The 2005 World Sustainable Building Conference,

04-036 Tokyo, 27-29 September 2005 (SB05Tokyo)

EXTENDED FRAMEWORK OF CASBEE; DESIGNING AN ASSESSMENT SYSTEM OF

BUILDINGS FOR ALL LIFECYCLE STAGES BASED ON THE CONCEPT OF ECO-EFFICIENCY
1
Junko ENDO
2
Shuzo MURAKAMI Dr. Eng.3
Toshiharu IKAGA Dr. Eng.
4
Kazuo IWAMURA Pref.
5
Yuzo SAKAMOTO Dr.Eng 6
Tomonari YASHIRO Dr.Eng7
Kazuaki BOGAKI Dr.Eng.

1
Environmental Engineering Group, Nikken Sekkei Ltd.,2-18-3 Iidabashi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 102-8117,
2
Japan, endouj@nikken.co.jp
Department of System Design Engineering, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama,
Kanagawa pref., 223-8522, Japan, murakami@sd.keio.ac.jp
3
Environmental Engineering Group, Nikken Sekkei Ltd.,2-18-3 Iidabashi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 102-8117,
4
Japan, ikaga@nikken.co.jp
Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Musashi Institute of Technology, 3-3-1 Ushikubo-Nishi,
5
Tsuzuki-ku, Kanagawa pref., 224-0015, Japan, iwamura@yc.musashi-tech.ac.jp
Department of Architecture, Graduate School of Engineering, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku,
Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan, sakamoto-y@arch.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp
6
Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 153-8505, Japan,
7
yashiro@iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Building Research Institute,1 Tachihara, Tsukuba city, Ibaraki pref., 305-0802, Japan,
bogaki@kenken.go.jp

Keywords: BEE, performance, evaluation, labeling, stock management, PFI, floor rate

Summary
This paper outlines the framework of basic and extended CASBEE tools as a structured assessment system
called the "CASBEE family." It defines the basic concept of each tool and examines their applications in
terms of building' life stages and their associated users.
CASBEE (Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental Efficiency) consists of a set of
four basic assessment tools, namely "CASBEE for Pre-design" (CASBEE-PD), "CASBEE for New
Construction" (CASBEE-NC), "CASBEE for Existing Building" (CASBEE-EB) and "CASBEE for Renovation"
(CASBEE-RN). They correspond to the individual stages of the building's lifecycle. As an extended tool,
"CASBEE for Temporary Construction" (CASBEE-TC) assesses temporary buildings to be constructed for
the short-term service. "CASBEE for New Construction (simplified)" was also developed to meet the growing
need for a simpler version of CASBEE-NC. Further, these tools can be modified to meet local conditions.
"CASBEE Nagoya" and "CASBEE Osaka" have been implemented as local modifications of CASBEE. There
are also needs for detailed assessment targeting specific environmental aspects. "CASBEE-H" assesses
efforts made in buildings to alleviate the heat island effect. Finally, this paper examines a new assessment
tool extended to the assessment of a group of buildings, called "CASBEE for District/Region (tentative)."

1. Introduction
Since CASBEE, Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental Efficiency, has launched in
2002, the movement towards sustainable construction continues and methods for evaluating the
environmental performance of buildings have attracted more interest around the world. Recently, demand for
these methods emerged for several practical purposes in Japan. For instance, under the Environmental
Protection Ordinance (enacted December 2000), Tokyo Metropolitan Government became the first local
authority that obliges all building owners intending to newly build or rebuild a building with floor area over
2
10,000m to submit a planning document assessing the environmental performance of the building, though
not by using CASBEE in that case, in 2002. The content of these submissions is published on the Internet to
disclose information on the environmental performance of buildings, to indicate the degree of effort for
environmental protection made by the building owners, designers and related parties. Since then, some local
governments have followed this style of policy promoting sustainable buildings. In April 2004, the city of
Nagoya introduced a building assessment system called CASBEE Nagoya, based on CASBEE. The city of
Osaka also adopted guidelines for Osaka Municipal Comprehensive Assessment System for Building
Environmental Efficiency (CASBEE Osaka) in May 2004, and introduced the system in October 2004.
Similar moves are under way in regional governments throughout Japan.

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This paper outlines the framework of basic and extended CASBEE tools as a structured assessment system
called the "CASBEE family." Developed with the support by Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and
Transport, the CASBEE family are developed and extended to meet those diversifying demands. Each tool
is described in outline, and its applications are examined in terms of building's lifecycle and their associated
users.

