Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability (BEES).
Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability
(BEES).
(781 K)
Lippiatt, B. C.
CIB World Building Congress 1998: Construction and the
Environment. Proceedings. International Council for
Building Research Studies and Documentation. June 7-12,
1998, Gavle, Sweden, 779-788 pp, 1998.
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 making;
sustainable development
Abstract:
The BEES (Building for Environmental and Economic
Sustainability) software implements a rational,
systematic technique for balancing the environmental and
economic performance of 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 product manufacturers, includes
actual environmental and economic performance data for a
number of building products. BEES measures the
environmental performance of building products by using
the environmental life-cycle assessment approach
specified in the latest versions of ISO 14000 draft
standards. The approach is based on the belief that all
stages in the life of a product generate environmental
impacts and must therefore be analyzed. The stages
include raw material acquisition, manufacture,
transportation, installation, use, and recycling and
waste management. Economic performance is measured using
the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)
standard life-cycle cost method. The technique includes
the costs over a given study period 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. For the entire BEES analysis,
building products are defined and classified according
to the ASTM standard classification for building
elements known as UNIFORMAT II. The BEES methodology is
being refined and expanded over the next three years
under sponsorship of the U.S. Environment Protection
Agency's Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP)
Program. The EPP program is charged with carrying out
Executive Order 12873, "Federal Acquisition, Recycling,
and Waste Prevention," which directs Executive agencies
to reduce the environmental burdens associated with
products. BEES is being further developed as a tool to
assist the Federal procurement community in carrying out
the mandate of Executive Order 12873.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899