Sustainability

Question 1

What is sustainability?

Answer 1

Sustainability aims to meet the needs of today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

In the built environment, sustainability aims to achieve balance the three pillars of sustainability, social, economic and environmental to achieve, global, national and local development objectives.

Question 2

Why is sustainability important?

Answer 2

Creates self supported environments and communities

Question 3

Example of economic sustainability?

Answer 3

Local employment onto a construction site

Question 4

Example of social sustainability?

Answer 4

Investing in the local community, education, training to support themselves and others, reducing crime

Question 5

Example of environmental sustainability?

Answer 5

Protecting the environment through sustainable technologies on buildings, net zero, biodiversity

Question 6

What is the RICS World Built Environment Forum?

Answer 6

Initiative of RICS
The RICS World Built Environment Forum (WBEF) facilitates industry leading discussions harnessing the enormous potential of people and places.
Their mission is to advance discussions of critical importance to the built and natural environment, inspiring positive and sustainable change for a prosperous and inclusive future

Question 7

What sustainable initiatives are you aware of that are implemented by the RICS?

Answer 7

9 Step action plan

• Guidance – whole life carbon, sustainability and commercial property valuation
• Tools - SKA ratings encouraging green codes of practice for commercial properties
• Thought leadership – World Build Environment Form

Question 8

What is the Paris Agreement?

Answer 8

• The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty concerning climate
• change
• It was adopted by nearly every nation and came into affect in 2016
• The goal of the Paris Agreement is to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees
• Celsius whilst targeting levels below 1.5 degrees Celsius when compared to preindustrial levels
• The agreement commits all major emitting countries to cut their climate pollution
• It also creates a framework for the transparent monitoring and reporting of each individual countries progress

Question 9

What is net zero?

Answer 9

When the amount of carbon emissions associated with a building’s embodied and operational impacts over the life of the building, including its disposal, are zero or negative
Balancing the carbon emissions put into the atmosphere with those taken out
This means the amount of carbon emissions associated with a building’s usage and construction stages (up to practical completion) must equal zero or negative.
It can be achieved using offsets or the export of on-site renewable energy, e.g. exporting surplus unused energy back to the grid.

Question 10

What is a net zero building?

Answer 10

A net zero building is simply a building that has no net carbon emissions during its construction and operation.
Emissions are reduced and what’s leftover is balanced by renewable energy or carbon offsets.

Question 11

What are the 3 main categories that are assessed to evaluate the operational and embodied carbon emissions of a building?

Answer 11

• Net zero in operation
o For the operational carbon emissions of a building to be zero, it must be highly energy efficient and powered by renewable energy either on or off-site, with any remaining annual carbon emissions offset.
• Net zero in construction
o For a building to be net zero in construction, the carbon emissions associated with the building’s product and construction stages up to practical completion, needs to be offset through the net export of onsite renewable energy or by offsetting the emissions.
• Net zero in whole life carbon
o A truly net zero building must achieve net zero in whole life carbon, this means that the building operation and embodied carbon over its lifetime, including its disposal, are zero or negative.

Question 12

What new regulations have been bought in place to support the net zero initiative?

Answer 12

Update to building regulations – energy efficiency
• Updated June 2022
• Changes to the building regulations introduced help the UK deliver net zero by 2050
• New requirement for new homes to produce around 30% less CO2 than current standards, and a 27% reduction in emissions from other new buildings.
• Approved Document L - Conservation of fuel and power
o volume 1: dwellings
o volume 2: buildings other than dwellings
• Approved Document F - Ventilation
o volume 1: dwellings
o volume 2: buildings other than dwellings
• Approved Document O - Overheating

Question 13

Key principles of net zero?

Answer 13

• Measure and Disclose Carbon – carbon is the ultimate metric to track, and buildings must achieve annual operation net zero carbon emissions balance based on metric data.
• Reduce energy demand – prioritise energy efficiency to ensure buildings are performing as efficiently as possible and not wasting energy
• Generate balance from renewables – supply remaining demand from renewable energy sources, preferably on-site followed by off-site, or from offsets
• Improve verification and rigour – over time, progress to include embodied carbon and other impact areas such as zero water and zero waste.
• Future proof buildings

Question 14

How to achieve net zero?

