IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i3p1152-d485262.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How to Measure Sustainable Housing: A Proposal for an Indicator-Based Assessment Tool

Author

Listed:
  • Jakub Adamec

    (Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, 18200 Prague, Czech Republic)

  • Svatava Janoušková

    (Faculty of Science, Charles University, 18200 Prague, Czech Republic
    Environment Centre, Charles University, 18200 Prague, Czech Republic)

  • Tomáš Hák

    (Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, 18200 Prague, Czech Republic
    Environment Centre, Charles University, 18200 Prague, Czech Republic)

Abstract

Housing drives urban development and has a significant potential for contributing to sustainability. However, ample sustainability indicator sets fail to include relevant indicators of sustainable housing—assessment seems to be an underdeveloped topic. We chose the United Nations Geneva Charter on Sustainable Housing as a conceptual foundation for the proposed assessment tool. It addresses recent challenges by four defining principles and related rationales, thus forming a theoretical basis of sustainable housing. We applied both theoretical research (desk-top analysis) and qualitative research (an expert panel) to develop a comprehensive framework for sustainable housing and complemented it with relevant indicators. The proposed housing sustainability assessment tool (HSAT) explicitly advocates a holistic approach that seeks to balance the environmental, social, economic and institutional dimensions of sustainability; simultaneously, it includes an integrated concept of the building–community–locality. Hence, this article does not seek to redefine the sustainable housing definition or concept but to contribute to the development of a highly relevant indicator-based system for its assessment. This will ensure that correct and unambiguous messages are sent not only to policymakers but also investors, urban planners and finally also the citizens—the housing clients.

