Overview of green building rating tools

Abstract

Since the detrimental affects of construction practices on the natural environment were highlighted, the performance of the buildings has become a major concern for occupants and built environment professionals (Crawley and Aho, 1999; Ding, 2008; Cooper, 1999; Kohler, 1999; and Finnveden and Momberg, 2005). In response to this concern of reducing environmental impact of the design and operation of buildings, many researchers have developed methods for measuring environmental performance of buildings with the intention of creating a sustainable built environment (Crawley and Aho, 1999; Blom, 2004). The aim of this chapter is to provide an overview of green building rating tools, in terms of what they are, why they are used, who uses them, where they are used, how they are used and when they are used. This section only provides an overview of qualitative green building rating tools. It does not extensively list environmental assessment tools, detail their use, nor compare any of the tools listed.