Rating the Sustainability of Urban Development

Comparing LEED for Neighborhood Development and CASBEE

Machizukuri – Lessons for China

Daniel Benjamin Abramson, PhDUniversity of Washington

abramson@u.washington.edu

Takahiro Tanaka, PhDKobe University

tanaka@kobe-u.ac.jp

Why use rating systems for sustainable development?

To know what an “ecological” building or city isfor developers and building industry: to gain

credit for investing in sustainable building practices and materialsfor government or civic activists: to regulate or

encourage sustainable practices for consumers: to allow comparison of different

products (buildings)

Why compare different rating systems?

to determine “the best” system (technical)to know what an “ecological city” is…in a

particular place (phenomenological)to understand the relationship between

rating systems and their context• Climate, geography, plant and animal life, etc.• Economy, institutions, culture, politics

LEED and CASBEE ProponentsLEED: U.S. Green Building

Council (USGBC)

• Industry• Non-profit NGOs• Government agencies• Individual consumers and

activists

Certification: by USGBC

CASBEE: Japan Sustainable Building Consortium (JSBC)

• Government – Ministry of Land,

Infrastructure and Transport

• Industry • Academia

Certification: by Institute for Built Environment & Energy Conservation (IBEC)

Two Rating Systems• U.S.: Leadership in Energy and Environmental

Design (LEED)– points system based on a checklist of good practice– award levels: Certified, Silver, Gold, Platinum– Started 1998

• Japan: Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental Efficiency (CASBEE)– ratio based on calculating both environmental quality

(Q) and load (L)– Started 2001

1. Eco-Efficiency =

2. Revised definition =

3. BEE in CASBEE =

Values of products or services

Environmental load unit

Beneficial output

Input + non-beneficial output

Building environmental Quality and performance

Building environmental Loadings

CASBEE: From Eco-Efficiency To BEE (Building Environmental Efficiency)

Source: Iwamura, Kazuo, “The Movement towards Sustainable Buildings in Japan,”2005 WGBC Congress in San Francisco, June 1, 2005. http://www.architectes.org/telechargement/DD/Presentation_CASBEEanglais.ppt

The ‘Hypothetical Boundary’

(Neighboring building)(Neighboring building)

Hypothetical Enclosed Space Site Boundary

Assessment category “L”as negative impact

outside the boundary

Assessment category “Q”as positive impact

inside the boundary

Emission of Air-pollutants,Noise, Heatetc.

ResourceConsumption,Embodied CO2

Emission, etc.

Soil, Water-pollutants etc.

Source: Iwamura, Kazuo, “The Movement towards Sustainable Buildings in Japan,” 2005 WGBC Congress in San Francisco, June 1, 2005. http://www.architectes.org/telechargement/DD/Presentation CASBEEanglais.ppt

Basic Idea of CASBEE (cont’d)

Assessment result is finally indicatedin terms of

BEE = Q / L

BEE: Building Environmental EfficiencyQ : Building Environmental Quality & Performance

L : Building Environmental Loadings

Source: Iwamura, Kazuo, “The Movement towards Sustainable Buildings in Japan,”2005 WGBC Congress in San Francisco, June 1, 2005. http://www.architectes.org/telechargement/DD/Presentation_CASBEEanglais.ppt

““BEE Graphical DisplayBEE Graphical Display””

Q = 25 × (SQ - 1), L = 25 × (5 - SLR)SQ: Total score of Q categories, SLR: Total score of L categories

50

100

0 50 100

CC

B+B+AASS

BEE=1.5BEE=3.0

BEE=0.5

L

QBB--

BEE=1.0

(Very sustainable)(Very sustainable)

(Unsustainable)

30

60 BEE=2.0 BB--

アクロス福岡日本設計・竹中工務店（1995）

三井倉庫箱崎ビル竹中工務店（1989）

LEED/CASBEE for Neighborhood Development/Machizukuri

• Both programs still in pilot stage• LEED-ND has registered 238 projects,

including 5 in China

LEED-ND/CASBEE-UD higher-level criteria

LEED-ND

• Smart Location & Linkage• Neighborhood Pattern & Design• Green Construction & Technology• Innovation & Process

CASBEE-UDQ (Quality)• Natural Environment (Microclimate

and Ecosystem)• Neighborhood’s Service Quality• Contribution to Local Society

(History, Culture, Landscape and Regional Vitalizing)

L (Load)• Impacts to Microclimate and/or

Outside• Public Infrastructure • Local Environmental Management

CASBEE Machizukuri

project in Harumi, Tokyo

CASBEE Machizukuri

project in Hibiya, Tokyo

LEED-ND in South Lake Union, SeattleHow does SLU perform…even beforeplanned redevelopment?

Possible Points106

Earns LEED Gold based on existing conditions72

Innovation & Process6

Green Construction & Technology31

Neighborhood Pattern & Design 39

Smart Location & Linkage30

Public government-built park

Semi-public community-builtvegetable garden

Private developer-built LEED Silver building

LEED-ND in Beijing? Linked Hybrid

Is a sustainable city the same as a sustainable building?

• How should a rating system change as it rates larger-scale projects?

• Considerations of greater complexity and internal variation:• ecosystems• population composition and activity• ownership and control• time horizon(s)• political and economic interests

LEED and CASBEE

• Objectives and weighting less transparent

• Calculation more complex• Requires more expertise to

administer and modify• Calculation of benefits favor large

projects• Caters to developer-built projects• “Doesn’t go far enough”

• Weighting not transparent• Ignores local conditions• Adoption for government

regulation possible, but not yet implemented

• Assumes developer-built project, mainly on undeveloped site

• “Doesn’t go far enough”

Disadvantages

• Accounts for local conditions• Environmental costs as well as

benefits made clear• Adoption for government

regulation implemented

• Checklist = marketing tool• Calculation simpler• Objectives more transparent• Responds to multiple

stakeholder input

AdvantagesCASBEELEED