Analyzing Assessment Methods of Renewable Energy Technology on Green Building: Four-aspect criteria assessment method

Nowadays, energy saving and sustainable development are very popular in the construction industry. Because of this popularity, researchers and professionals have addressed various technologies of renewable energy for buildings. At the same time, various assessment methods have been proposed to evaluate those new technologies for green building. For example, Hong Kong, Building Environmental Assessment Method (HK-BEAM), Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) and Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) are example of assessment methods for green building. Investigating characteristics of renewable energy technologies and assessment methods for green building would enable researchers and professionals to choose appropriate technologies and methods for their purposes and projects. This paper investigates strength and limitation in assessment methods of renewable energy system. Searching previous studies of assessment methods, this study analyzes each method and then compares one another. In addition, the criteria for the energy system sustainability assessment include four aspects: resource aspect, environmental aspect, economic aspect and social aspect. Four assessment methods of energy sustainability on buildings are selected: Life-Cycle Energy Analysis (LCEA), Sustainability Target Method (STM), Per Capita Building Energy Consumption Occupied Space (PCEOS), and Sustainability Indicators. At the same time, this paper proposes the four-aspect criteria assessment method.