2. Basic Conditions for Developing CASBEE

2.1 Three Major Concepts for CASBEE
CASBEE is based on three major concepts, and its development and extension are consistent with these
basic concepts. Firstly, CASBEE is designed for assessment of buildings, which corresponds to their
lifecycle. Secondly, it is based on the concept that clearly distinguishes environmental load (L) and quality of
building performance (Q) as the major assessment targets. Thirdly, CASBEE applies the concept of eco-
efficiency as BEE (Building Environmental Efficiency). Given L and Q, BEE is defined as Q/L to indicate the
overall result of environmental assessment of buildings.

2.2 The basic approach to CASBEE Development

CASBEE has developed in accordance with the following principles:
1) The tool should be a positive assessment tool for designs with superior environmental consideration,
rather than simply a negative checklist, to motivate designers, clients and others to be more interested
in using it.
2) The assessment system should be kept as simple and comprehensible as possible. The scoring criteria
should make maximum use of existing, established assessment methods, and aim for conformity with
those methods, in order to save time and money in the assessment process.
3) It should be a general-purpose tool, able to evaluate buildings with wide-ranging types and sizes. These
types include offices, schools, retailers, restaurants, halls, factories, hospitals, hotels, and apartments.
To ensure widespread use, it should have a flexible structure able to reflect innovative initiatives taken
by users based on their organizational circumstances.
4) It should take into consideration issues and problems particular to Asia and Japan.

3. Applications of CASBEE
CASBEE is intended to serve applications for both public use and private use. It can be described according
to the three major uses of CASBEE.

3.1 Application to public policies

(1) Application to building administration
Local governments seem to be the most active in adopt CASBEE for their building administration.
The city of Nagoya has been running its system for building environmental assessment under the
Environmental Preservation Act to promote sustainable buildings in the municipal since April 2004. It
2
requires all building owners intending to newly build or rebuild a building with floor area over 2,000 m to
report the results of an assessment of the building by CASBEE Nagoya. The summary of each report will
officially be announced on Nagoya City’s website. In Nagoya, buildings subjected to the system account for
about 2% of all new buildings in number, and about 50% in terms of total floor space each year (Noda, 2004).
Further, it is possible to give incentives to buildings which earn high ratings with CASBEE. In May 2004,
Osaka adopted guidelines called CASBEE Osaka, and the system has been in effect since October 2004.
2
This applies to buildings over 5,000 m of total floor space that is included in floor are ratio, or buildings of
2
over 1,000 m of site area. These buildings will cover approximately 40% of total floor area of new
construction every year in Osaka city. The city of Osaka is the first municipality to make rating by CASBEE
Osaka a condition for permitting buildings to qualify for the administrative scheme called “sougou sekkei
seido,” in which the maximum floor-area ratio of the building can be increased. The rating should reach at
least the third of CASBEE’s five grades (B+ class) if the approval is given to the building being assessed
(Osaka City, 2004).
(2) Use in selection of design competition proposals, and of PFI project operators
We anticipate that CASBEE will be used for scoring design competition proposals, selecting PFI project
operators and checking environmental performance of buildings at the design stage. The CASBEE rating
can also be used between building clients and designer, or between owners and occupants, to determine
environmental targets. A CASBEE rating could be specified to designers as a design condition by private-
sector project clients, as well as by local authorities, and designers could use it to raise their scores in

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pursuit of the maximum level of environmental performance that can be achieved within a given budget. It is
also possible to extend the use of CASBEE to compliance to the public, such as information disclosure.
(3) Certification by a third party
The CASBEE rating is now subjected to third-party certification. A training program is also available to
become an accredited assessor for CASBEE. Public use of CASBEE demands a higher level of fairness and
confidence in the assessment results. Those systems are expected to become popular, although
assessment by CASBEE is primarily a voluntary activity.

