2.9 Sustainability

Question 1

What is sustainability?

Answer 1

Meeting the needs of today without compromising the needs of future generations.

Question 2

Why is sustainability important to construction?

Answer 2

Construction accounts for 36% of energy usage and 40% of CO2 emissions.

Question 3

How do you measure sustainability?

Answer 3

Can be measured by assessing the perfomance of Social, Environmental and Economical principles.

Question 4

What measures do my company take be more sustainable?

Answer 4

Recycling.
LED Lighting.
Sustainable site cabins.
Green car scheme.

Question 5

Any building regulations relating to sustainability.

Answer 5

Approved document part L - Conservation of fuel and power

Question 6

What are technologies in buildings that could help meet Part L?

Answer 6

PV panels.
Green roofs.
GSHP.
Natural ventilation.
Solar shading.

Question 7

What are u-values?

Answer 7

Measure of how effective a material is as an insulator. The lower the value the better the material is as a heat insulator.

Question 8

What are some assessment schemes used to measure sustainability?

Answer 8

LEED - Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
BREEAM - Building Research Establishment Environment Assessment Method
CEEQUAL - Civil Engineering, Infrastructure and lanscaping

Question 9

What are the BREEAM assessment categories?

Answer 9

Management
Health and wellbeing
Energy
Transport
Water
Materials
Waste
Land use and ecology
Pollution
Innovation

Question 10

What is BREEAM?

Answer 10

International scheme that provides independent third-party certification of the sustainability performance.

Question 11

What are the advantages of BREEAM?

Answer 11

Improve the marketability for the client or developer.
Can reduce operating costs.
Improve the internal environment for users.
Compliance can lower environmental impact.

Question 12

What are the BREEAM rating threshold?

Answer 12

Outstanding is equal or over 85%
Pass is equal or over 30%

Question 13

What is EPC?

Answer 13

Energy Perfomance Certificate.
Sets out the energy efficiency of a building. Provides an indication of how much it will cost to heat and power the property.

Question 14

What are SUDS?

Answer 14

Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS). Designed to efficiently manage the drainage of surface water.

Question 15

What are examples of SUDS?

Answer 15

Filter strip and drain.
Swales.
Permeable surfaces.
Green roofs.
Rainwater harvesting.