Evaluation for social and humanity demand on green residential districts in China based on SLCA

Purpose In recent years, green building has become a social hotspot and raised much concern of academic. However, traditional researches of green building mostly focused on technology, while research on social and humanity demand on green residential districts is still scarce. To complement the gap of research and reality, this paper is intended to establish a quantitative evaluation method for social humanity needs of green residential districts based on social life cycle assessment (SLCA). Methods Based on the SLCA method, an evaluation indicator system for social and humanity demand of green residential districts was proposed, considering different stakeholders (real estate developers, construction enterprises, community residents, and decision makers). Additionally, the adopted evaluation indicator system was applied to a practical community in China as a case study by questionnaire surveys and the method of analytic hierarchy process. Results and discussion Case study results show that the residents prefer to pay more for a better living environment, and the real estate developers are willing to increase the investment moderately on the projects. Meanwhile, the local government likes to support the development of green residential districts, as well. Conclusions Analysis results are in line with the social demand for high-quality living environment of Chinese residents and the public concern about buildings’ comprehensive benefits.