3.2 Application for Businesses

(1) For designers to employ design for the environment (DfE)
CASBEE can serve as an assessment tool that designers can use to check the environmental performance
of buildings at the design stage by themselves, and provide their clients and others with objective information
on environmental considerations. It can also be used as an indicator for the indirect setting of targets that
clients, designers and others can use to evaluate their own environmental management activities under
ISO14001 and other management systems. The assessment results can be used for self-declaration of the
building performance.
(2) Environmental labeling that can be used in the asset valuation of buildings
Environmental labeling of buildings is also possible through certification by a third party, when buildings are
valued as assets. Organizations can improve their corporate image through such labeling activity for the
environment. Furthermore, CASBEE can be used as a tool to generate proposals for building operation
monitoring, commissioning and upgrade design with a view to ESCO (Energy Service Company) projects
and building stock refurbishment. CASBEE has the potential to be utilized in several stock management
situations.

3.3 Application for Education

For specialized education, such as university and college courses of architecture, CASBEE can be used as
a teaching resource. It is also useful as training material for professional CPD programs.

4 Framework of CASBEE: The CASBEE Family

4.1 Building Lifecycle and Basic Assessment Tools
CASBEE, the Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental Efficiency, consists of a set of
four basic assessment tools: "CASBEE for Pre-design"(CASBEE-PD), "CASBEE for New
Construction"(CASBEE-NC), "CASBEE for Existing Buildings"(CASBEE-EB) and "CASBEE for
Renovation"(CASBEE-RN), as shown in Table 2.

Table 2 CASBEE’s four basic assessment tools

Names Abbreviation Tool number Development schedule
CASBEE for Pre-design CASBEE-PD Tool-0 to be completed by July 2005
CASBEE for New Construction CASBEE-NC Tool-1 completed in July 2003
CASBEE for Existing Building CASBEE-EB Tool-2 completed in July 2004
CASBEE for Renovation CASBEE-RN Tool-3 completed in March 2005

They correspond to the individual stages of the building's lifecycle, i.e. pre-design stage, design stage and
post-design stage “CASBEE Family” is the collective name for these four tools and the extended tools for
specific purposes. Figure 1 presents the relationship between those tools and lifecycle of buildings.
(1) CASBEE for Pre-design (CASBEE-PD)
This tool aims to assist the owner, planner and others involved at the planning (pre-design) stage of the
project. It has two main roles:
1) To assist in grasping issues such as the basic environmental impact of the project and selecting a
suitable site.
2) To evaluate the environmental performance of the project at the Pre-design stage.
(2) CASBEE for New Construction (CASBEE-NC)
This is a self-assessment check system that allows architects and engineers to raise the BEE value of the
building under consideration during its design process. This tool, formerly named DfE (Design for
Environment) tool, makes assessments based on the design specification and the anticipated performance.
It can be used in design competitions, proposals and the selection of PFI operators. It can also serve as a
labeling tool when the building is subjected to expert third-party assessment.

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(3) CASBEE for Existing Building (CASBEE-EB)

This assessment tool targets existing building stock, based on operation records for at least one year after
completion. It was developed to be applicable to asset assessment as well. Labeling is also possible by
third-party agencies.
(4) CASBEE for Renovation (CASBEE-RN)
There is growing demand for building stock renovation, especially in Japanese market. In the same way as
“CASBEE for Existing Building,” this tool targets existing buildings. It can be used to generate proposals for
building operation monitoring, commissioning and upgrade design with a view to ESCO (Energy Service
Company) projects, which will be increasingly important in future, and for building stock renovation. This tool
is designed for ascertaining the degree of improvement (increased BEE), relative to the level that preceded
renovation. Labeling is also possible by third-party agencies.

Design process Pre-design Design Post-design

New Construction Renovation
Building lifecycle Planning Basic Design for Construc Operation Design
Construct Operation
design execution tion ion

Tool-0 Pre-design assessment

CASBEE for of building planning, site
selection etc.
Pre-Design Labeling

Tool-1 Assessment of new

construction (Assessment of
CASBEE for design specification and
New Construction anticipated performance) Labeling Labeling

Tool-2 Assessment of existing buildings Assessment of existing buildings

(Assess the actual specification (Assess the actual specification
CASBEE for and performance realized at the and performance realized at the
Existing Building time of assessment) time of assessment)

Tool-3 Assessment of renovation Labeling

(Assess improvement of
CASBEE for specification and
Renovation performance)
Figure 1 Building Lifecycle and the Four Assessment Tools

4.2 Outline of the Basic Assessment tools

Among the four basic CASBEE tools, further details of completed tools are presented in the following section.

