Sustainability Rating Tools Research Articles

Monitoring and evaluation practice for brownfield, regeneration to greenspace initiatives: A meta-evaluation of assessment and monitoring tools

Brownfield regeneration and greenspace creation are increasingly promoted by national and EU policy in support of sustainable development principles. There is increasing pressure for the evaluation of brownfield greening initiatives because of their cost, competing funding priorities and evidence of unsustainable practice. Assessment of sustainability requires monitoring and evaluation throughout the life cycle of a project and requires commitment from the many different bodies involved. This paper examines whether tools are available to enable brownfield greening stakeholders to carry out sustainability evaluation for brownfield regenerated to greenspace. To this end, we present the criteria that an ‘ideal’ brownfield greening sustainability monitoring and evaluation tool should fulfil, based on a study of stakeholder needs and the Bellagio Principles. The proposed criteria are used to evaluate 28 tools considered potentially relevant to brownfield regenerated greenspace. For each tool, the research identified limitations to its use for evaluation of brownfield regenerated greenspace sustainability. Recommendations are made for measures required for the greater adoption of monitoring and evaluation practice as well as directions for tool development.

Incorporating User Performance Criteria into Building Sustainability Rating Tools (BSRTs) for Buildings in Operation

Current Building Sustainability Rating Tools (BSRTs) are concerned mainly with the technical features of new designs. The author argues for the inclusion of user performance criteria in BSRTs for buildings in operation. The case is based on insights gained from surveys of users of sustainable buildings worldwide, and a review of the pioneering NABERS protocol. The paper advocates the establishment of a set of user performance criteria for existing buildings, as a key ingredient in making progress towards a truly sustainable building stock as buildings that perform poorly from the users‘ point of view are unlikely to ever be sustainable.

International Comparison of Sustainable Rating Tools

This paper undertakes an international comparison of globalsustainability tools and examines their characteristics and differences.Most importantly, it focuses on which tools from different countries canbe directly compared with each other (i.e., is a five-star building withone rating system directly comparable with a four-star rating of anotherrating system?). The results are designed to provide some clarificationof the assessment tools for sustainable buildings, which in turn willassist investors, developers, tenants, and government bodies in makinginformed decisions about green buildings. In addition, it is envisagedthat removing some of the uncertainty associated with sustainablebuildings will increase transparency for stakeholders and facilitate theiracceptance.

Program evaluation of the sustainability of teaching methods

This paper suggests a particular question that higher education researchers might ask: ‘Do educational programs use teaching methods that are environmentally, socially and economically sustainable?’ It further proposes that program evaluation research (PER) can be used to answer the question. Consideration is given to: a) program evaluation research processes and indicators, and their modifications for evaluating the sustainability of teaching methods; and b) institutional sustainability evaluation research tools and their modifications for the evaluation of teaching. North American university and college program evaluation websites and sustainability evaluation tools used to assess universities in North America are examined.

Application of the adaptive reuse potential model in Hong Kong: A case study of Lui Seng Chun

Abstract There is an increasing complexity and interplay between all of the issues associated with property portfolio decisions. This paper explores the relationships between financial, environmental and social parameters associated with building adaptive reuse by way of a case study. A new model predicting adaptive reuse potential is applied to a heritage building in Hong Kong known as Lui Seng Chun. Such application can assist in the transformation of the building and property industry towards more sustainable practices, strategies and outcomes, by providing a means by which the industry can identify and rank existing buildings that have high potential for adaptive reuse. In Hong Kong's case it provides an ability for sustainable, responsive energy and natural resource management by allowing issues regarding excessive and inappropriate resource use to be identified and assessed, and appropriate management strategies to be implemented. Given the building's current age and condition, Lui Seng Chun has at ...

The strategic significance of environmental sustainability by Australian‐listed property trusts

PurposeEnvironmental sustainability has taken on increased importance in recent years with property companies. The purpose of this paper is to assess the strategies used by listed property trusts (LPTs) in Australia in delivering excellence and international best practice in environmental sustainability for commercial property.Design/methodology/approachUsing content analysis, the annual reports, corporate responsibility and sustainability reports, and carbon disclosure reports for all LPTs in Australia are assessed. These public domain documents are used to identify the corporate strategies used by LPTs for implementing international best practice in environmental sustainability for the LPT commercial property portfolios.FindingsThe paper finds that Australian LPTs are seen to be strategically implementing a wide range of procedures regarding environmental sustainability. These contributions represent international best practice in environmental sustainability procedures, and include strategies at the corporate, portfolio and individual commercial property levels. These results confirm the strong leadership role of Australian LPTs in implementing international best practice in environmental sustainability in commercial property.Originality/valuePrevious research into sustainable commercial property has largely focused on the valuation implications with sustainability and the various sustainability rating tools. This paper rigorously assesses the strategic issues concerning implementing international best practice in environmentally sustainable commercial property; particularly highlighting the strong leadership role of LPTs in Australia in implementing these international best practices. Given the increasing significance of environmental sustainability and commercial property, this research enables more informed and practical investment decision making by property companies regarding the implementation of environmental sustainability procedures for their commercial property portfolios which are seen to be international best practice.

