Sustainable buildings

Sustainable societies need to be economically, environmentally and socially sustainable. Buildings can play an important role in supporting sustainability within society. This is done through careful planning in which design decisions, material specifications and so on are carefully evaluated in terms of their long-term impact on the economic, social and environmental sustainability of a society and the environment.

The depletion of non-renewable resources and increasing environmental damage call for buildings to become more sustainable. CSIR, Built Environment’s architectural sciences competence area, which includes the sustainable buildings group, specialises in understanding what this means and how this can be supported through practical measures.

The sustainable buildings group looks at ways of achieving high-impact, appropriate improvements in the sustainability of buildings in cost effective ways. To do this, the group undertakes research into understanding the economic, social and environmental aspects of sustainability in buildings.

It aims, in particular, to understand how sustainability relates to developing countries and to the southern African context. Out of this research, priority areas for improvement are identified. Indicators are then developed to measure and quantify the main building performance elements. This enables different building design, construction, management and planning options to be tested and evaluated in terms of how successful they are in addressing these priorities. The learning from this process is then used to inform consultancy, training and the development of support systems, and disseminated through guides.

This website disseminates some of the research undertaken by the group, with a specific focus on the Sustainable Building Assessment Tool (SBAT©).