Review of appropriateness of international environmental assessment tools for a developing country

Abstract

The World Green Building Council (WGBC) has 10 existing members including the United Kingdom, Taiwan, Australia and America. These members have adopted building rating systems, such as Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental Efficiency (CASBEE), Green Star and The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, respective in order to stimulate market demand for high-performance buildings. The Green Building Council for South Africa (GBCSA) was established by the South African Property Owners Association earlier this year (May 2007) and aims to promote environmentally sustainable practices within the South African commercial and industrial property market. As with the existing members, an appropriate rating system will be required by the GBCSA. The paper studies the implication of the use of any of the three aforementioned rating systems for South Africa's developing context and compares these systems against the South Africa's indigenous rating tool, Sustainable Building Assessment Tool (SBAT). The paper suggests that the SBAT is a more appropriate tool for use within a developing country and presents findings for the study