Context

Recent developments in building construction have led to the concept of ‘sustainable building’. It includes a way of designing, manufacturing, erecting, using, and eventually disposing of buildings which makes the most effective and frugal possible use of resources, thereby precluding the endangering of the bases of human existence and ensuring the subsistence of future generations. Novel methods of evaluation of the sustainability of buildings and, particularly, building constructions are powerful tools for optimising the environmental footprint of buildings, their economic viability and their social compatibility.