Environmental value concepts
RICS Insight Paper ‘Value of natural capital - the need for chartered surveyors’ published by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in 2017 defines a number of environmental value concepts:
Contents |
[edit] Altruistic value
‘The value we place on the knowledge that environmental resources are available for other beneficiaries even if no personal benefit is derived from them.’
[edit] Bequest value
‘The value we place on the knowledge that environmental resources will be available for future generations, even if no personal benefit is derived from them.’
[edit] Economic value
‘Worth to particular people or to society as a whole. Can mean the same as social value and societal value.’
[edit] Existence value
‘The value we place on the existence of environmental resources irrespective of human use or engagement with them.’
[edit] Non-use value
‘A collective term for altruistic, bequest and existence value.’
[edit] Option value
‘The value of knowing that resources will be available to us in future, even if we don’t use them now.’
[edit] Total economic value
‘Portmanteau phrase to characterise and value the benefits that people receive from the environment.’
[edit] Use value
‘The value of personal benefits from use of the natural environment. These personal benefits may be direct and indirect, they may be from present use and future use.’
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
Featured articles and news
Change of use legislation breaths new life into buildings
A run down on Class MA of the General Permitted Development Order.
Solar generation in the historic environment
Success requires understanding each site in detail.
Level 6 Design, Construction and Management BSc
CIOB launches first-ever degree programme to develop the next generation of construction leaders.
Open for business as of April, with its 2026 prospectus and new pipeline of housing schemes.
The operational value of workforce health
Keeping projects moving. Incorporating unplanned absence and the importance of health, in operations.
A carbon case for indigenous slate
UK slate can offer clear embodied carbon advantages.
Costs and insolvencies mount for SMEs, despite growth
Construction sector under insolvency and wage bill pressure in part linked to National Insurance, says report.
The place for vitrified clay pipes in modern infrastructure
Why vitrified clay pipes are reclaiming their role in built projects.
Research by construction PR consultancy LMC published.
Roles and responsibilities of domestic clients
ACA Safety in Construction guide for domestic clients.
Fire door compliance in UK commercial buildings
Architect and manufacturer gives their low down.
The new towns and strategic environmental assessments
12 locations of the New Towns Taskforce reduced to 7 within the new towns draft programme and open consultation.
Buildings that changed the future of architecture. Book review.


