Suggested Citation

  • Jakub Adamec & Svatava Janoušková & Tomáš Hák, 2021. "How to Measure Sustainable Housing: A Proposal for an Indicator-Based Assessment Tool," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-14, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:3:p:1152-:d:485262
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/3/1152/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/3/1152/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Seyfang, Gill, 2010. "Community action for sustainable housing: Building a low-carbon future," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(12), pages 7624-7633, December.
    2. Carlotta Balestra & Joyce Sultan, 2013. "Home Sweet Home: The Determinants of Residential Satisfaction and its Relation with Well-being," OECD Statistics Working Papers 2013/5, OECD Publishing.
    3. Joachim H. Spangenberg, 2002. "Institutional sustainability indicators: an analysis of the institutions in Agenda 21 and a draft set of indicators for monitoring their effectivity," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 10(2), pages 103-115.
    4. Matthias Finkbeiner & Erwin M. Schau & Annekatrin Lehmann & Marzia Traverso, 2010. "Towards Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 2(10), pages 1-14, October.
    5. Lynn M. Fisher & Henry O. Pollakowski & Jeffrey Zabel, 2009. "Amenity‐Based Housing Affordability Indexes," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 37(4), pages 705-746, December.
    6. Nessa Winston & Montserrat Pareja Eastaway, 2008. "Sustainable Housing in the Urban Context: International Sustainable Development Indicator Sets and Housing," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 87(2), pages 211-221, June.
    7. Mulliner, Emma & Malys, Naglis & Maliene, Vida, 2016. "Comparative analysis of MCDM methods for the assessment of sustainable housing affordability," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 59(PB), pages 146-156.
    8. Valentina Castellani & Serenella Sala, 2013. "Sustainability Indicators Integrating Consumption Patterns in Strategic Environmental Assessment for Urban Planning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(8), pages 1-21, August.
    9. Yosef Jabareen, 2008. "A New Conceptual Framework for Sustainable Development," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 10(2), pages 179-192, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wei Jiang & Wentao Lu Qiu & Sheng-Hau Lin & Huiming Lv & Xiaofeng Zhao & Hao Cong, 2023. "A New Hybrid Decision-Making Model for Promoting Sustainable Social Rental Housing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-29, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ken’ichi Matsumoto & Yuki Yamamoto & Nao Ohya, 2018. "Effect of Subsidies and Tax Deductions on Promoting the Construction of Long-Life Quality Houses in Japan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-16, October.
    2. Miro Ristimäki & Seppo Junnila, 2015. "Sustainable Urban Development Calls for Responsibility through Life Cycle Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(9), pages 1-25, September.
    3. Ikenna Stephen Ezennia & Sebnem Onal Hoskara, 2019. "Exploring the Severity of Factors Influencing Sustainable Affordable Housing Choice: Evidence from Abuja, Nigeria," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-25, October.
    4. Ambreen Ghalib & Abdul Qadir & Sajid Rashid Ahmad, 2017. "Evaluation of Developmental Progress in Some Cities of Punjab, Pakistan, Using Urban Sustainability Indicators," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-17, August.
    5. Emanuele Bonamente & Franco Cotana, 2015. "Carbon and Energy Footprints of Prefabricated Industrial Buildings: A Systematic Life Cycle Assessment Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-17, November.
    6. Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas & Fausto Cavallaro & Valentinas Podvezko & Ieva Ubarte & Arturas Kaklauskas, 2017. "MCDM Assessment of a Healthy and Safe Built Environment According to Sustainable Development Principles: A Practical Neighborhood Approach in Vilnius," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-30, April.
    7. Makena Coffman & Karen Umemoto, 2010. "The triple-bottom-line: framing of trade-offs in sustainability planning practice," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 12(5), pages 597-610, October.
    8. Kristina Henzler & Stephanie D. Maier & Michael Jäger & Rafael Horn, 2020. "SDG-Based Sustainability Assessment Methodology for Innovations in the Field of Urban Surfaces," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-32, June.
    9. Matel Anna, 2020. "Tenure Status, Housing Conditions and Residential Satisfaction of Adolescents," Real Estate Management and Valuation, Sciendo, vol. 28(4), pages 24-32, December.
    10. Datu Buyung Agusdinata & Wenjuan Liu & Sinta Sulistyo & Philippe LeBillon & Je'anne Wegner, 2023. "Evaluating sustainability impacts of critical mineral extractions: Integration of life cycle sustainability assessment and SDGs frameworks," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(3), pages 746-759, June.
    11. Huilian Han & Hui Li, 2020. "Coupling Coordination Evaluation between Population and Land Urbanization in Ha-Chang Urban Agglomeration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-23, January.
    12. María Carmen Carnero, 2020. "Waste Segregation FMEA Model Integrating Intuitionistic Fuzzy Set and the PAPRIKA Method," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 8(8), pages 1-29, August.
    13. Sierra-Pérez, Jorge & Rodríguez-Soria, Beatriz & Boschmonart-Rives, Jesús & Gabarrell, Xavier, 2018. "Integrated life cycle assessment and thermodynamic simulation of a public building’s envelope renovation: Conventional vs. Passivhaus proposal," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 1510-1521.
    14. Mulliner, Emma & Smallbone, Kieran & Maliene, Vida, 2013. "An assessment of sustainable housing affordability using a multiple criteria decision making method," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 270-279.
    15. Yu, Rong & Li, Jianhong, 2024. "Does fintech influence sustainable development under natural resource constraints: insights from 270 Chinese cities," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    16. Liu, Wenling & Zhang, Jinyun & Bluemling, Bettina & Mol, Arthur P.J. & Wang, Can, 2015. "Public participation in energy saving retrofitting of residential buildings in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 287-296.
    17. David Gibbs & Kirstie O'Neill, 2014. "Rethinking Sociotechnical Transitions and Green Entrepreneurship: The Potential for Transformative Change in the Green Building Sector," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 46(5), pages 1088-1107, May.
    18. Tiia-Lotta Pekkanen, 2021. "Institutions and Agency in the Sustainability of Day-to-Day Consumption Practices: An Institutional Ethnographic Study," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(2), pages 241-260, January.
    19. Satish Kumar & Filomena Maggino & Raj V. Mahto & Riya Sureka & Leonardo Salvatore Alaimo & Weng Marc Lim, 2022. "Social Indicators Research: A Retrospective Using Bibliometric Analysis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 162(1), pages 413-448, July.
    20. Nicos A. Scordis & Yoshihiko Suzawa & Astrid Zwick & Lucia Ruckner, 2014. "Principles for Sustainable Insurance: Risk Management and Value," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 17(2), pages 265-276, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:3:p:1152-:d:485262. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.