Answer 14

• Passive design optimisation
• Reduce operational energy demand and consumption
• Eliminate fossil fuels
• Provide onsite renewable energy and storage where possible
• Limit upfront embodied carbon
• Consider whole life carbon in conjunction with whole life costing
• Publicly disclose performance annually using an embodied carbon database

Question 15

Operational vs embodied carbon?

Answer 15

• Embodied Carbon: The amount of carbon emitted during the making of a building. This includes extraction of raw materials, manufacture and refinement of materials, transport, the building phase of the product or structure, and the deconstruction and disposal of materials at the end of life.
• Operational Carbon: The amount of carbon emitted during the operational or in-use phase of a building. This includes the use, management, and maintenance of a product or structure.

Question 16

What is carbon offsetting?

Answer 16

Carbon offsetting is the approach that the legislation has generally taken for reducing carbon emissions in construction. When all feasible measures for reducing carbon have been exhausted, offsets can be used to cover any residual carbon.
When all the physical site works don’t achieve the net zero requirement, to reduce (offset) the difference, a payment can be made.

Question 17

Example of carbon offsetting?

Answer 17

Emissions of building calculated, and financial contribution is made to offset the carbon contributions elsewhere
EXAMPLE: Paying to plant trees to make the project carbon neutral

Question 18

Describe the different stages of energy consumption throughout the building lifecycle?

Answer 18

Cradle to grave

• Required embodied energy
o Energy consumer consumed in creating the building (extracting, process, transporting assembling)
• Initial embodied energy
o Energy consumed refurbing and maintaining the building during its life
• Operational energy
o Energy consumed heating, cooling, lighting and powering the building
• Demolition energy
o Energy consumed in the disposal of the building

Question 19

What is life cycle assessment?

Answer 19

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a method used to assess the environmental impact of products used in construction, from raw materials, processing and transport, use and end of life disposal or recycling.
Developments seeking BREEAM certification often target credits within Mat 01 ‘Environmental Impacts from Construction Products – Building LCA’ as a cost-effective means of contributing to the required rating.

Question 20

What is the Climate Change Act 2008?

Answer 20

• The Climate Change Act 2008 is the UK’s approach to tackling and responding to climate change and meeting net zero carbon by 2050.
• The UK government has set a target to significantly reduce UK greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 by 100% from 1990 baseline.
• The Act also establishes the framework to deliver on these requirements.
• The Act also established the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) to ensure that emissions targets are evidence-based and independently assessed.

Question 21

Science of photovoltaics?

Answer 21

• Solar panels are made from photovoltaic cells that convert the sun’s energy into electricity.
• Photovoltaic cells are sandwiched between layers of semi-conducting materials such as silicon. Each layer has different electronic properties that energise when hit by photons from sunlight, creating an electric field. This is known as the photoelectric effect – and it’s this that creates the current needed to produce electricity.
• Solar panels generate a direct current of electricity. This is then passed through an inverter to convert it into an alternating current, which can be fed into the National Grid or used by the home or business the solar panels are attached to.

Question 22

Advantages and disadvantages of PV panels?

Answer 22

Advantages
• Easily installed
• Don’t create noise pollution
• Green energy source
• Smart and safe energy – don’t need to use off the grid
• Low maintenance
Disadvantages
• Dependent on the sun / weather – unpredictable
• Require investment in batteries and inverters
• Usually require large area
• Fragile- easily damaged

Question 23

What is social value?

Answer 23

Social value aims to support local communities economies and environments via long term sustainable development initiatives

Question 24

What is corporate social value?

Answer 24

Corporate social value strategic initiative that keeps businesses more accountable for their impact. It looks to prioritise profits, people, and the planet in equal measure, operating as a means of improving reputation and profitability.

Question 25

What is the Public Services (Social Value) Act (2012)?

