Resource information
An underlying premise of the voluntary assessments and certifications offered by existing major building performance assessment systems is that if the market is provided with improved information and mechanisms, a discerning client group can and will provide leadership in environmental responsibility, and that others will follow suit to remain competitive. Building environmental ratings have provided building owners with a credible and objective means to communicate to prospective tenants the environmental qualities of the building they are leasing and, by emphasizing more demanding performance goals and the benefits over typical practice, have begun to reframe expectations. Over the past twenty plus years, building environmental assessment has matured into a legitimate area of research and study. Assessment tools in use worldwide generally fall into two general categories:
1) Those developed by an organization within a country that maintains and manages it and provides the associated educational support and operational infrastructure. All the major recognized systems – BREEAM, LEED, CASBEE, Green Star in Australia, etc., – fall into this category.
2) Those developed by academics either for research purposes or in hopes that they could become a certification system but to date have yet to gain widespread adoption in their respective countries.
