AS CERTIFICAÇÕES AMBIENTAIS HABITACIONAIS CONTRIBUEM NA SUSTENTABILIDADE AMBIENTAL URBANA?

Abstract

Urban sustainability goes beyond functional guidelines and uses of natural resources systems, surpassing the amount of punctual actions and sustainable buildings. It depends on wide-ranging views and actions, considering the merging between the natural environment and the built environment, as a whole, customizing shapes and functions to social needs and natural features. The environmental certifications aim to accomplish the sustainability principles, integrating the built spaces and the natural resources. The purpose of this article is to assess the contribution of housing environmental certifications to the urban environmental sustainability. Certain certifications directed towards housing enterprises, international (BREEAM, LEED, CASBEE, HQE) and national (AQUA and SELO CASA AZUL) stand out. Such certifications are focused in the building analysis, rendering the urban context as an appendix in the certification process. The assessment methodology is brought into question, as the criteria adopted is largely generalist, disregarding the entrepreneurship within the urban context and its environmental impact in the city. It is understood that the goal of certifications is the “seal itself” and not the process of systemic methodologic assessment. Thus, it is concluded that the certifications are not wide-ranging to analyze the relation on the impact of entrepreneurships in the urban structure, in a way that it may contribute to its environmental sustainability.