Sustainability Flashcards
Please explain your understanding of the term sustainability?
To meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Key principles were also set out within the Brundtland Commission Report, Our Common Future 1987 which identified the need for sustainable development based around environmental protection, economic growth and social equity. It called for conservation of the environment and resources by gradually changing the ways in which we develop and use technologies.
What are the key principles of sustainability?
Social - Building healthy communities with sufficient numbers and range of buildings.
Economical - Build strong, responsive, competitive economies ensuring sufficient land and right types.
Environmental: - Contributing towards the protection and enhancement of our natural, built and historic environment.
What are the core principles of Planning and Decision making around sustainability?
Creative processes should be used not just scrutiny.
Proactive steps should be taken to achieve sustainable development.
Secure the development of high quality built assets.
Account for the character of the surrounding area.
Support a climate-resilient and low-carbon economy.
Conserve & enhance natural environment and reduce pollution.
Encourage use of brownfield sites.
Conserve heritage.
Maximise use of public transport, cycling and walking.
Support health, social and cultural well-being.
What are the most common environmental issues experienced on construction sites?
Risks of Water Pollution.
Air and Noise Pollution.
High Energy Consumption and carbon emissions.
Risk of land contamination.
Damage to wild habitats.
High Wastage production into landfill.
Release of dangerous gases and chemicals.
What are the key pieces of legislation that affect sustainability in construction?
Agricultural Land Act – Enables land to be acquired for a particular purpose for example to control pests and weeds, for use as woodlands or to support agricultural activities.
Building Act – This is the primary piece of UK Legislation that enables the Building Regulations to be enforced. This is to assist in the conservation of fuel and power, to prevent waste, misuse or contamination of water and to ensure those in and around buildings are kept safe.
Clean Air Act – This legislation provides local authorities within England to introduce measures in order to control air pollution.
Climate Change Act – This is a legally binding framework to tackle climate change. It imposed targets to cut greenhouse emissions compared with 1990 levels 34% by 2020 and 80% by 2050.
What are the Key Building Regulations that relate to sustainability in construction?
Building Regulations Part L — Conservation of Fuel and Power.
Energy Performance of Buildings Regulations.
o Requires that EPC’s are produced for dwellings and non-dwellings.
o Quantifies energy efficiency of buildings.
o Required when buildings are built, sold or rented.
o Commercial buildings over 500 sqm. and frequented by the public need to display a display energy certificate (DEC) based on actual energy used.
What are the different forms of taxation relating to sustainability?
Landfill Tax which is an environmental tax payable in addition to landfill rates charged by private disposal companies.
The tax was introduced as a means to encourage alternative methods of disposal such as recycling.
The tax is charged by weight at varying rates depending on whether the waste is inert or active.
What different code of practice are you aware of for measuring
sustainability?
BREEAM (Life Cycle Assessment).
o Sets best practice standards for the environmental performance of buildings through specification, design, construction and operation.
o BREEAM Stands for the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method.
o The assessment is undertaken by a licensed assessor based on energy, land & ecology, water, health & wellbeing, pollution, materials and waste and management.
o BREEAM applies to new and refurbishment projects, domestic and non-domestic.
o Rating are:
▪ Outstanding.
▪ Excellent.
▪ Very Good.
▪ Good.
▪ Pass.
▪ Unclassified.
SKA Ratings
o An RICS Environmental assessment method for non-domestic fit outs such as office refurbishments.
The scheme assesses fit out projects against a set of sustainability good practice criteria, known as Good Practice Measures (GPM).
o SKA can act as an alternative to BREEAM which have higher costs in comparison.
LEED (Life Cycle Assessment).
o LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
o It is a USA equivalent of BREEAM.
o Ratings are:-
▪ LEED Certified.
▪ Silver.
▪ Gold.
▪ Platinum.
* This method reviews embodied aspects of carbon emissions as well as life cycle assessment during construction and operation.
What procedures does your firm implement to promote sustainability?
Recycling of cardboard, paper and plastics.
Use of Energy efficient lighting (motion sensors).
Energy efficient equipment (LED lamps, energy efficient monitors).
All company cars are to be EV’s by 2025.
Cycle to work schemes.
Reduce printing by using cloud-based systems.
Charitable contributions (tree planting / environmental programmes).
* Sign up to Green initiatives and codes of practice (use office space with high EPC / BREEAM ratings).
What is the Paris Agreement?
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 pre-industrial 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.
Name some sustainable building methods?
Use of recycled materials such as reclaimed timber, recycled tiles and plastics.
Ground Source Heat Pumps.
Air Source Heat Pumps.
Solar Panels.
Wind Turbines.
Solar Shading.
Rain water harvesting.
Green Roofs.
Automated Building Systems (Lighting sensors).
What is your understanding of the term ‘Green Roofs’?
A green roof is a roof covering that is partially or completely covered with vegetation that is placed over a waterproof membrane.
Additional layers such as drainage layers, irrigation systems or root barriers may also be placed over the membrane.
Rooftop ponds are an alternative form of green roof which are used to treat grey water.
The vegetation, soil, drainage layer, root barriers and irrigation system are typically the key components of a green roof.
Advantages of Green Roofs are that they absorb rainwater, provide extra insulation, increase biodiversity by providing habitats for wildlife, are aesthetically pleasing and lower urban air temperatures.
What are Photovoltaics and how do they work?
Photovoltaics allow the conversion of sunlight into electricity.
*Sunlight contains energy known as photons.
*When photos hit solar modules within the solar panel they cause electrons to flow through the bottom layer.
*The movement of electrons generates electricity that flows to an inverter.
The inverter converts DC electricity into AC that is then used to power the building.
What is a soakaway and how do they work?
Soakaways offer a means of surface water drainage attenuation.
