BEES 2.0 Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability. Technical Manual and User Guide.
BEES 2.0 Building for Environmental and Economic
Sustainability. Technical Manual and User Guide.
(2414 K)
Lippiatt, B. C.
NISTIR 6520; 150 p. June 2000.
Sponsor:
Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington,
DC
Available from:
For more information about BEES visit the BEES Web Page:
http://www.bfrl.nist.gov/oae/software/bees.html
Keywords:
building products; economic performance; environmental
performance; green buildings; life cycle assessment;
life cycle costing; multiattribute decision analysis;
sustainable development
Abstract:
The BEES (Building for Environmental and Economic
Sustainability) version 2.0 software implements a
rational, systematic technique for selecting
environmentally and economically balanced building
products. The technique is based on consensus standards
and designed to be practical, flexible, and transparent.
The windows-based decision support software, aimed at
designers, builders, and prodcut manufacturers, includes
actual environmental and economic performance data for
65 building products across a range of functional
applications. BEES measures the environmental
performance of building products using the environmental
life-cycle assessment approach specified in the latest
versions of ISO 14000 standards. All stages in the life
of a product are analyzed: raw material acquistion,
manufacture, transportation, installation, use, and
waste management. Economic performance is measured using
the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)
standard life-cycle cost method (E 917), which covers
the costs of initial investment, replacement, operation,
maintenance and repair, and disposal. Environmental and
economic performance are combined into an overall
performance measure using the ASTM standard for
Multiattribute Decision Analysis (E 1765). For the
entire BEES analysis, building products are defined and
classified based on the ASTM standard classification for
building elements known as UNIFORMAT II (E 1557).
