The Inclusion of Natural Elements in Building Design: the Role of Green Rating Systems

Abstract

The awareness of the heavy impact that the building sector exerts on the natural environment is now widely shared, leading to a wide spread of tools (rules, regulations, voluntary rating) to control and guide towards building environmental sustainability. In this shared vision, the natural environment is perceived essentially as an asset to protect. But nature is not just something to be protected, it is also a key factor to improve the quality of our built environment and our well-being. Numerous studies analyze the positive impact of the introduction of natural elements in building design (i.e. green walls, indoor green, aquatic elements, etc.), including: reduced energy consumption, improved IAQ, benefits on users' attention capacity in office settings, stress-reducing effects in healthcare environments. However, despite this evidence, the use of natural elements in common building practice is still not quite widespread. There is therefore a need to promote awareness and use of the potential of the natural elements in design. This paper aims to assess and promote the enhancement of the natural elements in the voluntary green rating systems, as active tools in promoting environmental sustainability to all the actors of the building process. To this end, the study was developed through the following steps: 1. in the literature, identification of the elements of nature-based design with more evidence on environmental performance; 2. in green rating systems, identification of the weight given to the natural elements, evaluation of their current level of enhancement within the systems and identification of possible areas of development.

Optimal Design and Modeling of Sustainable Buildings Based on Multivariate Fuzzy Logic

“…It aimed at alleviating the external surface temperature and enhancing the energy proficiency of buildings to realize environment sustainability by validation over the experimental data. The green rating systems are studied by Oberti and Plantamura [7] to account for the development of naturally feasible environment. The most effective indoor and outdoor elements are considered in the proposed mechanism in an effort to design energy conserving sustainable sites with the occupants' well-being as the primary concern.…”

“…The most effective indoor and outdoor elements are considered in the proposed mechanism in an effort to design energy conserving sustainable sites with the occupants' well-being as the primary concern. However, compared with our approach, this work [7] did not consider the recyclability and efficient water consumption techniques for enhanced sustainable performance of green building design. Patnaik et al [8] assessed the significance of indoor environment quality factor in the design of green buildings.…”

Evaluation of Green Economic Development Abilities of Hubei Province in 2008-2018

“…Lilia Matraeva revealed the significant improvement space for the sustainability of economic development through energy efficiency, and given the improvement direction of energy efficiency policies [13]. In addition, some scholars have explored the influencing factors of the GEDA comprehensively from the aspects of the construction sector, tourism, carbon dioxide emissions, and urban green spaces [14][15][16][17]. However, in view of different influencing factors, there have been few studies on the integration of these factors [18].…”

Green building project management: obstacles and solutions for sustainable development

“…Numerous attempts analyzes the positive effect of the introduction of natural elements in building design. However, the use of natural elements in common building practice is still not used commonly and there is a need to promote awareness and use of the potential of the natural elements in design (Oberti & Plantamura, 2017). Hwang and Tan (2012) identified common barriers met during management of green construction projects in Singapore's construction industry, and proposed some solutions to overcome the obstacles.…”