Methodology for the sustainability assessment of facades

Abstract

Nowadays, there are many tools and methodologies designed to measure the sustainability of buildings. Few of them, however, allow for an isolated assessment of the building systems themselves as components of the entire building. A methodology for assessing the sustainability of building systems, considered in relation to the whole building, will allow manufacturers to assess the sustainability of manufactured components in order to improve their performance. Additionally this will help designers to specify construction arrangements in the early stages of the design. This paper presents the systematisation of a comparative analysis of facade building systems and includes the development of a new methodology that can serve as a basis for carrying out quantitative and qualitative comparisons of the sustainability of industrialised building systems in facades. The methodology is associated with a tool that allows for measuring, assessing and rating the levels of sustainability of the industrialised facades employed in residential buildings. The evaluation is based on ensuring that sustainability criteria are met. It involves an approach to sustainable industrialisation of construction with regard to energy conservation and natural resources, the reuse of these resources and life-cycle management of the materials and components.