comfort, IAQindex—indoor air quality, ACcindex—acoustic comfort and Lindex—daylight quality), is used to evaluate a case-study single-family building built with the nearly zero energy (NZEB) standard. The results of comfort sub-indices based on the measured indoor parameters are aggregated into one IEQindex value representing the predicted building occupants’ satisfaction in percentage terms. The author’s intention is to use the proposed model in broader civil and environmental engineering practice, especially in terms of supporting the energy performance certification. The results obtained using the IEQ model were also compared with the results obtained with a similar method based on the comprehensive assessment system for built environment efficiency (CASBEE) approach for the same building.

A Framework of Building Sustainability Assessment System for the Commercial Buildings in Kazakhstan

: Many building assessment tools exist for guiding building facilities toward sustainability. Some tools are internationally recognized while others are for specific countries based on local needs. This study endeavored to develop a building sustainability assessment framework for Kazakhstan. The framework was developed based on the review of building performance assessment methods such as leadership in energy and environmental design (LEED), building research establishment environmental assessment methodology (BREEAM), comprehensive assessment system for building environmental efficiency (CASBEE), and international initiative for sustainable built environment (SBTool), and considering the local conditions in Kazakhstan. A two-round Delphi survey was employed to develop the assessment categories and indicators by local experts from the architecture, engineering, and construction industry. Mean and standard deviation values were used to analyze the survey data and to make the decision on the level of agreement amongst the Delphi panelists. The proposed framework consists of nine assessment categories, 46 assessment indicators, and 142 parameters covering the four climatic regions in Kazakhstan and considering the environmental, social, and economic perspectives of the country’s sustainable development goals. The introduction of the framework is expected to serve as a reference for establishing the regional building sustainability assessment tool that will aid to increase the awareness of the public and help policymakers to solve sustainability-related issues in Kazakhstan.

How can CASBEE contribute as a sustainability assessment tool to achieve the SDGs?

The purpose of this research was to understand the relationship between assessment items of the Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency (CASBEE) and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs, the core of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, were adopted in 2015. In response, social demand for sustainable buildings, urban districts, and cities has grown. New assessment tools have been developed to quantitatively evaluate the sustainability of individual buildings, building clusters, urban districts, and cities worldwide. CASBEE was developed in Japan, with assessment items suited to each scale, from individual buildings to entire cities. These assessment items are expected to contribute to SDG 11 “Sustainable Cities and Communities” as well as the other 16 goals. However, the degree of correspondence between assessment items and SDGs remains unclear. Therefore, the relationships between CASBEE assessment items and SDGs were investigated to confirm their effectiveness as a tool for sustainable design. In this analysis, the number of corresponding goals increased as the scale became broader. At the scales of individual buildings and building clusters, many assessment items contributed indirectly to SDG 12 “Responsible Consumption and Production” while many assessment items contributed directly to SDG 11 in urban districts and cities.

A STUDY ON RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CONSUMERS' PRIORITIZED FACTORS AND REAL ESTATE PRICES IN ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE OF CONDOMINIUMS

Prompting energy saving measures for buildings is an important policy issue because the emission of CO2 from the building sector rose 33.5% from 1990 to 2013 in Japan. The market value for environmental performance of green buildings should be recognized in order to promote voluntary environmental consideration by private developers. It is because if the pro-environmental investment by private developers reflects the real estate prices and pays off, the environmental consideration will be diffused by market mechanism. The purpose of this study is to clarify the relation between real estate prices and environmental performance of the condominiums. We utilize the assessment data from Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency (CASBEE), and analyzed relation between new-built condominium's price and assessment results of CASBEE by path analysis. The methods of this study are as follows: 1) we conducted interviews to stakeholders related to condominium design about recognition of the market value of the environmental performance. Based on the result of this survey, we set the hypothesis: The environmental performances that consumers recognize as being important have market value.) 2) We selected three areas for our analysis, which are Tokyo metropolitan area (Yokohama city, Kawasaki city, Saitama city and Chiba city), Nagoya area (Aichi pref. and Nagoya city) and Kansai area (Osaka pref., Osaka city, Hyogo pref. and Kobe city). The building type we chose for our analysis is new-built condominium that has more than 2,000 square meters of total floor area. Data resources about condominiums such as environmental performance data, price data, location data etc. are different in Japan. Therefore, we conducted matching among different types of data resources for our analysis. Research results are as follows, 1) It was clarified that the environmental performance highly regarded by consumers and real estate prices are proportional relationship. 2) The environmental performance is influenced by business scale of developers and location. In order to promote the environmental performance of which the market value is not highly recognized, it is necessary to introduce a subsidy policy.

