Built environment sustainability and quality of life (BESQOL) assessment methodology

Abstract

The BESQoL (Built Environment Sustainability and Quality of Life) Assessment Methodology is a tool for professionals and students associated with the built environment designed to help develop sustainable low carbon developments that provide capabilities for a high quality of life for all members of the community. Developed as a teaching tool for postgraduate students of Oxford Brookes University’s masters programme MSc Sustainable Building: Performance and Design, it has been applied to live built environment developments in the Oxfordshire area of the United Kingdom and in 2014 to two projects in Brazil in collaboration with local universities, stakeholders and professionals. The methodology involves a multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach involving experts from different disciplines and stakeholders associated with the area of development. The methodology includes examining five categories relevant to the development site: (1) the natural environment and natural capital, (2) the built environment, (3) movement, (4) economics, and (5) human capital and quality of life. By enabling a more holistic and informed approach to built environment developments through the application of the BESQoL assessment method, it is argued that students, professionals and local stakeholders (a) begin a transformative learning experience that addresses professional and personal values and can help refocus their professional contribution; (b) begin to understand the scope that needs to be addressed to create sustainable environments and learn to appreciate the relevance and importance of the various disciplines involved; and (c) are better placed to developed holistic and informed strategies that provide sustainable high quality of life solutions for all community members while impacting minimally on the local and global natural environments.