Answer 25

The Social Value Act 2012 requires public authorities in England to consider at the pre-procurement stage how social, economic and environmental benefits are delivered through projects.
It looks at:
• how what is proposed to be procured might improve the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of the relevant area;
• how, in conducting the process of procurement, it might act with a view to securing that improvement

Question 26

Benefits of social value?

Answer 26

• Improved service delivery, greater economic growth,
• greater engagement with the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE)
• sector, improved wellbeing and quality of life and an increase in the resilience of communities. Contracting authorities have also reported improved community
• relations, increased motivation and job satisfaction of staff and better organisational reputation

Question 27

What does the Public Contract Regulation 2015 say about social value?

Answer 27

The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 allow contracting authorities to incorporate social and environmental aspects into the evaluation criteria as part of the assessment of the most economically advantageous tender, as long as these are linked to the subject-matter of the contract.
Allows contracting authorities to require specific labels as proof that the works, services or goods meet the award criteria, including those relating to social or environmental characteristics.
Allow contracting authorities to include social and environmental considerations as conditions relating to the performance of the contract, as long as these are linked to the subject-matter of the contract

Question 28

What is the social value model?

Answer 28

The Social Value Model (‘the Model’) sets out government’s social value priorities for procurement. It includes a menu of social value options for commercial staff in in-scope organisations to review and select with their internal clients and any other stakeholders. There are 5 themes and 8 policy outcomes which flow from these themes

1. Covid recovery
2. Tackling economic equality
3. Fighting climate change
4. Equal opportunity
5. Wellbeing

Question 29

How was social value implemented on Grenfell?

Answer 29

8% of the tender evaluation
• Methodology detailing how the contractor proposed to engage with the community in a way that will support the social, economic and environmental improvement of the area.
• Detail how you will provide or support opportunities for community volunteers using training and learning.
• Determine the number of apprenticeship opportunities and how advertised
• Specify the number of volunteering hours you will deliver as part of the delivery of the contract.
• Detail what opportunities you will offer to generate employment and training opportunities
o Long-term unemployed
o Young people (including school leavers)
o People with disabilities
o Other under-represented in the workforce NEET – not in education, employment or training
• Describe your organisation’s policies and approach to Social Value and how these would be implemented on the Grenfell project.
• Detail how you will measure and monitor progress against these deliverables.

Question 30

What were the social value contributions?

Answer 30

F+Gs
20 hours per year visiting local schools/colleges delivering training workshops/lectures and delivering STEM career advice.
1 employed degree apprentice for £750k of fee income.
Work experience placements for local school children
Weve also made charity donations, gone into schools to do talks on construction industry

Question 31

How was social value weighted on Grenfell?

Answer 31

75% quality and 25% on price

Social value was 8% of the tender analysed

Question 32

What is COP26?

Answer 32

COP26 is the most recent annual UN climate change conference. COP stands for Conference of the Parties, and the summit was attended by the countries that signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – a treaty that came into force in 1994.
The two-week meeting was seen as a critical moment for commitments and action after richer nations had failed to raise the $100bn annual climate funding they had promised to vulnerable countries and the gap to staying below 1.5C loomed large.

Question 33

What was agreed at COP26?

Answer 33

• For the first time at a COP conference there was an explicit plan to reduce use of coal which is responsible for 40% of annual CO2 emissions.
• There was a commitment to ‘phase down’ rather than ‘phase out’ coal after a late intervention by China and India.
• The agreement pledged to significantly increase money to help developing countries cope with the effects of climate change and make the switch to clean energy.
• There’s was also the prospect of a trillion dollar a year fund from 2025 onwards after a previous pledge for richer countries to provide $100bn (£72bn) a year by 2020 was missed.
• While some observers say the COP26 agreement represented the “start of a breakthrough”, some African and Latin American countries felt not enough progress was made.

Question 34

How does COP26 relate to the Paris Agreement?

Answer 34

• At the COP 21 meeting in Paris in 2015, the Paris Agreement was formed.
• During the COP Meeting, the parties agreed to pursue efforts to prevent temperatures rising more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels to avoid the most dangerous impacts of global warming.
• The following Conference of the Parties meetings discusses how each nation is progressing against the original Paris Agreement

Question 35

Are you aware of any impending changes to minimum energy efficiency standards?

