Analysing the material category of the sustainable building assessment models

This study aims for analysing how building and material assessment models deal with the material point and indicating the points that fall short and suggesting new proposals.This study consists of eight parts. The first part contains the purpose of the study and the literature summary. The second part deals with the advencement of the concepts sustainability, environment and material with respect to the elapsed time, eco-labels and environmental product statement applications.The third part puts forth the reason why building and material assessment models emerged. Along with the mention of classification of the globally used models, information regarding the countries and facilities that designed these models are presented.In parts four and five, respectively, the `BREEAM? Model which evaluates the whole building and the 'ATHENA?' Model which evaluates the life cycle assessment are reviewed as to how the materials are dealt with in great detail.Part six covers the points which both the models fall short of dealing with the material. It appears that both `BREEAM? Model which evaluates the whole building and 'ATHENA?' Model which evaluates the life cycle assessment only refer to the environmental effects. This part indicates the insufficiency of interest on the subjects such as human health, social life, economy, and cultural points. In this context, in order to compare and evaluate the points which architects care about while picking material, a survey study is conducted in part seven.According to the result of the survey, architects prioritize criterias that deal with all social, environmental and economic aspects together when they choose material. Along with this matter, architects also care about the subjects which only study social and economic topics as much as they do about the environmental values. With respect to the results, it is clear that architects' criterias for choosing material should be judged in a variety of aspects. Most of the subjects that are considered while choosing material directly or indirectly interact with other subjects. Therefore, the decision made on a subject should not be considered solely. It seems that the environmental subjects that are included in material picking criterias of `BREEAM? and `ATHENA?? models have both social and economic effects. Hence, in the field of material studies which has a great impact on every aspect of our lives, along with these two models, another model which also deals with economic and social subjects is necessary.