A framework for sustainable buildings : an application to China

Abstract

A framework has been established to discuss the different topics of Sustainability in the context of buildings. The framework includes the dimensions of time and space and the dimensions of ecology, society, and economy. Buildings are shown to have a substantial share on the total environmental and human health impact of an economy. In an energy efficient building, the impact embodied in the building construction can be dominant over the impacts from building operation. Life cycle assessment is a tool that provides the means for establishing quantitative indicators of sustainability. The different existing impact assessment methods used to aggregate hundreds of different pollutant releases and resource consumption into a few useful indicators are analyzed. Ways of integrating these indicators into the design process are shown and existing design tools and building assessment methods are discussed. A case study on Chinese buildings shows the potential for energy conservation measures as the primary means of directing the Chinese building stock towards a more sustainable path. Developed countries will have to lower their impact on global ecosystems substantially in order to allow countries like China to approach our standard of living. Taking into account the slow turn-over rate of buildings, new buildings have to be at least four times more environmentally effective on a lifetime basis. The necessary data on building materials needs to be made available.