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Test > Sustainability > Flashcards

Sustainability Flashcards

1
Q

Define sustainability.

A

Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

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2
Q

What percentage of the total UK carbon emissions are attributed to the built environment?

A

45%

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3
Q

What percentage of the UK’s landfill waste comes from the built environment?

A

32%

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4
Q

What percentage of products delivered to construction sites are sent directly to landfill?

A

13%

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5
Q

List some sustainable construction methods

A
  • Prefabricated construction
  • Selecting sustainable building materials, e.g. renewable materials, components with low LCC
  • Consider site logistics, i.e. use local suppliers to save on fuel costs
  • Project energy plan
  • Waste management plan
  • Water plan
  • Implement sustainability requirements in PQQ/ERs
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6
Q

What features would you consider when designing a sustainable building

A
  • Maximising daylight
  • Use ventilation (e.g. louvres) to cool building naturally without using energy
  • Design for simplicity of operation and long life (reduce LCC/WLC)
  • Reuse materials
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7
Q

What is a Waste Management Plan?

A
  • Defines how materials will be managed efficiently and disposed of legally
  • Defines how the re-use and recycling of materials will be maximised
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8
Q

List some recyclable materials

A
  • Glass
  • Wood
  • Plasterboard and other gypsum products can be used and recycled for cement/plaster of paris
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9
Q

List some reusable materials

A
  • Bricks
  • Demolition waste for aggregate
  • Building foundations can sometimes we reused, instead of being dug out and re -formed
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10
Q

What is the definition of a sustainable material?

A

A sustainable material does not deplete non-renewable (natural) resources. They have no adverse impacts on the environment when used.

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11
Q

List some sustainable materials

A
  • FSC wood (Forest Stewardship Council)

- Anything that is being reused/recycled

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12
Q

List some sustainable FF&E

A
  • Aerators on taps
  • LED lights
  • Solar panels
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13
Q

How might you design a building to reduce water consumption?

A
  • Smaller sinks
  • Reduce toilet cisterns from 6L to 3L
  • Vacuum toilets
  • Rainwater harvesting; grey water for toilets
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14
Q

How might a building generate sustainable energy?

A
  • PVC panels
  • Wind turbines
  • Active buildings generate energy*
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15
Q

How might a building conserve energy?

A
  • Maximise sunlight and ventilation through window design and building position (take advantage of prevailing winds)
  • Thick walls
  • Insulation
  • Double/triple glazing
  • Passive buildings conserve energy*
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16
Q

What is the difference between a directive, act and regulations/rules/codes?

A

Directive - a legal act of the EU which requires a particular result without dictating the means of achieving that result

Act - legislation passed by parliament. Acts set out broad legal/policy principles.

Regulation - Guidelines that dictate how the provisions of the act are applied. Enforceable by law.

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17
Q

Name some of the acts and regulations in the UK that relate to sustainability.

A

Acts

  • Clean Air Act 1993
  • Climate Change Act 2008
  • Energy Act 2011

Regulations/rules/codes

  • Building Regulations (Part L)
  • MEES
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18
Q

What is the Clean Air Act 1993?

A
  • Restricts smoke/pollution
  • Result of the “Great Smog” of ‘52
  • First introduced in ‘56
  • Provisions relate to furnace installations, chimney heights, maximum grit/dust emission rate
  • Maximum fines of up to £1,000 for non-compliance
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19
Q

What is the Climate Change Act 2008?

A
  • Commitment to cut emissions of greenhouse gases by 34% by 2020 and 80% by 2050 (1990 base date)
  • Committee of Climate Change established to advise government and report annually to parliament
  • Carbon Plan established: government required to publish 5-yearly caps on greenhouse gas emissions
  • Policies relating to corporate reporting of emissions
  • Followed Kyoto Protocol 2005
20
Q

What is the Energy Act 2011?

A
  • Big 6 energy providers must deliver efficiency measures to domestic users
  • Introduced Green Deal
21
Q

What was the green deal?

A
  • Offered loans for energy saving measures eg. insulation
  • Loans paid back to government on top of energy bills, but with insulation energy bills should be overall lower
  • Widely criticised and ultimately failed due to high interest rates on the loan and little awareness of the scheme
22
Q

What is Part L of the Building Regulations?

A
  • Conservation of fuel and power
  • L1A = Conservation of fuel and power in new dwellings
  • L1B = Conservation of fuel and power in existing dwellings
  • “Where a building is erected, it shall not exceed target CO2 level”

2013 Changes:

  • L1A = 6% increase in performance of standards for new dwellings. TFEE rates introduced (Target Fabric Efficiency Rates)
  • L1B = 9% increase in performance of standards for existing dwellings
  • L2A and L2B introduced for new and existing buildings other than dwellings
23
Q

What are the MEES?

A
  • Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards
  • To improve energy efficiency in buildings. Introduced in 2015.
  • Buildings all given EPC ratings (energy performance certificate) A - G

April 2018 Changes:

  • F and G rated properties unlettable
  • Fine of 10% of properties value if let for < 3 months, 20% if let for > 3 months

Exemptions:

  • If it will take more than 7 years for energy efficiencies to cover cost of improvements
  • If it will devalue property by more than 5%
24
Q

Name some international regulations relating to sustainability

A
  • Kyoto Protocol 2005

- Paris Climate Accord 2015

25
Q

What is the Kyoto Protocol?

