Sliding scale: A case study in metric selection

Abstract

A sustainable built environment will require significant innovations to the conventional mode of building design and delivery. Metrics-based rating systems by their nature steer a project development because of their narrowly bounded definition of "success”. However, the reductive nature of any single measurement or system constrains innovation, particularly the high-level re-thinking that will ultimately be required for the conceptual and technological leaps to achieve "true” or functional sustainability. This paper presents a case study of the challenges inherent in selecting and implementing an appropriate rating system for the design and delivery of an office park currently under construction near Amsterdam. It specifically looks at BREEAM, LEED-NC and GreenCalc+. This paper offers a brief discussion of what these three systems measure, and how each proved insufficient at capturing the innovation and high ambition of this project. It offers further discussion of why the team chose to define a unique set of metrics to benchmark the project over the course of its design and delivery. This paper attempts to succinctly problematize what is, in fact, a measurement challenge facing any piece of the built environment viewed over its lifetime of changes and adaptations.