Sustainability assessment of cities: SDGs and GHG emissions

ABSTRACTThe United Nations’ (UN) sustainable development goals (SDGs), the core of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the UN Paris Agreement, were adopted in 2015. Involvement of not only national governments but also all other stakeholders including local governments is important to promote sustainable development and to achieve the goals. The question arises, therefore, of what methods should be used to best implement and assess sustainability issues at a local level. In this light, a new version of Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency (CASBEE), CASBEE for Cities, is introduced for assessing the sustainability of cities and communities around the world based on SDG indicators and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The tool allows users to understand the sustainability of cities and communities based on quality (Q) and environmental load (L) perspectives. The sustainability assessments show that cities in developed countries tend to have good grades for Q, but bad grades for L, while cities in developing countries tend to have the opposite trend. This will assist cities and communities in both developed and developing countries to understand urgent problems and to identify effective solutions for sustainable development.

An Analysis of the Most Adopted Rating Systems for Assessing the Environmental Impact of Buildings

Rating systems for assessing the environmental impact of buildings are technical instruments that aim to evaluate the environmental impact of buildings and construction projects. In some cases, these rating systems can also cover urban-scale projects, community projects, and infrastructures. These schemes are designed to assist project management in making the projects more sustainable by providing frameworks with precise criteria for assessing the various aspects of a building’s environmental impact. Given the growing interest in sustainable development worldwide, many rating systems for assessing the environmental impact of buildings have been established in recent years, each one with its peculiarities and fields of applicability. The present work is motivated by an interest in emphasizing such differences to better understand these rating systems and extract the main implications to building design. It also attempts to summarize in a user-friendly form the vast and fragmented assortment of information that is available today. The analysis focuses on the six main rating systems: the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology (BREEAM), the Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency (CASBEE), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen (DGNB), the Haute Qualité Environnementale (HQETM), the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), and the Sustainable Building Tool (SBTool).

J-REIT所有オフィスにおけるCASBEE認証及び東京都トップレベル事業所認定が賃貸事業収益及び水道光熱費に与える影響

The purpose of this research is to evaluate the economic value of certification of green buildings based on j-reit (Japan Real Estate Investment Trust) owned office buildings. In the recent years, assessment systems for the environmental performance of buildings are being widely used in Japan. Some analyses were conducted in Japan to investigate whether green building certificates have a positive influence on the contract rent. However we need to investigate profits and expenses of the real estate rent to clearly explain the economic benefits of green buildings. In this research, we analyze the office building annual data in Japan which was disclosed by J-REIT. Operating benefits and utilities costs of 657 buildings in January 2014 － December 2014 was analyzed. Regarding the objective office, the total leased area is under 50000 m2 and each building was divided into green building certified or Non-certified. Subject green building certifications are Tokyo Top-Level Business Facility and CASBEE (Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency). The net operating incomes of Top-Level Business Facility or CASBEE certified office buildings over 10000 m2 of total building area are bigger than that of not certified office buildings. The utilities costs of Top-Level Business Facility certified office buildings are the same as that of not certified office buildings, but the utilities cost of CASBEE certified office buildings is bigger than that of not certified office buildings. The net operating incomes of CASBEE certified office buildings over 3000 m2 and less than 10000 m2 of total building area are bigger than that of not certified office buildings. The utilities costs of CASBEE certified office buildings over 3000 m2 and less than 10000 m2 are the same as that of not certified office buildings. The net operating incomes of expired CASBEE certified office buildings over 10000 m2 of total building area are bigger than that of not certified office buildings. The utilities costs of expired CASBEE certified office buildings are the same as that of not certified office buildings. Using these results, the environmental performance of Top-Level Business Facility certified office buildings over 10000 m2 of total building area and expired CASBEE certified office buildings over 10000 m2 of the area, CASBEE certified office buildings over 3000 m2 and less than 10000 m2 of the area may be high in the value of the real estate. The utilities costs of buildings are not always related to the energy consumption, because an energy source, a type of contract and a contract fee are different in each building. In this survey, the primary energy consumption of CASBEE real estate buildings is correlated with the utilities cost of the buildings. The objective buildings do not install the regional air-conditioning.

Comparative Analysis of Material Criteria in Neighborhood Sustainability Assessment Tools and Urban Design Guidelines: Cases of the UK, the US, Japan, and Korea

Sustainability assessment tools have been developed for building-scale sustainability since the 1990s. Several systems, such as BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology), LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and CASBEE (Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency), are widely used and have been upgraded and adapted to large-scale development. BREEAM Communities, LEED Neighborhood Development and CASBEE for Urban Development have been implemented in the UK, the USA and Japan, respectively. As the notion of sustainable urban design has gained more significance, city governments have set their own guidelines for sustainable standards in urban design based on studies of sustainability assessment tools. This study focused on a comparative analysis of the material criteria embedded for sustainable urban design in BREEAM Communities, LEED-ND (Neighborhood Development) and CASBEE-UD (Urban Development), and the urban design guidelines recently issued in multiple cities, including London, New York, Tokyo, and Seoul. The top master plans and the supplementary guidelines were analyzed to investigate the detailed material criteria. The study examined the differences in the material assessment criteria, evaluation parameters, and descriptions of the neighborhood sustainability assessment tools and the urban design guidelines. The material criteria was investigated and discussed to summarize the current features and weaknesses as balanced material assessments for sustainable urban development.

