UNIT 1: PHASE 1 - CONTEXTUALIZATION OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

ASSESSMENT (DISCUSSION FORUM).

PRESENTED BY

JHON ANDERSON TALAGA

CODE: 1062294313

GROUP:
358032_23

PAUL ALBERTO QUINTERO

TUTOR

UNIVERSITY OPEN AND DISTANCIA UNAD

SCHOOLS OF AGRICULTURAL AND PECUAR SCIENCES
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
2019
 Analytical summary: Sustainable construction: the role of environmental assessment tools
Grace K.C. Doorbell

Construction has been an environmental problem from excessive resource consumption to

environmental pollution, and research on the design of green buildings and the use of
construction materials to minimize environmental impact. The objective of the sustainability
assessment goes beyond the design stage of a project to consider its importance.

To date there is interest in carrying out a sustainable construction, improving the processes of this
activity, in the application of environmental tools or methods, from the most common to the most
complex in order to achieve environmental sustainability in the construction of a building .

The problem is in the evaluation of the project since in most cases the financial issue is reviewed
and little is deepened in its environment and comfort, such as clean air, comfort and health, but
the objective is to use a method of Environmental performance of the building including in the
Evaluation all the requirements of the different parties involved in the development, methods
such as the sustainability of multifaceted buildings that consists of evaluating projects in the
feasibility stage to include environmental issues in the decision-making process.

2. An overview of the environmental assessment of the building.

methods
What is sought is to evaluate the success of any development, with respect to the balance of
energy, environment and ecology, taking into account the social, in order to provide a
comprehensive evaluation of the building's performance against a broad spectrum of
environmental criteria , we have methods like:
The method (BREEAM) first to understand intensive construction performance evaluation
method, the first environmental construction evaluation, the purpose of this system is to establish
a list of environmental criteria against which the construction performance is reviewed and the
mances evaluated . This evaluation can be carried out as soon as in the initial stages of a project.

The difference of these methods with the common evaluation system is in the qualification, since
it is commonly qualified with quantitative indicators, while for the mentioned method they are
stars that define the level of performance, the increase of environmental problems, becomes
situations They are necessary to assess the performance of the building.

The importance of the concept of sustainability in the context of building design and construction
is to generate a complete evaluation using a common and verifiable set of criteria and objectives
for building owners and designers in order to achieve the highest environmental standards.

3. Criticism of the environmental evaluation of the building.

The interaction between the construction of the building and the environment still has limitations,
which do not allow an effective environmental evaluation to be carried out in the building design
and construction process. That is, assessing the construction from the design is not enough, it is
necessary to reconfigure the evaluation system from its design to its construction, thinking about
the maintenance and creation of a more sustainable building, taking into account a process
Optimal project selection from feasibility.
This allows to minimize the harmful effects on the environment and avoid economic losses, as
well as maximize the return of resources, avoiding that the project does not have high costs in its
construction and in turn, the consumption of resources such as energy and water among others be
minimal. And finally, for projects to be attractive and viable, financial and environmental aspects
must be worked on, and they must go hand in hand in the evaluation.

Other issues presented by the evaluations are the following:

• That local or regional variations are not taken into account, most of the evaluations have a
national and non-local approach, variations such as climate, culture, social, economy,
among others.
• Evaluation of quantitative and qualitative data, in most cases, quantitative criteria must be
taken into account, including annual energy use, water consumption, greenhouse gas
emissions, etc. And in the qualitative criteria include the impact on the ecological value of
the site, impact on local wind patterns, etc.
• Weighting, inherent in the systems, is the heart of all evaluation schemes, there is
currently no consensus based approach or a satisfactory method to guide the allocation of
weight ings. There is no agreed theoretical and non-subjective basis for deriving
weighting factors There is not enough consideration of a weighting system linked to the
existing environment building evaluation methods.
• Measuring scales there is no clear logic or common basis for the way in which the
maximum number of points is awarded to each evaluation criterion, in most construction
the environmental evaluation methods grant their own points to environmental criteria.

4. Unidimensional or multidimensional evaluation approaches

For this approach the cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is the leading tool, the decision is based on
finding the alternative with the highest net monetary value, since financial performance is the
only concern in the development of the project.

Other unique criteria evaluation techniques focus on energy efficiency such as energy
qualification, that is, energy analysis. Using techniques such as NATHERS and the ASHRAE
90.1 standard.

A multidimensional approach is the triple concept of the bottom line, underlying the
multidimensional development evaluation process, that is, it must be a project that must generate
prosperity, environmental quality and social justice.

Apart from this three-dimensional concept of sustainability, they describe four principles: equity,
future, environment and public participation, which underpins sustainable development, known
as PICABUE, which is a methodological framework designed to develop sustainability
indicators. And it proposes that the principles of PICABUE should be addressed when
environmentally evaluating buildings or cities.
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