4.2.1 CASBEE for New Construction

CASBEE-NC assesses buildings at the design stage for new construction. At the Preliminary Design,
Execution Design and Construction Completion phases, the environmental quality and performance of the
building and its load reduction performance are evaluated. As environmental performance and assessment
criteria change over time, the results of assessments under “CASBEE for New Construction” only remain
valid for three years after the completion of construction. After that limit, buildings are evaluated using
“CASBEE for Existing Building.” Replacement construction is also evaluated under “CASBEE for New
Construction.”The scoring criteria used for CASBEE are updated over time to reflect changing perceptions of
the environment and technological innovations. Therefore, the latest scoring criteria of CASBEE-NC
available at the time of assessment must be used to make assessments. The criteria are set with the aim of
achieving widespread use. The criteria use energy-saving standards (PAL/ CEC values) and the Housing
Performance Indication System, so that assessor can make use of existing data to facilitate assessment.
The tool evaluates according to information that becomes progressively more detailed in each phase, from
the Preliminary Design to Design for Execution and Construction Completion. Also, the tool configuration
provides specific information for reference concerning environmentally conscious design at each phase.
A number of buildings have assessed by CASBEE-NC, and several assessment results for research
purposes have been reported since CASBEE-NC was published. A study of current BEE labeling results
found the average of BEE values to be between 0.8 and 1.0 in the 34 samples (Ikaga, 2004). This
demonstrates that CASBEE can be a satisfactorily practical labeling tool based on comprehensive building
assessment. Further assessment cases may enhance the reliability of this method.

4.2.2 CASBEE for Existing Building

This assessment tool evaluates achieved performance or installation when the assessment is made.
Buildings should be evaluated with reference to the latest scoring criteria of CASBEE-EB when the building
is assessed, not the criteria in effect when the building was built. The result is valid for 5 years, and has to be

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revised using the latest version of the assessment tool, because the condition of the building may change
over time.
CASBEE-EB as an assessment system has a structure similar to CASBEE-NC (CASBEE for New
Construction). It can be used as a labeling tool to declare the environmental performance of buildings.
CASBEE-EB is also utilized to support building maintenance. Building owners, such as the real estate sector
and large enterprises, may use it as a self-evaluation tool for mid-term and long-term management plans.
The scoring criteria are continuously revised according to the latest technical innovations and the status of
the environment. In principal, CASBEE-EB assesses buildings on the basis of recorded performance or
measurements taken on site. However, for practical reasons, some exceptions are allowed. For instance, the
criteria of CASBEE-NC are applied when determination of the current performance level of the building is
possible from drawings and specifications. Also, the criteria of CASBEE-NC are applied if site measurement
is technically difficult, or if the result of assessment based on drawings and specifications appears to be
more precise than assessment based on site measurements.
Site measurement is necessary for some scoring criteria, such as luminance and noise level, as it is more
precise and easier than simulation. CASBEE-EB allows using data taken from measurements mandated by
regulations, such as indoor air quality and outdoor noise level. Records and measured data are necessary
for scoring higher than level 3. In return, large amount of work for data collection can be avoided in some
cases for lower scorning, at level 2 and 1. Assessment criteria for durability and longevity consider
management practice. They require documentation to prove that the management level is consistent with the
performance level that the criterion requires.
Some assessment examples by CASBEE-EB are shown in Table 2. These buildings are offices built
between in 1960 and 2003, and some are also assessed by CASBEE-NC. Although there have not been
many case, it can be seen that results of NASBEE-EB correspond well to those of CASBEE-NC. Figure 2
shows the distribution of these results, indicating that most buildings showed good results. It may be
because most of the buildings in Figure 2 were built within the last 5 years, and scored good marks using
CASBEE-NC,as well.

Table 2 Assessment results of sample office buildings evaluated by CASBEE-EB

CASE Building Year of BEE Q L Rating BEE of
Type completion CASBEE-NC
A office 2002 2.5 68 28 A 2.8
B office 2003 2.3 67 29 A 2.2
C office 1979 2.4 64 27 A -
D office 1992 1.9 64 35 A -
E office 1996 3.0 78 26 S 3.0
F office 2002 2.9 73 25 A -
G office 2000 3.4 75 22 S 3.6
H office 2003 3.4 74 22 S 3.3
I office 1960 1.5 65 45 B+ -
J office 2002 3.1 72 24 S -

