Background of CASBEE development

Large amounts of resources and energy are consumed in the building sector. However, in response to the growing awareness of global environment problems, those in the building sector also recognized the necessity of making contributions toward the mitigation of environmental problems. The development of BREEAM was spurred by such circumstances. Its innovative scope and method attracted worldwide attention and eventually led to the global movement for developing assessment tools. Following BREEAM, other assessment tools for building environmental performance such as LEED were also developed
and used around the world (BRE, 2013; USGBC, 2013), significantly contributing to the reduction of building-related environmental loads. Figure 2.1 shows the assessment tools developed worldwide.
In Japan, under the leadership of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), a committee was established inside IBEC, and in 2001, initiated the development of tools to evaluate the environmental performance of buildings. The term Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment
Efficiency CASBEE was coined through the activities of this committee.