A
  • Signed in 1997, effective as of 2005
  • International treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Extension of the UNFCCC 92.
  • Actions reflect the countries wealth, capacity to reduce emissions and emissions output.
  • Countries must prepare policies and regulations to reduce GFG, increase absorption of GSG, and review and report on emissions
  • First period ended in 2012, not enough countries ratified the protocol.
26
Q

What is the Paris Climate Accord?

A
  • Followed Kyoto Protocol
  • Mitigation, adaption and financing for greenhouse gases
  • Aim to keep temperature from rising 2 degrees by 2100
  • Countries free to set their own targets
27
Q

What is BREEAM?

A
  • Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method
  • Best practice guidance and standards for the environmental performance of buildings through design, specification, construction and operation.
  • Based on energy, water, health and well-being, pollution, waste.
  • Rated unclassified < 30%, pass > 30%, good > 45%, very good > 55%, excellent > 70%, outstanding > 85%
28
Q

What is LEED?

A
  • Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
  • Widely used in the US, whereas BREEAM is more popular in the UK
  • Based on Water efficiency, materials and resources, innovative design etc
  • Rated certified, silver, gold, platinum
29
Q

What is the SKA Rating?

A
  • RICS environmental assessment method
  • Created for non-domestic fit-out projects, rates sustainability of the fit-out separate from the base build
  • Free online tool to help improve sustainability
30
Q

What is a BMS?

A
  • Building Management System
  • BMS are computer based systems used to control and monitor building services
  • Can optimise buildings performance, give better control, gather data, report, improve safety, decrease OPEX
  • Can alert you when parameters are exceeded
  • Intelligent BMS collates a range of info on one interface
31
Q

What is a BEMS?

A
  • Building Energy Management System
  • Used to monitor building services relating specifically to energy usage such as AC, heating, lighting. Not safety systems etc.
  • Offers real time remote monitoring
  • Records historic data useful for benchmarking
  • Can be used to optimise energy use without compromising comfort or performance
  • 10% - 25% savings on energy costs
  • Requires maintenance eg batteries in sensors, checking connections
32
Q

What are building services?

A
  • Building services are things such as lifts, light switches, heating, fire alarms, ventilation, CCTV, IT systems
  • Systems installed to make building more efficient, safe, comfortable and functional
  • Controlled by sensors, clocks, switches
33
Q

What is meant by ecological footprint?

A
  • Humans demand on nature
  • Requirements from nature to support people/an economy, such as plant food, fish, livestock, timber, forests to absorb CO2 etc to support a town
34
Q

What is ecological footprint accounting?

A
  • Measures populations demand on resources against the ecosystems capacity to supply them
35
Q

What is biological capacity?

A
  • The capacity for an ecosystem to support people/an economy/a town
36
Q

What is an ecological deficit?

A
  • When an ecological footprint is bigger than the biological capacity
  • Countries in the “red” are in an ecological deficit
  • The World is in an ecological deficit
  • Opposite of ecological reserve
37
Q

What’s the difference between a smart building and intelligent building?

A
  • Intelligent building = automated buildings with centralised control of building services
  • Smart building = expansion of intelligent. Features additional controls and tools such as remote controlling.
38
Q

What are the pillars of sustainability?

A
  • Social
  • Environmental
  • Economic
39
Q

What is the triple bottom line?

A
  • Accounting framework taking into consideration a company’s social, environmental and economic output
  • Bottom line = economic only, final profit
  • Economics of a company can be good, but the company will suffer if they have negative social/environmental impact such as high staff turnover, and may lose business from clients that endorse sustainability
  • CSR in private sector drives triple bottom line
40
Q

What are U Values?

A
  • Calculate how effective a material is as an insulator

- The lower the U value is, the better that material is as an insulator

41
Q

What is WLC?

A
  • WLC looks at all costs incurred by a building from it’s inception, through construction and operation, to its disposal
  • Better way of assessing VfM
  • Inclusive of non-construction costs such as fees
  • Spending more on architects fees could result in a better designed building, saving money long-term through lower energy costs
  • Difficult to accurately assess future costs and life of building
  • Difficult getting OPEX data from suppliers
42
Q

What is LCC?

A
  • Similar to WLC but not as broad. LCC is a part of WLC.
  • Relates to capital cost and future cash flow of a building/component/system
  • Does not account for non-construction costs such as fees, wages
43
Q

What is a LCA?

A
  • Life Cycle Assessment
  • Method of assessing environmental impact of building component, whole building or building system throughout it’s life
  • Can be used as a comparative tool vs other design options
44
Q

What is the Department for Energy and Climate Change?

A
  • Spends most of its resources managing historic nuclear sites
  • Began in 2008
45
Q

What can be classed as contaminated land?

A
  • Any substance which is or may become harmful to persons or buildings
  • Includes land that is: corrosive, explosive, flammable, radioactive or toxic
46
Q

What are the hazards to be aware of regarding contaminated land?

A
  • Damage to fauna
  • Contamination to ground water
  • Hazard to human health
  • Settlement
  • Subsidence
  • Damage to foundations
47
Q

What can cause land to become contaminated?

A
  • Asbestos works
  • Cement manufacturing
  • Oil storage
  • Petrol stations/refineries

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