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RICS APC > Sustainability Level 1 > Flashcards

Sustainability Level 1 Flashcards

1
Q

What is sustainable development?

A

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

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2
Q

What is sustainable construction?

A

Refers to the construction and occupancy process that is environmentally responsible and resource efficient throughout a buildings life-cycle from location, design, construction, occupancy, operation, maintenance, renovation and demolition.

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3
Q

What are 3 three principles or ‘pillars ‘of sustainability?

A

Environmental

Economic

Social

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4
Q

What are 3 three principles or ‘pillars ‘of sustainability?

A

Environmental

Economic

Social

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5
Q

Define economic considerations in relation to sustainability.

A

Efficient use of resource, including labour, and ensuring the design & construction meets the current & functional needs of the users.

Does the development represent overall value for money?

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6
Q

Define social considerations in relation to sustainability.

A

The development should respond to the needs of the wider community.

For example, a fast-food restaurant next to a school would not be socially sustainable.

Whereas, a library next to a university would be.

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7
Q

Define environmental considerations in relation to sustainability.

A

Preventing harmful & potentially irreversible impacts on the environment by careful use of natural resource, minimising waste & energy and protecting & enhancing the environment where possible.

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8
Q

How do you measure sustainability?

A
  • by assessing performance of the 3 principles of sustainability
  • by using construction sustainability assessments, such as:
                - BREEAM
            - SKA
            - LEED
            - CEEQUAL
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9
Q

What is BREEAM?

A
  • The Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method
  • an international scheme that provides 3rd party certification of the sustainability performance of buildings, communities & infrastructure projects
  • Assessment & certification takes place over a number of stages in the built environment lifecycle, from design & construction to operation and refurbishment
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10
Q

What are the BREEAM headline assessment categories?

A 
Management 
Health & Wellbeing
Energy 
Transport
Water
Materials
Waste 
Land Use & Ecology
Pollution 
Innovation
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11
Q

What are the advantages of BREEAM?

A
  • Demonstrates level of achievement
  • Compliance can lower environmental impact
  • Improves internal environment as can increase productivity
  • Can reduce operating costs
  • Improves marketability of the client or developer
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12
Q

What are the BREEAM thresholds?

A
  • 85% + is outstanding
  • 70% + is excellent
  • 55% + is very good
  • 45 + is good
  • 30% + is pass
  • less than 30% is unclassified
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13
Q

What is SKA?

A
  • Operated by the RICS
  • an environmental assessment tool, benchmark & standard for non-domestic fit-outs
  • given a bronze, silver or gold rating, plus a % score
  • assessment is broken down into 3 stages:
    1. Design / Planning - identifying measures & issues in the scope
    2. Delivery / Construction - gathering evidence from O&M manuals / other sources to prove what was specified has actually been delivered & performance benchmarks achieved
    3. Occupancy Stage Assessment - option to review how well a fit-out has performed in use against its original brief from a year after completion
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14
Q

As part of SKA, what is sustainability assessed against?

A

Over 100 ‘good practice’ measures covering:

  • energy / CO2 emissions
  • waste
  • water
  • materials
  • pollution
  • wellbeing
  • transport
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15
Q

What are the benefits of SKA for occupiers & tenants?

A
  • measures sustainability impact accurately
  • follow good practice
  • represents legal / statutory compliance
  • positive customer, investor & stakeholder perception
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16
Q

What are the benefits of SKA for developers & landlords?

A
  • can be used to set targets
  • benchmark the sustainability of fit-outs across a portfolio of projects
  • makes good business sense
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17
Q

What are the benefits of SKA for consultants?

A
  • embed SKA rating into standard processes to demonstrate you follow a sustainable specification & procurement process
  • helps support the delivery of professional advice to clients
  • allows you to offer SKA rating assessments to clients who wish to demonstrate they have achieved a sustainable fit-out
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18
Q

What are the benefits of SKA to contractors?

A
  • practices more environmentally sustainable design, specification, procurement and construction practice
  • demonstrates sustainability credentials to clients and consultants
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19
Q

What is LEED?

A
  • Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design
  • A green building certification scheme
  • Covers design, construction, operation & maintenance
  • Developed by the US Green Building Council and is a competitor of the BREEAM system
  • Projects are assessed and given credits against each category which are then weighted, resulting in an overall score - platinum, gold, silver or certified.
20
Q

What are the LEED assessment categories?

