Development of triple bottom line indicators for life cycle sustainability assessment of residential bulidings

J Environ Manage. 2020 Jun 15:264:110476. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110476. Epub 2020 Apr 1.

Abstract

The growth of the building sector represents the progress of civilizations. There are environmental, social and economic implications, impeding the sustainability performance of buildings. A holistic life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) framework is inevitable to address the integrated sustainability performance of residential buildings. This paper aims to develop triple bottom line indicators to assess the sustainability performance of buildings, including sustainability objectives, impact categories and key performance indicators (KPIs) to implement in the life cycle sustainability assessment framework. The indicators have been developed through the consensus survey involving area experts from four key stakeholders' categories including, government and Engineers Australia, academia, practitioners, and structural engineers. A list of KPIs was compiled through a literature review, followed by an online census survey to collect feedback from the participants in terms of relevance and importance of initally selected KPIs. Secondly, a modified list of triple bottom line (TBL) KPIs and their weights was developed based on respondents' feedback. Finally, the threshold values were assigned to the selected KPIs and the LCSA framework was tested using a hypothetical case study. The LCSA framework using these scientifically valid KPIs would assist stakeholders to assess the sustainability performance of residential buildings and to identify the hotspots for proposing well-informed industry strategies in Western Australia.

Keywords: Buildings; Impact categories; Key performance indicators; Participatory approach; Sustainability; Western Australia.

MeSH terms

  • Australia
  • Consensus
  • Engineering*
  • Industry*
  • Western Australia