BEE=3.0 BEE=1.5 BEE=1.0 B

100
S A B+
Q : B uilding E nvironm ental Q uality &

B-
P erform ance

50
BEE=0.5

; Buildings built before 1999

C
0 ; Buildings built after 2000
0 50 100
L : Building Environmental Loadings

Figure 2 CASBEE-EB Assessment results for sample offices

4.2.3 CASBEE for Renovation

CASBEE-RN is designed to evaluate the performances of existing buildings based on predicted performance
and specifications with renovation. It is valid for three years after completion of the renovation work, and

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assessment must be made with the latest version of CASBEE-RN at the point of assessment. This tool can
be used to evaluate the degree of improvement (increased BEE), relative to the level that preceded
renovation. That is only possible when the condition of the existing building before renovation has also been
assessed. The example of CASBEE-RN’s result is presented as shown in Figure 2.
CASBEE-RN may also assess improvement of specific performance in relation to the purpose of the
renovation. For instance, the BEE for energy saving can be presented, that is determined by the scores for
assessment categories especially related to energy saving renovation, such as Energy(LR-1) and Indoor
environment(Q-1).
(2) Results of Comprehensive Assessment for Building Environmental Efficiency
(2)-1 Building Environmental Quality & Performance and Load Reduction (Results by Category)
Radar Chart Q. Building Environmental Quality & Performance
Q-2 Weight ＝0.3 Score: S Q = 2.2 → 3.2 　SQ = 0.4* SQ1 + 0.3 * SQ2 + 0.3 * SQ3
5
4 Weight Q-1 　　　Q-2 Q-3
3
＝0.3 Score: 　　 S Q1 ＝ 2.4 → 3.1 S Q2 ＝ 2.3 → 3.2 S Q3 ＝ 1.7 → 3.4
Q-1 Q-3 5 5 5
Weight 2
＝0.4
1 4 4 4
4.0 4.0
0
3.0 3.5
3 3.3 2.5 3 2.6 3
3.0 2.4 3.0 3.1 3.1 3.0 2.5
2.1 2.3
2.1 2.0
LR-1 LR-3 2 2 2.3 2
Weight ＝0.4 Weight ＝0.3
1.0
1 1 1
Noise & Thermal Lighting & Service Durability Flexibility & Preserv ation Townscape Local
Air Quality
Weight ＝0.3 & Creation of & Landscape Characteristics
Acoustics Comfort Illumination Ability & Reliability Adaptability
LR-2 Biotope & Outdoor

　　LR. Reduction of Building Environmental Loadings

Score: S LR = 2.2 → 3.3 　 SLR = 0.4* SLR1 + 0.3 * SLR2 + 0.3 * SLR3
LR-1 LR-2 　　　LR-3
Score: 　　 S LR1 ＝ 2.4 → 3.5 　　S LR2 ＝ 2.2 → 3.0 S LR3 ＝ 2.1 → 3.3
5 5 5
5.0

4 4 4
4.0 4.0 4.0
3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
3 3 3.4 3 2.8
3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
2.0 2.0 2.1 2.0 2.0 2.0
2 2 2
2.0 2.0
1.0
1 1 1
Building Natural Eff iciency in Ef f icient Water Materials of Low Noise, Heat
Air Wind Light Load on
Thermal Energy Building Service Operation Resources Environmental Load Vibration Island Local
Pollution Damage Pollution
Load Utilizatio System and Oder Ef fect Inf rastructure

(2)-2 BEE Building Environmental Efficiency

Building Sustainability Rating based on BEE

BEE=3.0 BEE=1.5 BEE=1.0 Buildin g En viro nmen tal Qu ality & Pe rf orman c e Q
100 ＢＥＥ = B u ildin g Environ me n tal Loadin gs L
S A B+
Q : Building Environmental
Quality & Perf ormance

ΔＢＥＥ = 0.9
56 B-
50 56
BEE=0.5 ＢＥＥ (a fter RN) = = 1.3
41

30
41 ↑
30
68 C ＢＥＥ (before RN) = = 0.4
0 68
0 50 100 * Q = 25 ＊ (S Q - 1)
L : Buildin g En viro nmen tal Loadin gs
L = 25 ＊ (5 - SLR)

Figure 3 Example of assessment result by CASBEE-RN (comparison between before and after renovation)

4.3 CASBEE for Specific Purposes

The basic CASBEE tool suite is applicable to a diverse range of individual applications. So far, CASBEE-NC
has several extended tools shown in Table 3.

