CONCEPTS

Sustainable Construction

Sustainable construction is defined as "the creation and responsible management of a healthy built environment based on resource efficient and ecological principles". Sustainably designed buildings aim to lessen their impact on our environment through energy and resource efficiency. It includes the following principles:

• minimising non-renewable resource consumption
• enhancing the natural environment
• eliminating or minimising the use of toxins

Accordning to an OECD Project, "Sustainable building" can be defined as those buildings that have minimum adverse impacts on the built and natural environment, in terms of the buildings themselves, their immediate surroundings and the broader regional and global setting. "Sustainable building" may be defined as building practices, which strive for integral quality (including economic, social and environmental performance) in a very broad way. Thus, the rational use of natural resources and appropriate management of the building stock will contribute to saving scarce resources, reducing energy consumption (energy conservation), and improving environmental quality.

Sustainable building involves considering the entire life cycle of buildings, taking environmental quality, functional quality and future values into account. In the past, attention has been primarily focused on the size of the building stock in many countries. Quality issues have hardly played a significant role. However, in strict quantity terms, the building and housing market is now saturated in most countries, and the demand for quality is growing in importance. Accordingly, policies that contribute to the sustainability of building practices should be implemented, with recognition of the importance of existing market conditions. Both the environmental initiatives of the construction sector and the demands of users are key factors in the market. Governments will be able to give a considerable impulse to sustainable buildings by encouraging these developments. The OECD project has identified five objectives for sustainable buildings:

• Resource Efficiency
• Energy Efficiency (including Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction)
• Pollution Prevention (including Indoor Air Quality and Noise Abatement)
• Harmonisation with Environment (including Environmental Assessment)
• Integrated and Systemic Approaches (including Environmental Management System)

Based on the objectives of the Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) The principles are:

• demolish and rebuild only when it is not economical or practicable to reuse, adapt or extend an existing structure;
• reduce the need for transport during demolition, refurbishment and construction and tightly control all processes to reduce noise, dust, vibration, pollution and waste;
• make the most of the site, eg. by studying its history and purpose, local micro-climates and the prevailing winds and weather patterns, solar orientation, provision of public transport and the form of surrounding buildings;
• design the building to minimise the cost of ownership and its impact on the environment over its life span by making it easily maintainable and by incorporating techniques and technologies for conserving energy and water and reducing emissions to land, water and air;
• wherever feasible, use the construction techniques which are indigenous to the area, learning from local traditions in materials and design;
• put the function of the building and the comfort of its occupants well before any statement it is intended to make about the owner or its designer. That is, make it secure, flexible and adaptable (to meet future requirements) and able to facilitate and promote communications between staff;
• build to the appropriate quality and to last. Longevity depends much on form, finishes and the method of assembly employed as on the material used.
• avoid using materials from non renewable sources or which cannot be reused or recycled, especially in structures which have a short life;