Sustainable Construction, 5th Edition

Chapter 4Green Building Assessment

Prior to the advent of building assessment or building rating systems in the late 1980s, environmentally friendly buildings were conceptualized by teams of architects and engineers who relied on their collective interpretation of what constituted green building. Beyond the understanding that green buildings should be resource efficient and environmentally friendly, no specific criteria existed to evaluate and compare the merits of green building design. In 1989, the UK's Building Research Establishment (BRE), the national building science research organization, developed the BRE Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), which is considered the first assessment system for buildings focused on sustainability considerations. BREEAM, similar to its counterparts in other countries, rates the performance of a building based on a set of criteria (see www.breeam.org). Building assessment systems are generally organized into categories, such as energy, water, and materials, and award points for criteria that are met by the project team in the design of the facility. These assessment systems also certify, often using a third-party assessor, that the project has achieved specified levels of performance. In 1998, the US Green Building Council (USGBC) launched its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building assessment system for new construction. Versions of LEED are available for various building types and situations. For example, there ...