Advanced Construction Technology

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

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/

Sustainability and construction

Christopher Gorse

Gro Harlem Bruntland

Prime Minister of Norway 1981-1996

2002 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 modelsLook at the met office site and the

models of global warming

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/hadleycentre/models/modeldata.html

Can increase in CO2 be explained by volcanic eruptions, natural, orbital change etc.

www.metoffice.gov.uk

Sustainable? Zero CarbonGovernment 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’.

www.breeam.org

BREEAM Categories and weightings

• Management 15%• Health and Welfare 15%• Energy 13.6%• Transport 11.4%• Water 5%• Materials 10%• Land use 15%• Pollution 15%

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

• Good 40

• Very Good 55

• 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

www.heatpumps.co.uk/thebasics.htm

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 /CO2 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

• www.greenspec.co.uk• www.gaxeley.com• www.passive-on.org/en• www.berr.gov.uk• www.carboncounting.co.uk• www.ncm.bre.co.uk• www.smartwaste.co.uk• www.thegreenguide.org.uk• www.cyrilsweett.co.uk• www.carbonlite.org.uk• www.seda2.org