Table 3 Extended CASBEE tools for specific purposes (as of March 2005)
Name Application Outline
CASBEE for Temporary
Temporary Construction Currently adapted to exhibition facilities.
Construction
CASBEE for New
Simple preliminary assessment Simplified edition of CASBEE for New Construction.
Construction (simplified)
CASBEE for New Construction (Simplified), tailored to
― For individual local areas
regional characteristics
Assessment on the efforts in Detailed assessment of the heat island effect using
CASBEE-H alleviating the heat island CASBEE
phenomenon

4.3.1 Application to buildings for short-term use

The tool “CASBEE for Temporary Construction (exhibition facilities),” published in July 2004, was developed
as an extension to CASBEE for New Construction for evaluating temporary buildings constructed specifically

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for short-term use, such as Expo pavilions. Buildings of this type have short-term lifecycles, and therefore
consideration must concentrate largely on material use and recycling in the construction and demolition
phases. Also, these buildings have simple equipment and interior and exterior finishes. The scoring criteria
reflect those features of this type of buildings. So far, the tool has been completed in a version limited to
exhibition facilities.
The current version of CASBEE for Temporary Construction (exhibition facilities) targets buildings that have
lifetime within 5 years. Scoring criteria are based on those for halls of CASBEE-NC, and some modifications
are made as follows;
1) The scoring criteria of Q-1 Indoor environment is lowered for background noise, because simple
exterior materials with poor performance in sound insulation are often installed in temporally buildings.
2) “Durability & Reliability” and “Flexibility & Adaptability” in Q-2 Quality of service are excluded from
scoring criteria.
3) In LR-2 Resource & Materials, “3R (reuse, reduction and recycling) of building materials” and
“Minimization of waste disposal” are evaluated as additional assessment items.
4) Weightings are altered to reflect the importance of resource recycle and waste reduction in this
assessment system. LR-2 gains heavier weight, and lighter weight is allocated for LR-1 Energy and Q-2
Quality of service.

4.3.2 Simple assessment

Assessment using CASBEE for New Construction may take 3~7 days, including the time required to prepare
documents necessary as the basis for scoring. CASBEE for New Construction (Simplified) was developed to
meet the growing need for a tool to handle objectives such as those below. It makes a simplified, provisional
assessment possible in around two hours (excluding time for the preparation of an Energy Saving Plan).
1) The need for simplified setting of the Building Environmental Efficiency level (as a tool for consensus
forming between owners, designers and builders, etc.).
2) The need for setting environmental design targets and assessing attainment (as a proposal
management tool etc. under ISO14001).
3) The need for preparation of documents for submission to government agencies, etc. (Environmental
measures under construction administration, such as CASBEE Nagoya and CASBEE Osaka).

4.3.3 Consideration for regional character

As noted above, CASBEE for New Construction (Simplified) can be used by local authorities in construction
administration. Local authorities that use this tool can tailor it to local conditions, such as climate and
prioritized policies. Changes are generally made by modifying the weighting coefficients. Such assessment
can be made mandatory in the same way as an Energy Saving Plan, to be submitted to the authorities
together with the building approval application, as a way to improve the environmental efficiency of buildings
in the region. Flexible response to regional character is a common feature of all elements of the CASBEE
family.
One example is “CASBEE Nagoya.” CASBEE Nagoya has its own scoring guidelines that instruct some
criteria in relation to local contexts, such as materials from local industry, and that define some excluding
criteria. After CASBEE Nagoya began on April 1, 2004, the city received about 30 reports as of the end of
July, and most of those buildings were labeled as class “B-“ or “B+.” Also almost no confusion was reported
to the municipality over the operation of the system (Noda, 2004). It shows that the system effectively works
for local application, so far.
Another example is CASBEE Osaka that altered weighting coefficient from the original to reflect the high
priority they give to heat island policy. The city of Osaka also started administrative use of CASBEE from
October 1, 2004, changed the weights of Q-1 Indoor environment from 0.4 to 0.3 and Q-3 Outdoor
environment on site from 0.3 to 0.4.

