ISO 21931-1:2022

Overview

ISO 21931-1:2022 - "Sustainability in buildings and civil engineering works - Framework for methods of assessment ... Part 1: Buildings" - establishes a common framework to improve the quality and comparability of methods used to assess the environmental, social and economic performance of buildings. It defines the object of assessment (the building and its curtilage), life‑cycle perspectives, system boundaries and the structured list of issues to consider when developing or using sustainability assessment methods. The standard is a framework rather than a benchmarking document: it does not set performance levels.

Key technical topics and requirements

• Life‑cycle approach: Defines the building life cycle, use of assessment modules and component life cycles to ensure consistent scope across assessments.
• System boundary & functional equivalent: Guidance on delimiting the assessed building or part thereof, and on defining equivalent functional units for comparison.
• Three pillars of sustainability: Structured coverage of environmental, social, and economic issues relevant to buildings (e.g., material flows, indoor environment, life‑cycle costs).
• Methods for quantification: Requirements for data sources, quality, traceability and transparency to support reproducible assessments.
• Aggregation and weighting: Discussion of weighting, multi‑effects, double counting and how to combine indicators while preserving clarity.
• Assessment documentation & reporting: Specifications for documenting purpose, assumptions, scenarios and the assessment report to improve comparability.
• Management and stakeholder considerations: Includes issues related to construction delivery, operation, maintenance, responsible sourcing and stakeholder involvement (informative annexes).

Practical applications

• Use ISO 21931-1:2022 to develop or harmonize national/regional building sustainability assessment methods, ensuring consistent life‑cycle boundaries and indicator definitions.
• Inform procurement, design decisions and refurbishment planning by clarifying which environmental, social and economic impacts to measure and report.
• Support sustainability reporting for real estate portfolios, green procurement, and policy development by improving comparability and transparency of assessments.
• Aid LCA practitioners, sustainability consultants and certifiers in producing traceable, repeatable assessments that align with international practice.

Who should use this standard

• Building designers, architects and engineers
• LCA practitioners and sustainability assessors
• Real estate developers, building owners and facilities managers
• Policy makers, regulators and certification bodies
• Construction product manufacturers and supply‑chain stakeholders

Related standards

• ISO 21931 series (other parts)
• ISO 21929-1 (referenced in the introduction for sustainable development protection areas)

Keywords: ISO 21931-1:2022, sustainability in buildings, building life cycle, environmental performance, social performance, economic performance, building sustainability assessment framework, lifecycle assessment, assessment report.