Discussion and Conclusion: Effectiveness, Characteristics and Future Prospects of the Methodology

Following the control system for promoting sustainable home design, we have designed a home and built it. The quantitative evaluations and reactions of the occupants and visitors on the home indicate that if system users closely follow the methodology, they can comprehensively achieve sustainable homes, which have high environmental performance. Meanwhile, the results of the study have suggested that this methodology has several characteristics, besides comprehensiveness. First, the diagram of the control system itself is useful because it concisely explains the whole picture of the sustainable design processes on both new and existing homes. Second, the "sustainable design guidelines" and "sustainability checklist" are user-friendly since the material and spatial elements are equivalent to real parts of homes. Moreover, the "element - variable - desired value" structure in the guidelines and checklist is superior in "adaptability to regional differences" and "flexibility toward changes over time." We expect that this methodology is widely used, in coordination with the existing methods for sustainable housing. Furthermore, it can be theoretically applied to other categories of human activities, which are regarded as the complex of material and spatial elements.