Answer 35

• Yes I understand the government has recently proposed changes to the EPC requirements for commercial property and buy to let properties which are due to take effect from 2025.
• Currently the minimum required energy efficiency rating for domestic rental property requires an E rating however this is expected to increase to a C rating or above from 2025.

Question 36

What is BREEAM?

Answer 36

• BREEAM = Building Research Establishments Environmental Assessment.
• Introduced by BRE (Building Research Establishment) in 1990.
• Voluntary Assessment.
• BREEAM is the leading sustainability assessment tool in the UK and used internationally across 77 countries.
• It assesses the environmental performance of NEW and EXISTING buildings- new construction, refurbishment and in-use.
• It evaluates the entire project life cycle from procurement, design, construction.

Question 37

What does BREEAM seek to achieve?

Answer 37

• To mitigate the life cycle impacts of buildings on the environment
• To enable buildings to be recognised according to their environmental benefits
• To provide a credible environmental label for buildings
• To increase demand for sustainable buildings

Question 38

Who undertakes a BREEAM assessment?

Answer 38

A licenced and qualified assessor.

Question 39

What are the categories covered by BREEAM?

Answer 39

It looks at a wide range of issues that cover sustainability under a series of categories:

1. Management
2. Health and Wellbeing
3. Energy
4. Transport
5. Water
6. Materials
7. Waste Lan use and Ecology
8. Pollution
9. Innovation

Question 40

How are the categories weighted?

Answer 40

Not equally weighed.
Highest – Energy
Lowest – Waste

Question 41

What are the BREEAM certified ratings?

Answer 41

A certified rating reflects the performance achieved by a project and its stakeholders, as measured against the standard and its benchmarks.
•	Unclassified <30%
•	Pass >30%
•	Good >45%
•	Very Good >55%
•	Excellent >75%
•	Outstanding >85%
and it is reflected in a series of stars on the BREEAM certificate.

Question 42

Advantages and disadvantages of BREEAM?

Answer 42

Advantages 
•	Regnised industry standard 
•	Reduces construction waste and materials 
•	Improved occupants satifsfaction 
•	Reduced operational costs 
•	Higher rental value 
Disadvantages 
•	High capital cost 
•	Complicated to administer 
•	Planning requirements

Question 43

What planning requirements have you had on your project?

Answer 43

Cycle storage provisions

Question 44

What is SKA?

Answer 44

RICS’ SKA rating is an assessment tool designed specifically to encourage good practice in fit-out work and to provide a mechanism for assessing and benchmarking in terms of sustainability.

SKA comprises good-practice measures (GPMs) across biodiversity, energy and CO2, waste, water, pollution, transport, materials, wellbeing and project delivery. Each GPM gives the criteria that needs to be achieved, the rationale behind the measure and guidance on how to achieve it.

Question 45

What are the SKA ratings?

Answer 45

The score is ranked in 3 thresholds:
• Gold (reached by achieving 75% of the measures in scope);
• Silver (reached by achieving 50% of the measures in scope); and
• Bronze (reached by achieving 25% of the measures in scope).
199. Advantages and disadvantages of SKA?
Advantages
• Measures 100% of the environmental performance of an interior fit-out
•
Disadvantages
• Does not consider the base build, as it measures only what you are able to modify within your tenancy.

Question 46

What is LEED?

Answer 46

• LEED = Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
• Established in the US in 1998 by the US Green Building Council
• Voluntary Assessment
• Widely used in the US following adoption by state and local government for public-owned and public-funded buildings, as well as by some federal agencies
• Used for new buildings as well as major renovations and existing buildings
• LEED certification earn points for various green building strategies across several categories based on the number of points achieved . The awards are:
• Platinum
• Gold
• Silver and
• Certified
• The scoring is more heavily weighted towards carbon and less towards wider sustainability issues such as recycling, biodiversity, management-in-use, etc.