Establishing Benchmarks for Qualitative and Quantitative Assessment of sustainability criteria’s for performance assessment of group housing projects: in India

Abstract

Abstract The construction industry needs a systematic, apparent sustainability assessment methodology that provides methodical, unambiguous direction on the way to sustainable development. The current sustainability rating systems' shortcomings include the exclusion of post-occupancy assessments, the absence of life-cycle assessments, and the imposition of certification additional costs. Focusing on constructions in India, the goal of the current study is to set benchmarks to investigate the influence of each criterion on sustainability across the building life cycle phases for qualitative and quantitative assessment, and min-max scores for significant sustainability criteria's. Benchmarking standards include the criteria’s importance and appraisal to assess the best and worst sustainable performance of high rise group housing projects (proposed and existing) within building life cycle stages. The sustainability criteria’s and associated score system are established after an exhaustive assessment of the existing literature review and existing Green Building Rating Systems specific to high-rise group housing projects. Subsequently, the methodology includes the Life cycle thinking approach for sustainability assessment in group housing projects, and establishing scoring system, ensuring viability for practitioners and non-practitioners. The findings demonstrate the importance of taking into account existing byelaws, standards, and guidelines and the inclusion of stakeholder participation (users) in sustainability assessment frameworks in India.