Sustainability Flashcards
What is sustainability? What is sustainable development?
The ability to be sustained, supported, upheld, or confirmed. Sustainability is generally split into three main pillars: social, economical and environmental. Within the environmental pillar, ideally this means not being harmful to the environment or depleting natural resources, thereby supporting long-term ecological balance. Whilst all construction needs material, using timber for example and planting trees elsewhere will not deplete resources in the long term. In the many situation where timber is not appropriate, an effort should be made to use waste, recycled or readily available local materials to minimise impact.
The most common definition of sustainable development is ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’.
What legislation relates to waste management?
- The Control of Pollution Act 1974 stipulated that no person shall deposit waste on land.
- The Environmental Protection Act 1990 imposed a Duty of Care on all those who import, produce, carry, keep, treat or dispose of controlled waste. It also required waste on site to be stored in such a way as to prevent it from causing damage to the environment or posing a risk to human health. This generally means it must be stored in suitable containers or a defined compound.
- The List of Waste Regulations implemented the European Waste Codes (EWC), a standard coding system that classifies and describes all type of waste.
- The Hazardous Waste Regulations 2005 (amended 2009) defined waste as hazardous according to the List of Waste Regulations 2005. It introduced a requirement for consignment notes specifically for hazardous waste.
- The Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011 prohibits the illegal disposal, treatment and storage of waste, not only by the producer but anyone else who handles the waste subsequently. Waste transfer is only permitted to an authorised person e.g. a registered waste carrier to the holder of a waste disposal licence.
In terms of the three pillars, how sustainable a project do you think BSCU was?
Economic: Benefit Cost Ratio (CBA) for the project was 4.0:1. Potential for the EFC
Social: reduced interchange times between areas of the station. Improve step free access facilities, enabling people to come into the city centre who could not do so. Other benefits:
Environment:
What do you know about PAS2080?
PAS 2080 - carbon management in infrastructure is world’s first standard for managing infrastructure carbon, offering practical ‘how to’ guidance to cut cost, improve efficiency and slow climate change. It is increasingly clear that cutting carbon cuts costs. A causal link was identified in the Treasury’s Infrastructure Carbon Review (ICR) in 2013. Research for the ICR conducted by the Green Construction Board’s Infrastructure Working Group concluded that if the UK infrastructure industry adopted the practices pioneered by those leading on carbon reduction, it would benefit the UK economy by almost £1.5bn per year.
PAS 2080 is applicable to any member involved in the delivery of infrastructure including asset owners/managers, designers, constructers and product/material suppliers.
What are the different categories of landfill waste?
The key umbrella categories of landfill waste and their approximate disposal costs are:
• Inert = £13/tonne (of which £3/tonne is tax)
• Non-hazardous = £144+/tonne (of which £94/tonne is tax)
• Hazardous = £245+/tonne (of which £94/tonne is tax)
The European Waste Catalogue (EWC) or List of Wastes (LoW) breaks the types of hazardous waste.
What is the the expected level of global warming by 2100? What are the impacts on sea levels?
The expected rise in average global temperatures on pre-industrial levels is 4.5 degree Celsius if countries do not act. The increase is currently expected to be 3.3 degrees Celsius based on current policies and 2.9 degrees Celsius based on current pledges. Global temperatures have risen by 1.1 degrees Celsius since 1850, although this rise is increasing and totalled 0.2 degrees Celsius between 2015 and 2019. There is also a ‘lag’ in the system (estimated at 20 years). If emissions dropped to zero tomorrow, temperatures would still rise for a period of time until the ‘equilibrium’ average temperature was reached. It is generally agreed that limiting rises to 2 degrees Celsius will mitigate the most serious impacts of climate change, although some argue that 1.5 degrees Celsius is more accurate.
Global average sea levels are rising at approximately 5mm a year, up from 3.2mm a year in 1993 and 4mm a year between 2007 and 2016. Estimates vary largely but the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that sea levels will rise 30cm to 60cm by 2100, even if the Paris climate accord pledges are met. If emissions continue on current trends, it foresees an 84cm rise by 2100 and up to 5.4m by 2300.
What is CEEQUAL?
CEEQUAL stands for the Civil Engineering Environmental Quality Assessment and Award Scheme. It is an international evidence-based sustainability assessment for civil engineering, infrastructure, landscaping and works in public spaces. Looks at use of water, energy and land, impacts on ecology, landscape, neighbours, archaeology, as well as waste minimisation and management, and community relations and amenity. Version 6 has recently been released, which merges the CEEQUAL and BREEAM Infrastructure assessments.
What is the carbon footprint of the: UK as whole; the UK transport industry; the average UK person?
- UK as whole - approximately 784,000,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent greenhouse gases (tCO2e).
- The UK transport industry - approximately 235,000,000 tCO2e, or 30% of the UK total. 89% of this is cars, 10% is rail, 1% is domestic aviation.
- The average UK person - approximately 11 tCO2e.
What is the greenhouse effect?
The greenhouse effect is a warming of Earth’s surface and the air above it. It is caused by gases in the atmosphere that trap the energy of the Sun. Without greenhouse gases the surface of the earth would be -18 degrees Celsius.
The sun heats the Earth via solar radiation. About half of this heat is radiated by the earth as infrared, which is then partially blocked by greenhouse gases. The amount of heat that is trapped is proportional to the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Water vapours account for 50% of the greenhouse effect and clouds contribute a further 25%. Other greenhouse gases contribute to the remainder with carbon dioxide and methane being the most common.
What is the global make up of carbon emissions?
- Electricity and Heat Production (25%)
- Industry (21% )
- Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use (24%)
- Transportation (14%):
- Buildings (6%)
- Other Energy (10%)
What is the Environment Act 1994?
It created the Environment Agency, which was established to protect and improve the environment and to contribute to sustainable development by implementing the policies of UK governmental departments. It has core statutory duties in relation to: conservation, fisheries, flood defence; integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC), industry regulation, land quality, planning, radioactive substances, waste, water quality and water resources.
What is the difference between Climate Mitigation and Climate Adaption?
Mitigation involves taking action to reduce the probability and limit the extent of climate change. It is thought that every £1 spent on mitigation will save £5 in damages and subsequently required adaption.
Adaptation involves taking action to cope with the effects and reduce the impact of climate change when it does occur.
What is the ISO 14000 family of Standards?
The ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) 14000 family are environmental management standards. ISO 14001 in particular sets the requirements for an environmental management system (EMS). Elements include: planning, implementing, environmental policy, checking and management review.
What does CO2e mean?
CO2e stands for carbon dioxide equivalent. Carbon is generally used as an umbrella term for the equivalent carbon dioxide impact of all greenhouse gases. As well as carbon dioxide, methane (25 times the global warming impact of CO2 by molecule) and nitrous oxide (300 times the global warming impact of CO2 by molecule) are key greenhouse gases.
