Advanced Construction Technology By Professor Chris Gorse – licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution – Non-Commercial – Share Alike License

Sustainability and construction Christopher Gorse

Gro Harlem Bruntland Prime Minister of Norway World Summit on Sustainable Development One Definition of Sustainable Development? “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”

Approximate estimates on energy use Buildings 50% Industry 25% Travel 25% »Nightingale associates 2008

Global warming models Look at the met office site and the models of global warming

Can increase in CO 2 be explained by volcanic eruptions, natural, orbital change etc.

Sustainable? Zero Carbon Government targets! Domestic buildings should be zero carbon by 2016 Non-domestic buildings should be zero carbon by 2019 Existing buildings? New buildings only account for 1%?

Building Research Establishment (BRE 2002) published a guide to assist developers when identifying sustainability issues. Issues include: Land Use, Urban Form and Design Transport Energy Impact of individual buildings Natural resources Ecology Community Business A sustainability checklist for development

BREEAM Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Model BREEAM provides a numerical weighting system that is applied to new and existing buildings to assess their ‘sustainability’.

BREEAM Categories and weightings Management 15% Health and Welfare15% Energy13.6% Transport11.4% Water5% Materials10% Land use15% Pollution15%

Trained assessors score category The BREEAM assessor awards a numerical score to each category and the scores are totalled to give an overall rating. The designated BREEAM ratings of pass, good, very good or excellent can be awarded.

Minimum score required to achieve BREEAM rating Pass 25 Good40 Very Good55 Excellent 70

Capital cost of sustainable construction – one model ‘ The Price of Sustainable Schools’ – BRE (2008) – The following is for a Secondary School :

Low Carbon – Zero Carbon Buildings Practical solutions?

Thermal performance Preventing cold bridges Insulating Using thermal mass

Airtightness

Gaps cause real problems – cavities should be sealed and air-barriers maintained.

Air leakage

Solar

Photovoltaic Solar thermal panel – solar collectors

Wind power

Natural ventilation

Ground air heat pumps

Code for Sustainable Homes Now mandatory for all new homes to have a rating against the Code.

In April 2007 the Code for Sustainable Homes replaced Ecohomes for the assessment of new housing in England. The Code is an environmental assessment method for new homes based upon BRE’s Ecohomes and contains mandatory performance levels in 6 key areas

1.Energy efficiency /CO 2 2.Water efficiency 3.Surface water management 4.Site Waste Management 5.Household Waste Management 6.Use of Materials 7.Lifetime homes (applies to Code Level 6 only)

Some useful websites