Sustainability assessment of new building designs: A review for a region and occupancy-specific accessible tool

The building sector is experiencing a great expansion globally due to urbanization and population growth, resulting in positive and adverse influences significantly affecting society, the economy, and the environment, leading governments globally to promote sustainable buildings. The design stage of any building is considered a critical stage to ensure its sustainability throughout its lifecycle. Therefore, this paper aims to identify through the literature review an accessible sustainability assessment tool for designers that is comprehensive balancing between the three sustainability dimensions (economic, environmental, and social) and that is adaptable for different occupancy building types in different regions. The paper reviews 72 international publications in engineering, sustainability science, built environment, and management indexed in the Web of Science and Scopus. Their selection was based on their relevance to the topic of study, which is sustainable building assessment, considering the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainability. The findings showed that Sustainability Building Assessment Tools (SBATs) were widely recognized as accessible, comprehensive, and adaptable tools for enhancing the sustainability performance of buildings. An SBAT will require a conceptual framework to be developed specific for the region and occupancy type of the building, followed by the use of an analytical tool such as Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) methods to assess the sustainability of the building objectively and consistently. The review shows a lack of empirical research on developing SBATs for different building occupancy types in many countries. It provides practitioners and researchers with a useful reference for customizing SBATs that suit different building types globally.