Environment assessment
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Environmental Assessment: Tools, Frameworks, and Practices
Quantitative Environmental Assessment Tools
In recent decades, there has been a significant rise in the interest and development of environmental assessment tools for the built environment. These tools can be both qualitative and quantitative, with a growing emphasis on the latter due to the increasing understanding of cities and built environments as systems that metabolize matter and energy. Five different quantitative tools have been described and compared to provide an overview of their current status and to serve as a basis for further research and development1.
Integrated Environmental Assessment Frameworks
A comprehensive framework for environmental assessment is essential to address the limitations of existing frameworks, which often fail to include all types of environmental assessments. A proposed framework integrates four general types of assessments: condition assessments, causal pathway assessments, predictive assessments, and outcome assessments. This framework aims to simplify terminology and facilitate communication between different types of assessments and environmental programs, ultimately improving the management of environmental issues2.
Assessing Residential Care Facilities
The physical environment of residential care facilities for older people significantly impacts their health and quality of life. The Sheffield Care Environment Assessment Matrix (SCEAM) has been adapted for use in Swedish residential care facilities, resulting in the Swedish version (S-SCEAM). This adaptation process involved translation, back-translation, and validation to ensure the tool's reliability and validity in the Swedish context. The S-SCEAM has shown high stability and agreement in test-retest and inter-rater reliability tests, making it a valuable tool for assessing the physical environment in these facilities3.
Novel Tools for Built Environment Assessment
A novel tool has been developed to assess the residential built environment at the tax parcel level, providing a systematic and comprehensive spatial approach. This tool evaluates various built environment variables and summarizes the data into meaningful indices that can be linked with health data. The tool's design is easily replicable and comprehensive, and it introduces the concept of primary and secondary adjacency communities to better describe the neighborhood context experienced by residents4.
Theoretical Reflections on Environmental Assessment
Environmental assessment is widely used globally, yet it often falls short of promoting sustainable development effectively. Research indicates that practical limitations in environmental assessment are linked to theoretical shortcomings, particularly regarding causation. By examining the theoretical implications of empirical analyses, researchers have highlighted the complexity and contextuality of causation in environmental assessment. This understanding necessitates a reflexive approach to accommodate various purposes, methods, and contexts in environmental assessment practices5.
Critical Review of Building Environmental Assessment Tools
The field of environmental assessment tools for buildings is vast and diverse, with tools designed for different types of buildings and phases of the life cycle. A critical review of these tools reveals the challenges in comparing them due to their varied focuses. The shift from green building to sustainable building introduces new requirements and challenges for these tools. It is essential to analyze the benefits of using these tools and how their results influence decision-making6.
Bayesian Networks in Environmental Risk Assessment
Bayesian networks (BNs) offer a valuable tool for environmental risk assessment (ERA) by synthesizing different types of knowledge and accounting for the probabilities of various scenarios. Despite their increasing popularity in environmental modeling, their use in formal ERA practice has not been extensively evaluated. A review of BNs in ERA highlights their application in recent years and suggests guidelines for improving model implementation and participatory modeling practices7.
Good Practices for Environmental Assessment
Environmental assessment (EA) has become a primary management tool for protecting the environment over the past five decades. However, there are concerns that EA is not meeting its objectives. A set of good practices has been developed to improve EA, based on a literature review and expert surveys. These practices address key unresolved issues in EA and provide recommendations for future research and development8.
Conclusion
Environmental assessment tools and frameworks are crucial for understanding and managing the impacts of human activities on the environment. From quantitative tools for the built environment to integrated frameworks and novel assessment methodologies, ongoing research and development aim to enhance the effectiveness and reliability of these tools. By addressing theoretical shortcomings and incorporating good practices, environmental assessments can better contribute to sustainable development and environmental protection.
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Most relevant research papers on this topic
Tools for environmental assessment of the built environment
This paper compares five quantitative tools for environmental assessment of the built environment, highlighting their current development status and potential for further research and development.
Highly CitedA Framework for Fully Integrating Environmental Assessment
This new framework for environmental assessment integrates four types of assessments, simplifying terminology and facilitating communication between assessments and environmental programs.
Assessing the physical environment of older people’s residential care facilities: development of the Swedish version of the Sheffield Care Environment Assessment Matrix (S-SCEAM)
The Swedish version of the Sheffield Care Environment Assessment Matrix (S-SCEAM) shows preliminary validity and reliability in assessing the physical environment of older people's residential care facilities in Sweden.
Observational Study
Very Rigorous JournalHighly CitedA novel tool for assessing and summarizing the built environment
The study presents a novel tool for assessing the built environment at the tax parcel-level, linking it to health data, and demonstrates its effectiveness in evaluating residential neighborhoods.
Observational StudyThe role and functioning of environmental assessment: theoretical reflections upon an empirical investigation of causation.
Environmental assessment can contribute to sustainable development through diverse mechanisms, requiring reflexive accommodation of purposes, methods, and context to effectively achieve its goal.
Highly CitedA critical review of building environmental assessment tools
This study categorizes and compares building environmental assessment tools, but future requirements and the shift from green to sustainable building require further analysis.
Literature ReviewHighly CitedBayesian Networks in Environmental Risk Assessment: A Review
Bayesian networks have been applied in environmental risk assessment, but there is room for improvement in model implementation and participatory modeling practices.
Systematic ReviewHighly CitedGood practices for environmental assessment
This paper presents 74 good practices under 22 themes to improve environmental assessment, identifying key unresolved issues and recommending future research.
Literature Review