Human Settlements Review - Parliamentary Monitoring Group

Human Settlements Review, Volume 1, Number 1, 2010
A close inspection of these principle issues
reveals that the building construction industry
can be targeted to significantly reduce
environmental loading on planet earth. In
addition, the technology adopted can be used
to address social and economic needs of the
target community.
4.4 Methodologies for promoting
sustainable construction
been put forward to promote sustainability
in the built environment. These can broadly
be classified as educational, management
systems, green design and buildings,
green procurement, green technologies in
production and construction methods, and
waste management (Table 2). The use of
technology emerges consistently as one of the
vehicles to enhance sustainability in the built
environment.
There are several methodologies that have
Table 2: Methodologies for promoting sustainable construction (Source: Shen et al., 2008: 56, Table1)
Methods
Education
Environmental management
systems (EMSs)
Green building
Description
It calls for curriculum and training programmes in the construction
industry to include more knowledge and materials on sustainable
construction practices such as cost saving methods from a reduction
of construction waste. Funding needs to be provided for training
and education for those who cannot afford the costs themselves,
and setting up incentive and reward schemes (Ekanayake and
Ofori, 2000: 5)
Various EMSs have been introduced to address the impacts of
construction activities on the environment; generally they tend
to promote measures such as establishing waste management
plans, reducing and recycling construction and demolition wastes,
providing in-house training on environmental management, and
legal measures on environmental protection Bowen and Hill, 1997:
235-236)
Kibert (2007) defines green buildings as health facilities designed
and built in a resource-efficient manner, using ecologically based
principles. Such buildings are meant to consume significantly
less energy and materials, provide healthy living and working
environments, and greatly improve the quality of the built
environment. Several methods such as CASBEE in Japan, LEEDR
in the USA, NABERS in Australia, BREEAM in the United Kingdom,
and SBAT in South Africa have been developed to help assess the
‘greenness’ of buildings (Ding 2008: 453; Kibert, 2007: 598; Cole,
2005: 949-957; Gibberd, 2005)
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