The structure of the green certification scheme for the neighbourhood and application to the new town development: the case of Magok, Seoul, Korea

The green certification scheme for neighbourhoods is believed to be a meaningful means to realistically and effectively achieve a low-carbon city. Many advanced countries have already developed their own green certification schemes and typical examples are LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Development), BREEAM (Building the Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method), and CASBEE (Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental Efficiency). However, there are few studies on green certification for neighbourhoods in Korea. This paper presents the structure of the green certification scheme that is applicable to the Korean neighbourhood unit. The green certification scheme is developed through the following four steps: the first step identifies the mechanism of the carbon generation within the neighbourhood based on the IPCC guidelines. Next, five sectors are determined from the carbon emission mechanism identified, and evaluation standards are systematically derived from each sector. Here, the five sectors include industry, transportation, households, green, and planning. The third step is weighing the evaluation standards through a method involving an analytic hierarchy process. Finally, the developed certification scheme is applied to the new town of Magok in Seoul, Korea in order to demonstrate its applicability and usefulness.

On the Integration of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)® ND Protocol with the Energy Planning and Management Tools in Italy: Strengths and Weaknesses

Owners and municipalities face the choice to renovate or rebuild buildings in order to improve energy efficiency and sustainability. The process of upgrading the existing building stock can be supported by land management tools, i.e., municipal energy plans (MEP) or sustainable building codes (BC), that municipalities use to plan, check and monitor actions taken. Many local and regional authorities are involved in the Covenant of Mayors supported by the European Union (EU): the sustainable energy action plan (SEAP) is the key document in which the Covenant signatory outlines how it intends to reach CO2 reduction target by 2020. Sustainability at the urban scale is also supported by voluntary certification schemes such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)® for neighbourhood development proposed by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) Communities proposed by UK Building Research Establishment (BRE) and Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency (CASBEE) for Urban Development proposed by the Japan GreenBuild Council. The fact that there are so many tools to manage urban sustainability is positive, but what happens when multiple tools are applied to the same territory? Overlap, redundancy, and conflicts in management may be critical elements. The purpose of this article is to analyze these critical issues, highlighting the elements of integration and possible synergies for effective management of sustainability at the local level.

自治体版CASBEEによる評価実績に関する調査研究

CASBEE (Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental Efficiency), developed by the Japan Sustainable Building Consortium, is now being widely used in 24 local government in Japan, since it was first introduced in to the green building policy of Nagoya city in 2004. To learn the current status of CASBEE by local governments, this report investigates the evaluation results of local versions of CASBEE in Nagoya city, Osaka city, Yokohama city, and Kyoto prefecture. From various statistical analyses and comparison, characteristics of evaluation results of the 4 local versions of CASBEE have been shown.

A Preliminary Environmental Assessment for the Preservation and Restoration of Fujian Hakka Tulou Complexes

In 2007 and 2009, research trips were taken, mainly in the Fujian province of China, to investigate the construction materials, methods, structures and floor plans of Hakka Tulou. Researchers lived in several Tulou, interviewed residents and experienced traditional Hakka lifestyle. Typically, Tulou are located in remote regions at relatively high elevations in climatic conditions characterized by hot summers, cold winters, and with high incidents of typhoons and earthquakes. The extent of damage and level of preservation were examined with respect to the age of many of these structures, the relatively harsh environment, and changing demographics in the region. The majority of occupants are now elderly. They maintain a traditional and efficient lifestyle utilizing minimum electricity, water, and energy. This study discusses the findings from these two field trips and assesses environmental load and sustainability within the context of current environmental standards using the Japanese Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental Efficiency (CASBEE) from data collected at Cheng Qi Lou. The goal was: firstly to undertake a preliminary environmental assessment to determine sustainable elements of Hakka Tulou construction methods; secondly, to identify potential sustainable solutions to preserve existing structure; and finally, to identify appropriate sustainable solutions to repair and retrofit damaged and underutilized structures to modern living standards, while retaining traditional building techniques and lifestyle.

Outline of the approach to low carbonisation by strengthening CASBEE for new construction (2010 edition)

CASBEE (Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency) is widely used as the assessment system for green buildings in Japan. For the promotion of the low-carbon society, it is necessary to take the lead in introducing the assessment method that induces an approach to the low-carbon society into CASBEE. This paper reports the outline of this approach in the 2010 revised edition of CASBEE-NC (New Construction).