Abstract:
Environmental performance rating schemes such as LEED allocate separate indicator scores
for various criteria (or aspects). The overall environmental performance score is obtained by
summing these separate scores. However, no mention is made regarding any dependencies
among aspect indicators. In this study, possible influences, including their degree (‘strong’,
‘moderate’, and ‘none’) and direction (positive, negative) were identified among the seven
aspects covering the sustainability of the building site (i.e. Site domain) in an environmental
performance assessment scheme for buildings. These judgements were corroborated by the
correlation coefficients corresponding to scores for those aspects achieved by 10 buildings.
First and higher order influences were accounted for through a matrix-based scheme, which
revealed aspects that were influencing others or being influenced by them. The degree of
influencing other aspects was found to be inversely proportional to that of being influenced
by them. The aspect weights, obtained by querying experts, appeared to be independent of
their degree of influence. The negative dependencies in this Site domain gave rise to
constraints on combinations of aspect scores and the maximum environmental performance
score achievable. The score levels that would maximize this overall score were obtained
through an optimization exercise; this generated some possible planning strategies.
Citation:
Dias, W., Chandratilake, S., & Ofori, G. (2017). Dependencies among environmental performance indicators for buildings and their implications. Building and Environment, 123, 101–108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2017.06.045
