Contemporary neighborhood livability differs across countries due to implementation of sustainable policies within the building sector. This paper aims to showcase these differences among Germany, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina through a comparative case study analysis of two contemporary housing developments from each country. Representative neighborhoods from the aforementioned countries that were selected for analysis were located in Munich, Rijeka, and Sarajevo. The residential environment livability analysis method was used in order to pinpoint and compare results of each of these cases, and to assess their livability. The highest number of livability criteria among analyzed cases were found in Munich, while the lowest were found in Sarajevo. The conclusion is that this is happening due to German authorities actually implementing sustainable building standards in housing development prescribed by sustainability policies, while the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina completely, and Croatian authorities partially, go around these policies and bend to the will of investors, regulating residential urban development to the detriment of end users.

Presently, almost all human activities (agriculture, transport, industry, construction sector, etc.) have an adverse impact on the environment. The construction sector in the EU alone accounts for a big part of the total energy consumption and emission of CO2. Two-thirds of the energy used in the construction sector in Europe goes to housing. As the number of residents grows, the requirements for new housing increase, causing an additional increase in energy consumption and new CO2 emissions for construction, maintenance, lighting, ventilation, cooling, and heating. Benefits of detailed planning of sustainable development of the construction sector are manifold. The most important benefits are sustainable use of resources, economic and social development of communities, increasing employment rates, improvements of living conditions and protection of the environment. Two scenarios for the development of an energy-efficient construction sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina with a focus on housing facilities are developed, in order to address the needs and benefits of detailed planning. Both scenarios analyze the effects on job creation, the impact of used construction materials on the environment and eco balance of local products. The difference in the solutions confirms the benefits of an interdisciplinary approach to the planning of sustainable systems so that not only technical, but also economic and social benefits can be evaluated thanks to the combination of methods used.