Improving the environmental performance of buildings is increasingly gaining global attention of researchers, policy makers/government agencies and the construction industry. This is because the construction industry as emerging sector is highly active in both developed and developing countries and responsible for the high level of carbon dioxide emissions and energy consumption especially in countries described as emerging economy. However, measuring the environmental performance or sustainability of buildings in developing countries like Nigeria, is relatively new and the practice of measuring sustainability is largely based on declarations that come from self-assessed developers and building material producers. The assessment methods, either environmental or performance-based are under constant evolution in order to surmount their various limitations. However, two main assessment approaches can be identified or distinguished: qualitative assessment methods and quantitative assessment methods. The field of environmental assessment methods/tools for buildings is vast, the aim of this paper is to clarify that field by analysing the terminologies and categorising existing tools in the context of the Nigerian building industry.
Keywords: Building environmental assessment tool, Qualitative and Quantitative assessment methods, Sustainability
