EcoEffect for outdoor environments; the process of tool development

Numerous evaluation tools for the built environment have been developed in recent decades only some however integrate the outdoor environment. In EcoEffect, a Swedish assessment system, the outdoor environment is one of five areas covered. The purpose of this article is to describe and discuss various issues that evolved during the testing and developing phase of the EcoEffect Outdoor tool. The tool is designed to cover all important health risks to people in an outdoor environment, to show the relationship between circumstances in the outdoor environment and the levels specified in Swedish legislation and to enable a speedy and accurate assessment of the outdoor environment on a property. The work has been carried out in cooperation with experts, residents and representatives of the construction and property sectors. The tool has been tested on existing properties, discussed in focus groups, and has been subject to theoretical development. The results have provided a basis for changing both the EcoEffect Outdoors tool and the framework of the EcoEffect system. Important conclusions here include the notion that a clear account should be given of the fundamental values of the tool, that environmental impact should be reported in the same way throughout the whole assessment process and that the tool has to adhere to both scientific and practical validity to be useful for the building sector.