ABSTRACT
Achievement of sustainability in the built environment means the planning and execution of a construction project in a manner as to produce a facility or infrastructure that fits in its social, economic, and natural. All parties involved in built environment industries, including architects, engineers, building officials, owners, contractors, and suppliers are now more inclined to work together to achieve an optimal triple bottom line for their projects. Evaluation of the sustainability of a project is a difficult task. Economic and environmental attainments are usually quantifiable, but social attainments are difficult to directly link to a built environment project and often cannot be quantified. The residential built environment industry also has several means of measuring sustainable building practices. The Home Energy Rating System (HERS) was developed by the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) in 2006. A RESNET inspector tests and evaluates new and existing homes for energy efficiency.