Ten years of sustainability evaluation using the MESMIS framework: Lessons learned from its application in 28 Latin American case studies

This paper focuses on sustainability evaluation and, more specifically, it describes and analyses the Indicator-based Framework for Evaluation of Natural Resource Management Systems (MESMIS, its Spanish acronym), ten years after its development. This framework fulfilled a pioneering role by proposing an integrated interdisciplinary approach to assess sustainability of peasant NRMS. Results of a thorough analysis of 28 case studies are presented, to seek improvement to the methods. The MESMIS approach is acceptable to a wide range of systems and to stakeholders; it has greatly assisted in sustainability evaluation and has increased understanding of the complexity of such systems, making it a significant tool for sustainability evaluation. The degree to which MESMIS and evaluation in general was shown to be an effective tool in reaching more sustainable systems depended mainly on the type of participation applied; additional guidance and information on participation is essential. Improvement possibilities are further directed to exploration and incorporation into the framework of 'new' tools that have proved valuable for the monitoring and integration of indicators (i.e.simulation models, linear programming and trade-off analysis), tools capable of assessing effects of management on indicators in the long term and thereby increasing the understanding of system attributes.

Developing a Sustainability Rating Tool for Wastewater Systems

As part of a growing trend towards integrated economic, social, and environmental sustainability, there is interest in wastewater treatment systems that use less energy (or even produce energy), allow for the elimination or beneficial reuse of biosolids, and restore natural nutrient cycles. A sustainability rating system specifically designed for use by wastewater utilities can serve as an industry benchmark for environmental considerations and will be of practical use to utilities. Such a tool would complement other research, decision analysis techniques, and environmental management systems being used to develop sustainability indicators for projects, industries, and geographic areas. This concept is inspired by the successful “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design” (LEED™) Green Building Rating System(s) developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, which provides national standards for what constitutes a “green building.”

Indicadores de sustentabilidade: um levantamento dos principais sistemas de avaliação

Este artigo apresenta os resultados de um levantamento cujo objetivo é determinar as principais metodologias de avaliação para mensurar a sustentabilidade do desenvolvimento. Para isso, discute a crise ambiental e suas principais conseqüências, até o surgimento do conceito de desenvolvimento sustentável. Esse conceito, por sua vez, é observado a partir de diferentes abordagens que visam evidenciar a necessidade de um conhecimento mais aprofundado dos diferentes sistemas de indicadores de sustentabilidade e de sua utilização. Sistemas de indicadores de desenvolvimento sustentável podem constituir uma importante ferramenta de gestão ambiental, pública ou privada, à medida que consigam orientar e mensurar o desenvolvimento. Entretanto, para alcançar esse objetivo, é necessário conhecer melhor as metodologias existentes. Nesse sentido, o primeiro passo para conhecer melhor as ferramentas de avaliação do desenvolvimento é determinar quais as mais importantes em termos de reconhecimento internacional.

The message and methods of ethical investment

This paper examines a high profile and often provocative segment of the financial industry: that of Ethical or Socially Responsible Investment. By offering an ethical or sustainable product which has the potential to influence so many stakeholders—the financial industry is in a unique position to guide change towards corporate sustainability. However, what message is ethical investment really giving to companies and the financial industry? Are ethical investors and their rating agencies capable of effectively influencing corporations towards more sustainable patterns of production and consumption; and are their approaches consistent with the principles of Cleaner Production? This paper first gives an overview some of the definitions ‘ethical investment’ and the scale of activities under this umbrella term. Then the actual screening methods and their application is examined. A typology of the different ethical mutual funds is given, and two cases of ethical funds are described (Robur’s Environmental Fund, and Sustainable Asset Management’s sustainability rating tool). Each are analysed in terms of their potential to either reveal or conceal cleaner production innovations by the firms they assess. In order to ascertain where Ethical Investment might lead companies, the effects of ethical investment on companies—and back on the asset management companies themselves is explored. A reflexive model of corporate and finance sector learning based on the ethical screens is proposed.