New eco-city projects :incorporating sustainability requirements during pre-project planning -

Abstract

Several international tools and standards (e.g. LEED, BREEAM) exist for evaluating the level of sustainability of buildings or neighborhoods. Nonetheless, they are still not available in the context of a larger-scale sustainable urban land development or new ecological city (eco-city). While such sustainability appraisal tools are important, of special interest for practitioners is how to ensure that their sustainability requirements are well integrated in a proposed new eco-city master plan. New eco-city development is the focus of this study. The research objective is to assist the design manager in directing the development of a sustainability agenda throughout pre-project planning stages, and ensuring the integration of sustainability requirements in the new eco-city master plan. The research study is divided into three Tracks. In Track I, an initial literature review on eco-cities and the sustainable urban built environment resulted in the development of a list of eco-city sustainability technical criteria grouped under five main themes (Land Use and Urban Form, Mobility and Transport Infrastructure, Energy Demand and Energy-Supply Infrastructure, Water, Wastewater and Waste, and Technology). This basic list is supposed to be part of a survey questionnaire used by the design manager during a value management workshop to weigh the project-specific criteria for a new eco-city. In Track II, another literature review on early management practices for sustainable construction projects (pre-project planning process, role of design manager, stakeholders’ involvement, use of decision-support tools, and value management) paved the way for the development of a proposed pre-project planning process for new eco-city projects. It consists of stages and activities promoting the incorporation of sustainability throughout the Concept Phase of pre-project planning. Such activities include the development of a tailored sustainability rating tool as a performance guide that assists the decision-maker in rating and com