Ecosystem Services in Rating Systems : evaluating rating systems for sustainable design through case studies of ecosystem services in residential yards

In a world where climate change is a fact, there is an imminent need for a more sustainable development. Design that includes ecosystem services is an important part of creating more sustainable cities. However, in most development projects the short-term economic interest gets to determine how the...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Spjuth, Johanna
Formato: H2
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: SLU/Dept. of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management (from 130101) 2016
Materias:
_version_ 1855571573385199616
author Spjuth, Johanna
author_browse Spjuth, Johanna
author_facet Spjuth, Johanna
author_sort Spjuth, Johanna
collection Epsilon Archive for Student Projects
description In a world where climate change is a fact, there is an imminent need for a more sustainable development. Design that includes ecosystem services is an important part of creating more sustainable cities. However, in most development projects the short-term economic interest gets to determine how the development is executed. Therefore there is a need to put a numerical value on the green environment in order to ensure that ecosystem services are included in the planning. Rating systems intended to provide sustainable outdoor environments is one way to do this. However, there is a need to examine the rating systems in order to ensure that they provide a good measurement of ecosystem services. This thesis examines the rating of ecosystem services in three rating systems, through the research question; What differences are there in the way that CEEQUAL, Sustainable Sites Initiative and Biotope Area Factor (as used in Årstafältet, Stockholm) rate ecosystem services, and which of the three systems can be expected to lead to the most sustainable outdoor design? In the first part of the thesis five ecosystem services are chosen to be used in the research; (1) food production, (2) aesthetic value, (3) habitat for animals, (4) air filtering in vegetation, and (5) stormwater management. In the second part of the thesis the three rating systems CEEQUAL, SITES and BAF are examined to see where and how they rate the five ecosystem services. These parts of the rating systems are then applied on six case studies located in Malmö, Sweden. The results show that all three rating systems are able to detect the difference between projects that include ecosystem services and the projects that doesn’t. However, the rating systems have very different ways to do this. Biotope Area Factor will enhance the inclusion of vegetation and permeable materials and is easy to use. However, BAF has no method for reinforcing the requirements. CEEQUAL is focused on the construction and the material of a site. While CEEQUAL provides a good measurement of sustainability, it is not focused specifically on creating ecosystem services. SITES has its main focus on creating ecosystem services, and is focused on landscape architecture projects. While it is a new system that has not undergone enough research, it shows great potential to be used to ensure the sustainability of an outdoor design.
format H2
id RepoSLU9739
institution Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
language Inglés
publishDate 2016
publishDateSort 2016
publisher SLU/Dept. of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management (from 130101)
publisherStr SLU/Dept. of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management (from 130101)
record_format eprints
spelling RepoSLU97392016-10-22T12:06:33Z Ecosystem Services in Rating Systems : evaluating rating systems for sustainable design through case studies of ecosystem services in residential yards Ecosystemtjänster i bedömningssystem : utvärdering av bedömningssystem för hållbar design genom fallstudier av ekosystemtjänster i bostadsgårdar. Spjuth, Johanna certification biotope area factor green area factor grönytefakorn sustainablesSites initiative CEEQUAL ecosystem services sustainable development landscape architecture residential yards Western Harbour Västra Hamnen In a world where climate change is a fact, there is an imminent need for a more sustainable development. Design that includes ecosystem services is an important part of creating more sustainable cities. However, in most development projects the short-term economic interest gets to determine how the development is executed. Therefore there is a need to put a numerical value on the green environment in order to ensure that ecosystem services are included in the planning. Rating systems intended to provide sustainable outdoor environments is one way to do this. However, there is a need to examine the rating systems in order to ensure that they provide a good measurement of ecosystem services. This thesis examines the rating of ecosystem services in three rating systems, through the research question; What differences are there in the way that CEEQUAL, Sustainable Sites Initiative and Biotope Area Factor (as used in Årstafältet, Stockholm) rate ecosystem services, and which of the three systems can be expected to lead to the most sustainable outdoor design? In the first part of the thesis five ecosystem services are chosen to be used in the research; (1) food production, (2) aesthetic value, (3) habitat for animals, (4) air filtering in vegetation, and (5) stormwater management. In the second part of the thesis the three rating systems CEEQUAL, SITES and BAF are examined to see where and how they rate the five ecosystem services. These parts of the rating systems are then applied on six case studies located in Malmö, Sweden. The results show that all three rating systems are able to detect the difference between projects that include ecosystem services and the projects that doesn’t. However, the rating systems have very different ways to do this. Biotope Area Factor will enhance the inclusion of vegetation and permeable materials and is easy to use. However, BAF has no method for reinforcing the requirements. CEEQUAL is focused on the construction and the material of a site. While CEEQUAL provides a good measurement of sustainability, it is not focused specifically on creating ecosystem services. SITES has its main focus on creating ecosystem services, and is focused on landscape architecture projects. While it is a new system that has not undergone enough research, it shows great potential to be used to ensure the sustainability of an outdoor design. SLU/Dept. of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management (from 130101) 2016 H2 eng https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/9739/
spellingShingle certification
biotope area factor
green area factor
grönytefakorn
sustainablesSites initiative
CEEQUAL
ecosystem services
sustainable development
landscape architecture
residential yards
Western Harbour
Västra Hamnen
Spjuth, Johanna
Ecosystem Services in Rating Systems : evaluating rating systems for sustainable design through case studies of ecosystem services in residential yards
title Ecosystem Services in Rating Systems : evaluating rating systems for sustainable design through case studies of ecosystem services in residential yards
title_full Ecosystem Services in Rating Systems : evaluating rating systems for sustainable design through case studies of ecosystem services in residential yards
title_fullStr Ecosystem Services in Rating Systems : evaluating rating systems for sustainable design through case studies of ecosystem services in residential yards
title_full_unstemmed Ecosystem Services in Rating Systems : evaluating rating systems for sustainable design through case studies of ecosystem services in residential yards
title_short Ecosystem Services in Rating Systems : evaluating rating systems for sustainable design through case studies of ecosystem services in residential yards
title_sort ecosystem services in rating systems : evaluating rating systems for sustainable design through case studies of ecosystem services in residential yards
topic certification
biotope area factor
green area factor
grönytefakorn
sustainablesSites initiative
CEEQUAL
ecosystem services
sustainable development
landscape architecture
residential yards
Western Harbour
Västra Hamnen