The Ecological Building Assessment Index for Hot Humid Region

Abstract

Since the energy crisis became the global issue, most buildings including designers have faced to the energy conservation and global warming concern. Many assessment indices were developed in countries such as BREEAM in United Kingdom, CASBEE in Japan, GREEN MARK in Singapore, Green Star in Australia, and LEED in The United States of America. It is found that each assessment index has designed to support its country, especially for government policy as criteria of environment, energy, culture, technology, and natural resource concerns. However, all assessment indices would perfectly fit only to specific region, climate, and policy. BREEAM, for instance, emphasis on environment loading such as CO₂ emission, water consumption, energy consumption, and less impact on transportation, while CASBEE concerns on energy management, materials, site pollution, and also less impact on transportation. Therefore, building in Japan will not get the good score by using BREEAM or others. BREEAM and LEED concern CO₂ emission because of UV problems. The recommended appropriate assessment index for hot-humid region should consist of government policy, environment, local climate, and available technology. Energy consumption would be a major concern for environmental impacts and reduce nonrenewable energy such as imported fossil fuel. Designers must beware of humidity factor along with cooling design. By using Ecological Building Assessment will lead designers to propose good buildings fit to the region character.