They consist of large holes or pits that receive surface water from a drainage pipe.
The soakaway allows the collected surface water to gradually infiltrate through the soil.
Can you explain your understanding of the term carbon neutral?
Carbon neutrality is to have a balance between the carbon emitted and the carbon absorbed from the atmosphere in carbon sinks.
This is an important measure of the impact that businesses and projects have on the environment and global warming.
To date no artificial carbon sinks are able to remove carbon from the atmosphere at the levels required
to offset global warming.
What is meant by the term solar gain?
Solar gain is the name given to the increase in temperature in a space, object or structure due to solar radiation (the heat from the sun).
A building can retain this solar gain by having high thermal mass or can avoid it by using reflective materials and insulation.
How can solar gain be managed in buildings?
Limiting the size and area of openings such as doors and windows.
Shading or orientating doors and windows from direct sunlight.
Using reflective materials on the glass and building fabric.
Insulating walls and roof spaces to prevent indirect solar gains into the building.
How can solar gain be managed in buildings?
Limiting the size and area of openings such as doors and windows.
Shading or orientating doors and windows from direct sunlight.
Using reflective materials on the glass and building fabric.
Insulating walls and roof spaces to prevent indirect solar gains into the building.
How does a ground source heat pump work?
Heat from the ground is absorbed at low temperatures into a fluid inside a loop of pipe (a ground loop)
buried underground.
The fluid then passes through a compressor that raises it to a higher temperature, which can then heat water for the heating and hot water circuits of the house.
The cooled ground-loop fluid passes back into the ground where it absorbs further energy from the ground in a continuous process as long as heating is required.
Please explain your understanding of the term SUDS?
SUDS will slow down surface water run off by allowing it to infiltrate and soak into natural contours and landscapes.
SUDS are considered to be environmentally friendly as they do not rely on the manufacture of plastic or clay drainage components and instead utilise natural vegetation and material to absorb surface water.
What are the benefits of a BREEAM certified building?
BREEAM buildings help clients to benefit from lowering the running costs of their built assets and minimising the impact on the environment through consideration at planning, design, construction and operation phases.
Other benefits include greater marketability to building tenants through lower running costs and creating desirable places to live and work.
A higher building value and positive PR message is also achieved through the increased sustainability of the building, particularly when achieving BREEAM excellent and very good ratings.
What are the benefits of rainwater harvesting?
It decreases the demand for water.
It reduces the need for imported water.
Rainwater harvesting promotes both water and energy conservation.
Improved BREEAM compliance can be achieved.
Lower operational costs can be gained.
What is an EPC?
Energy Performance Certificates were introduced in 2007 and are a legal requirement for a building to be sold, let or constructed.
Once obtained, an EPC is valid for 10 years.
The most efficient built assets typically have the lowest fuel bills and are in band A.
EPC’s are rated on a scale of A-G.
The energy efficiency of the built asset along with the potential efficiency following improvements are identified.
The EPC will also show the amount of CO2 emissions produced by the property in tonnes and will advise the amount this could be reduced by.
What sustainable initiatives are you aware of that are being implemented by the RICS?
The RICS SKA ratings encourages green codes of practice for commercial properties.
RICS has also launched the ‘Value the Planet’ campaign and committed to forming a climate change expert panel to implement the UN’s sustainable development goals.
RICS has launched a Responsible Business Report filled with solutions for companies to operate in a greener capacity, regardless of the firm’s size. This includes introducing higher recycling rates and reducing energy, transport and water use where possible.
What things do you implement to promote sustainability?
Printing only when necessary.
Car sharing.
Use of energy efficient equipment.
Recycling.
Use of cycle to work schemes.
Being careful to minimise waste where possible.
Avoiding the use of plastic bottles.
Use of cloud-based storage systems.
Please explain your understanding of what happened at COP29?
COP29 was held in Baku, Azerbaijan in November 2024 and focused on addressing the climate finance gap through the loss and damage fund, designed to support vulnerable nations.
* Some progress was made on working towards a global carbon market where the buying and selling of carbon emissions is facilitated to help reduce global emissions. This market would incentivise lower global emissions for companies, countries and other entities.
* By putting a price on carbon, it incentivises industries to innovate and invest in cleaner technologies, helping to reduce the global carbon footprint.
* Progress was made on the NCQG or New Climate Finance Goal to replace the previous $100bn Goal. This is intended to ensure that sufficient financial resources are mobilised to support developing countries to address the impacts of loss and damage from climate-related disasters. A consensus on the amount and scope of the funds required was discussed at COP29.
What is meant by the term Global Carbon Market?
This refers to an international system that allows the buying and selling of carbon emissions, allowances or credits.
* It is designed to help reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by putting a price on carbon to incentivise countries, companies, and other entities to innovate and invest in cleaner technologies and help to reduce the global carbon footprint.
Please provide a high-level overview of the RICS Sustainability Report?
The RICS Sustainability Report 2024 provides a detailed analysis of the current state of sustainability within the built environment sector. The key findings include:-
o Identification of an increase in market demand for green buildings however the adoption of sustainable practices remains limited.
o High upfront costs and insufficient government incentives form significant barriers to widespread implementation of greener building methods.
o The report highlighted a need for consistent sustainability measurement across projects. Tools like the RICS Whole Life Carbon Assessment (WLCA) standard aim to address this issue by providing a unified framework for assessing and reducing carbon emissions throughout a building’s lifecycle.
o The RICS emphasises that the level of commitment and action needs to increase substantially to achieve 2050 net-zero targets.
o RICS continues to play a pivotal role in shaping sustainability policies and standards globally. Its involvement in initiatives like the UN’s Buildings Breakthrough highlights the importance of harmonising sustainability standards worldwide.