4.3.4 Detailed assessment of heat island impact

Assessment of the heat island effect is essential in major urban areas, such as Tokyo and Osaka. CASBEE
for heat island alleviation (CASBEE-H), draft completed in June 2004, is a tool aiming for more detailed
quantitative assessment of heat island relaxation measures in building design.
Q-3 Outdoor environment on site and LR-3 Off-site environment of the original CASBEE tool, CASBEE-NC,
have some scoring criteria evaluating efforts against heat island effect. In CASBEE-H, the criteria deal with
more detailed conditions in the outdoor thermal environment and heat island load to surroundings. To
develop CASBEE-H, several studies have been made on urban-scale climate affected by measures taken in
individual buildings.
CASBEE-H is also evaluated with the concept of eco-efficiency. BEEH (Building Environmental Efficiency for
Heat island relaxation), indicating efficiency in measures taken to reduce the heat island effect, as in
equation (1).

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BEEH = Improvement of thermal environment inside the virtual boundary (1)

Heat island load outside the virtual boundary
Inside the virtual boundary defined by the borders of the building site area is the area where owners and
designers can make efforts to improve the thermal environment of the site. The heat island load to the
surroundings is evaluated by 1) the degree of increase in air temperature, and 2) the degree of decrease in
thermal comfort. On the other hand, the thermal environment within the site is assessed by the improvement
of thermal comfort in pedestrian areas under 2 or 3m height above the ground.

4.3.5 Extended tool for regional scale assessment

CASBEE considers individual buildings, but it fully recognizes the importance of assessing building groups.
Many recent city-center redevelopment projects have included plans taking into account the urban
surroundings as one unit. For example, provision of public spaces on the site can be expected to have a
positive effect on the surrounding environment, thereby improving environmental quality and performance
(Q). Common restrictions imposed on all buildings on a site, even if each one has a different owner, can be
regarded as efforts to improve the environmental performance of the urban area as a whole. Study has
started on an extended CASBEE tool called “CASBEE for District/Regions” (provisional name) that will
broaden assessment to cover efforts applied through either city-center renewal of urban districts, or
development of large areas including multiple buildings.

5. Conclusions
CASBEE is intended to serve various applications for both public use and private use, namely application for
public policies, business and education. Local governments seem to be the most active in introducing
CASBEE for practical use.
1) CASBEE consists of a set of four basic assessment tools: "CASBEE for Pre-design"(CASBEE-PD),
"CASBEE for New Construction"(CASBEE-NC), "CASBEE for Existing Building"(CASBEE-EB) and
"CASBEE for Renovation"(CASBEE-RN). They correspond to the individual stages of the building's
lifecycle.
2) CASBEE-EB is presented as a new assessment tool with some case studies.
3) “CASBEE Family” is the collective name for CASBEE’s four basic assessment tools and the extended
tools for specific purposes.
4) Some extended tools for specific purposes have been developed, such as CASBEE for Temporary
Construction (exhibition facilities), CASBEE for New Construction (simplified) and its variations
reflecting local conditions, CASBEE-H.
5) CASBEE Nagoya and CASBEE Osaka were first enacted in 2004 as tools for building administration to
promote sustainable buildings. They also incorporated local context into their systems.
6) Study has started on “CASBEE for District/Regions” (provisional name) that will broaden assessment to
cover efforts applied to areas including multiple buildings.

Acknowledgement
The authors express sincere thanks to the Committee members of the Comprehensive Assessment System
of Building Environmental Efficiency, and the Housing Bureau of the Japanese Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure and Transportation for their extensive support for this study.

References
Ikaga, T. 2004, CASBEE; New Labeling System Based on Environmental Efficiency, Proceedings of 6th Int.
Conf. on EcoBalance, pp. 249-52.
Murakami, S. et.al., 2002, Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental Efficiency in
Japan (CASBEE-J), Proceedings of Sustainable Building 2002 international conference.
Noda, H. 2004, City of Nagoya’s Sustainable Building System characterized by Environmental Efficiency
Evaluations and its Official Announcements. Proceedings of 6th Int. Conf. on EcoBalance, pp. 253-54.
Osaka Municipal Government, 2004, Manual for Osaka Municipal Comprehensive Assessment System for
Building Environmental Efficiency (CASBEE Osaka) (in Japanese)
Institute for Building Environment and Energy Conservation, 2004, CASBEE Technical Manual 2004 Edition;
CASBEE for New Construction, CASBEE for Existing Building, CASBEE for New Construction (Simplified),
and CASBEE for Temporally Construction (exhibition facilities), (in Japanese)
Murakami, S. et.al., 2004, Introduction to CASBEE, Japan Sustainable Building Consortium (ed.), Nikkei
Business Publication Inc. (in Japanese)

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