Sustainability Flashcards
(100 cards)
What is your definition of sustainability?
Sustainability is meeting the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations (Bruntland definition 1987).
Why is the adoption of sustainable principles necessary?
- To conserve finite resources;
- Lower carbon emission - buildings are responsible for 44% of total carbon emissions;
- Reduce climate change.
Why does sustainability matter?
- Climate change – extreme weather events
- Biome shifting – deforestation, polar areas melting, extinct species
- Water shortages – drought
- Depletion of non-renewable resources
- Pollution
Aims of sustainability:
- The environment should be preserved
- Resources need to be retained for future generations to enjoy
- Humans need to continue to make and do the things that allow them to live comfortably
- LEDCs need to develop, through maximising production of their resources
- There should be a better balance between the consumption of those resources between LEDCs and MEDCs.
What areas does sustainability affect?
- People (social) – health and wellbeing;
- Planet (environmental / ecological) – emissions / planets resources;
- Profit (economic) – job creation.
What practical measures can you undertake to become sustainable in your home?
- Household waste storage – encourage recycling;
- Composting facilities;
- Insulation – reduce heat loss through building fabric;
- Internal lighting – use energy efficient fittings;
- Eco-labelled white goods;
- Low or Zero Carbon Technology – use local renewable or low carbon energy;
- Cycle storage – encourage cycling;
- Home office – provide quiet area to allow working from home.
What role does construction play in sustainability?
The construction industry is produces a large amount of carbon in proportion to other industries not only in the production of buildings but through their lifecycle and the government has committed to reducing carbon emissions through Kyoto Protocol (high level – UK initiatives, to achieve this) therefore it is important that the construction industry recognizes this and takes action.
What do you mean by the triple bottom line?
- Economic – profit. Job creation
- Social – people. Health and wellbeing. Housing conditions, regeneration
- Environmental – planet. Sustainable/Ecological
Triple bottom line in an organization (AECOM)
- Economic: Corporate profit (profit and loss account) – Generating jobs
- Social: how socially responsible an organization is – training for staff (GDP) , CSR – days for helping the community
- Environmental: recycling, initiatives for cycling to work
What is Carbon Neutral?
Carbon neutral, or having net zero carbon footprint,
- Means achieving zero carbon emissions
- by balancing a measured amount of carbon released with an equivalent amount removed or offset, through i.e. sustainable energy production, and sold back to grid.
What legislation exists to govern sustainability?
- Building regulations – Part f.
- Energy Performance Regulations 2012 (EPCs).
- Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
- Climate Change Act 2008
- Energy Act 2011
What are the Building Regulations?
Set of national building standards
What qualifies as building work under the control of the regulations?
- What types of buildings are exempt
- Notification procedures that must be followed when starting, carrying out, and completing building work
- Requirements for specific aspects of building design and construction
- In England, the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) is responsible for the Building Regulations 2010 and the Building (Approved Inspectors etc.) Regulations 2010. The regulations apply to most new buildings and many alterations to existing buildings.
Approved Documents – general guidance on how specific aspects of building design and construction can comply with the Building Regulations.
How does sustainability link to Building Regulations?
Approved document Part F – Conservation of Fuel & Power, which relates to sustainability.
What is the aim of Part F and its key elements?
It covers the conservation of fuel and power in all structures, domestic and non-domestic and its aim is to achieve zero carbon buildings. It provides practical guidance on ways of complying with Energy Efficient requirements and has four divisions:
- L1A – New dwellings;
- L1B – Existing dwellings;
- L2A – New buildings other than dwellings;
- L2B – Existing buildings other than dwellings.
It controls and sets standards for:
- The insulation values of building elements;
- The allowable area of windows, doors and other openings;
- Air permeability of the structure;
- The heating efficiency of boiler systems;
- The insulation and controls for heating appliances and systems;
- Hot water storage;
- Lighting efficiency;
- HVAC systems.
SAP – Standard Assessment Procedure
method for calculating the energy performance of dwellings. Part of building regulations(part L). energy consumption per unit floor area etc.
What
What is the Climate Change Act 2008?
- Sets in place a legally binding agreement target to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by at least 80% by the year 2050 (based on 1990 levels as detailed in Kyoto Protocol).
- The government must report every 5 years on progress through ‘carbon budgets’.
- Must of the ensuing legislation in place is to ensure that the UK meets the target
What is the Energy Act 2011?
- Green Deal – scraped
- Private rented sector
- Reducing carbon emissions and home-heating costs
- Measures for reducing CO2
- Provision of energy efficiency measures to homes and businesses.
- There are a number of key measures included in the new Act.
- The Energy Act also includes provisions that will affect the private rented sector – both residential and commercial.
o From April 2016, private residential landlords will be unable to refuse a tenant’s reasonable request for consent to energy efficiency improvements to a property, where a finance package such as the Green Deal and/or the Energy Company Obilgation is available.
o Also from April 2018, it will be against the law to rent out either residential or commercial premises where a minimum energy efficiency standard has not been achieved - likely to be EPC rating ‘E’.
