TOP TEN TIPS
THE 10 KEYS TO BUILDING
SUSTAINABLY
This list is in order of priority, but it has 3. INSULATION
It is being
to be accepted that the order may change The point at which the energy used to
realised that the
with the project. produce the insulation exceeds the energy
saved by the insulation is 1m thick. And that
issues around
1. DESIGN - ADAPTABILITY only applies to non-sustainable insulation
All good products start with a good materials. There are many natural insulation
climate change
design, and a building is no different. The materials very low in embodied energy.
key is to have a design team with Again it is a design issue. Building in buffer
have a wider
knowledge of, and enthusiasm for, space between the external surface and the
effect than
sustainability. A sustainable build will be internal heated or air conditioned space is
pushing the boundaries and will require not a new idea but can have a serious
reducing our use
innovation and creativity. The design will impact on the thermal performance of
have to incorporate new ideas and new the building.
of fossil fuels.
thinking, but to have a long life, which is the
essence of sustainability, it will also need the 4. ENERGY CONSERVATION
But we need to
ability to changing needs. A factory may The idea has to be at the heart of the
be clear what
always be a factory, an office block always design. It goes far beyond low energy lamps
offices, a house always a house but in the and tuning the heating down a couple of
we mean by
next 100 years the demands of the people degrees to incorporating things like zonal
occupying those buildings is likely to change controls, lighting design, passive heating
sustainability
- as it has over the past 100 years. and ventilation systems. The Government
“Sustainability means meeting our needs today without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
UIA/AIA World Congress of Architects, June 1993
If we accept that definition then clearly it 2. MATERIALS has stated that from 2016, all new buildings
goes a long way beyond energy The Building Research Establishment will be zero carbon and the decision for the
conservation. 50% of material resources (BRE) have produced a Green Guide to design team will be to invest in renewable
taken from nature are for buildings. More Specification which lists all the principal energy or invest in energy efficiency. The
than 50% of waste production in the UK building materials and rates then in answer will be to invest in both.
comes from the building industry. The accordance with their impact. It is a good
biggest single source, 28%, of the CO
2
place to start but highlights the idea that the 5. ENERGY GENERATION
embodied in buildings is in the stone, sand sustainable specifier has to question the To meet the Government’s target of zero
and aggregates used. 82% of the material perceived wisdom. To take an example, carbon will mean incorporating renewable
used in the conventional building is virgin concrete will be specified in many respects, energy generation. But even if it is not a
material, and currently a huge proportion of but typically not in terms of the source of the new build, renewable energy can make
that is from non-sustainable sources. aggregate. As has been shown, 28% of the good economic sense, especially in
In many respects a sustainable build is embodied CO
2
is in the aggregate used in conjunction with an energy efficiency
no different to a non-sustainable build. All concrete (higher in predominantly concrete regime. An example of the effective
the same issues will be addressed: what the structures). The sustainable specifier will be incorporation of renewable energy at the
building is for, how big, the budget, its look looking for sources of reclaimed aggregate, design stage is the Bahrain World Trade
in relation to its purpose and location, preferably close to the site. Centre which uses the shape of the
construction method, what to build it from. Building sustainably means that the old buildings to enhance the productivity of its
Building sustainably means thinking about maxim of “I design it, you put it up” no integrated wind turbines. That sort of thing
the same things, but in a slightly different longer holds. The availability of sustainable is not always possible, but it shows that,
way and adding a few new things to the list. materials must be allowed to inform and even in oil rich countries, oil, natural gas
change the design. and grid electricity are not the only options.
26| SUSTAINABLE FM | NOVEMBER 2007
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