Linking the Development of Building Sustainability Assessment Tools with the Concept Evolution of Sustainable Buildings

Lihua Liang, Baohua Wen, Feng Xu, Jianwei Yan, Xiangqi Yan and S. Ramesh
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Lihua Liang: School of Architecture, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
Baohua Wen: College of Architecture, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
Feng Xu: College of Architecture, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
Jianwei Yan: School of Architecture, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
Xiangqi Yan: College of Architecture, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
S. Ramesh: Center of Advanced Manufacturing and Material Processing, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 22, 1-23

Abstract: With the rapid development of materials science and construction technology, the concept of sustainable building (SB) and the Building Sustainability Assessment Tool (BSAT) have also evolved and developed. Understanding the development of BSAT and SB is of great significance to the sustainable development of the construction industry. This research used the bibliometric method to analyze the development and evolution in the relevant literature on SB and BSAT from 1990 to 2021, and the correlations and differences between them were investigated. We found that there are many common trends in the development of research efforts in SB and BSAT: (1) they focused solely on the environment, in the early days, and only later considered economic and social impacts; (2) the scales with which they are concerned continue to expand, from individual buildings to communities and even cities; (3) key areas, such as energy, materials, resources, indoor environmental quality, high-tech applications, adaptability, and concern for people are being given more attention by both SB and BSAT. On the other hand, the difference between them is that SB research focuses on more macro aspects, such as policy, culture, climate change, while BSAT research is more concerned with micro aspects, such as its system of tools. Furthermore, some current research gaps in the BSAT field are identified, clarifying its future research directions. By linking the evolution of the SB concept and the development of the BSAT research field, this review provides a new and valuable perspective for the sustainable assessment of the construction industry, which, itself, is conducive to the sustainable transformation of this industry, which could contribute greatly to the mitigation of global climate change.

Keywords: sustainable building; building sustainability assessment tool; development; evolution; correlation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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