What is one requirement of the Energy Performance Regulations?
- Requirement of an Energy Performance Certificate or Display Energy Certificate
What are EPCs and DECs?
EPC (Environmental Performance Certificate):
Governed by the Energy Performance Regulations 2012
- Required for almost all buildings that are constructed, sold or let Buildings (not requiring an EPC– places of worship, temporary buildings, industrial buildings, buildings that are suitable for demolition).
- Set out the energy performance rating of buildings.
- It includes a comparison of the predicted energy consumption of the building to a benchmark and provides a lettered asset rating (similar to the A-G ratings commonly found on domestic appliances).
- EPCs are provided by accredited energy assessors who also provide a recommendation report to help owners and occupiers make their building more energy efficient
- EPCs are valid for 10 years.
- For new buildings, the contractor is under a legal obligation to provide an EPC to the client at handover.
- Currently there is no requirement to follow the recommendations.
The
DEC (Display Energy Certificate):
- A certificate showing the energy performance of a building based on actual energy consumption.
- Required annually for all public buildings over 500m2, and must be displayed in a prominent place.
- Shows actual energy use of a building and the associated carbon dioxide emissions, and also provide a comprehensive advisory report.
- Generally the DEC would compare the previous year’s actual energy consumption to a benchmark and include a lettered asset rating, although for a newly constructed building without any energy consumption data, only the predicted information from the EPC would be included.
- The DEC is also accompanied by an Advisory report, setting out how to reduce emissions from the building further - although this element need only be updated every seven years.
- As the DEC is the responsibility of the building occupier, the contractor would currently be under no obligation to provide it, although it would be a relatively simple exercise for them to undertake while they were preparing the EPC.
What are the key differences between DEC and EPC?
Similar – both show energy performance of a building (one based on operational usage and the other on building fabric and services)
EPC (Environmental Performance Certificate):
- Required on almost all buildings.
- Contractor obligation to provide.
- Issued on handover (Last 10 years).
- Assess performance based on fabric and services – they do not take into account how the occupier uses the building.
DEC (Display Energy Certificate):
- Required for all public buildings over 1,000m2.
- Employer obligation to provide.
- Issued yearly.
- Shows the actual energy performance based on actual usage of a building and its operational rating (benchmarked against other similar buildings)
It is therefore possible that a building constructed to a high EPC, could have a poor DEC
Due to the fact that it is managed poorly with a high wastage of energy.
What is an Environmental Impact Assessment?
Environmental Impact Assessment:
- Legislation: Governed by the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2011
- What is it? Process of evaluating the likely environmental impacts of a proposed project or development – both benefits and adverse effects.
- When do they apply: The regulations only apply to certain types of development and/or projects (Large infrastructure projects, in a sensitive area). They can even apply to ‘permitted development’ - development for which you do not need to get planning permission.
- Purpose:
- To ensure that the environmental effects of a proposed development are properly considered.
- Provides the local planning authority with better information about certain types of project enabling them to make a more informed decision about whether permission should be granted and to allow imposition of more appropriate conditions and obligations to mitigate possible negative impacts.
- Aids design development.
- Submission:
- Environmental Statement to be submitted alongside planning applications.
- Environmental Statement which summarises the findings of the EIA process and is used primarily to inform decision makers regarding the environmental implications of the development – provides a basis for the planning consultation.
- Highlights potential impact of project on sustainability (PPP) & highlights need for impact to be reduced.
An Environmental Statement may contain:
- A description of the proposed development and its use.
- An estimate of the likely residues and emissions resulting from the construction and operation of the development. (water, air and soil pollution, noise, vibration, light, heat, radiation, etc.).#- An assessment of how the development complies with planning policy.
- An assessment of environmental opportunities and constraints.
- An assessment of appropriate alternatives. This may include an assessment of possible alternative sites, and so it is important that this is done during the very early stages of the project, not as a process of post-rationalisation after the client has already selected a site.
- An assessment of the likely impacts of the development.
Are there any upcoming changes to the EIA Regulations?
Expected 2017.
- The changes are will require greater reasoned justification at the screening stage,
- the consideration of new topics in the EIA and the monitoring of significant effects.
- Changes to the EU Directive will also require developers to select suitably experienced professionals to advise them.
What ways of measuring the sustainability of buildings are there?
- BREEAM;
- LEED;
- SKA – Commercial Fit-out projects.
What are BREEAM and LEED and what are the differences between them?
BREEAM: British Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method LEED: Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design BREEAM UK BRE scheme (not owned by the government – can be a planning condition) Legislation / Best practice Percentage thresholds Based on carbon dioxide Main application in UK International use with adaptation Assessor collates & submits info Assessed on 9 credentials Independently audited
LEED US Green Buildings Council scheme Optional standards Quantitative thresholds Based on US dollars Niche application in UK International use with little adaptation Design team collates & submits info Assessed on 5 credentials Not independently audited Generally BREEAM dictates specific technologies or strategies, whereas LEED states the intention of the credit and leaves it up to the designer’s discretion as to how to meet it. Why