A
  • Sustainable sites
  • Water efficiency
  • Energy & atmosphere
  • Materials & resources
  • Indoor environmental quality
  • Locations & linkages
  • Awareness & education
  • Innovation in design
  • Regional priority
21
Q

What is CEEQUAL?

A
  • An evidence based sustainability assessment for all types of civil engineering, infrastructure, landscaping & public realm projects
  • Now part of the BRE Group & operates alongside BREEAM
  • Aims to encourage people to adopt more sustainable living solutions
22
Q

What are the overall benefits of CEEQUAL?

A
  • more sustainable projects in civil engineering
  • performance improvements
  • better value cost reductions
  • commitment to sustainability best practice
  • enhanced team collaboration
  • benchmarking & knowledge sharing
23
Q

How does the Building Regulations Part L support sustainability?

A

Approved Document L is also entitled ‘Conservation of Fuel & Power’, with Volume 1 covering dwellings and Volume 2 covering buildings other than dwellings. It deals with energy efficiency requirements in relation to:

  • Max permitted area of openings
  • air permeability
  • insulation values
  • heating efficiency of boilers
  • hot water storage
  • lighting efficiency
  • solar heat gains
  • ventilation & air conditioning systems
24
Q

What are the key criterion described in Approved Document L?

A
  1. The designed carbon emission rate (dwellings) or building emission rate (buildings other than dwellings) must not exceed the target emission rate for a notional building of a similar size and scope.
  2. Fixed building services should achieve a reasonable standard of energy efficiency.
  3. Solar gains should be limited.
  4. Provision should be made for energy efficient operation by providing the building owner with information enabling them to operate the building in a way that uses no more fuel / power than is reasonable
  5. Limiting fabric parameters
25
Q

What is an EPC?

A

An Energy Performance Certificate. It contains the following:

  • A 4 page document which sets out the energy efficiency of a property on a traffic light system of A to G, A being the most efficient
  • Provides an indication of how much it’ll cost to heat & power a property
  • Includes recommendations of energy-efficient improvements, the cost of carrying them out & the potential savings in pounds & pence that each one could generate
26
Q

What is a DEC?

A

A Display Energy Certificate is designed to show the energy performance of public buildings and are scaled from A to G, A being most efficient.

Public authorities must have a DEC for a building if all of the following are true:

  • it’s at least partially occupied by a public authority (council, leisure centre, college, NHS trust)
  • It has a total floor area of over 250m2
  • It’s frequently visited by the public
27
Q

What is a SBEM?

A
  • Simplified Building Energy Model
  • A government-defined process in accordance with Building Regs Part L
  • It’s a calculation of the energy performance of new commercial / industrial / retail buildings
  • It’s also used to generate EPC’s for non-domestic buildings and at the point of sale or rent
28
Q

How can design contribute to a buildings sustainability?

A
  • optimising site potential
  • minimising non-renewable energy consumption
  • use environmentally preferable products within specifications
  • protect & conserve water
  • enhance indoor environmental quality
  • optimise operational & maintenance practices
29
Q

How can technology contribute to a buildings sustainability?

A

Technology as the power to increase efficiency. For example:

  • using insulation with high U values
  • ground source heat pumps
  • photovoltaics
30
Q

How can construction contribute to the sustainability of a building?

A

Through Passivhaus & Energy Impact Assessments

31
Q

What is Passivhaus?

A
  • a performance-based set of design criteria for very low energy buildings, which can help create buildings which use around 90% less energy than standard UK buildings
  • Passivhaus design seeks to eliminate the need for space heating & cooling and is based on the principle of reducing heating loss to a minimum
32
Q

What do you know about Approved Document O?

A
  • New addition to the approved documents in December 2021 which takes affect in June 2022
  • Also entitled ‘Overheating’
  • aims to limit unwanted solar gains in summer and provide adequate means to remove heat from the indoor environment
  • states that account must be taken of the occupants safety and their reasonable enjoyment of the residence
  • states that mechanical cooling should only be used where insufficient heat is capable of being removed from the indoor environment without it
33
Q

What us an EIA?

A
  • Environmental Impact Assessment
  • Process of evaluating the likely environmental impacts of a proposed project or development
  • The assessment will consider inter-related socio-economic, cultural & human-health impacts, both beneficial & adverse
34
Q

What is material resource efficiency?

A

It’s essentially doing more with less, so using material resources in the most sustainable manner while minimising their environmental impact. Examples include:

  • using fewer materials
  • optimising use of materials
  • preventing waste
  • using materials that are reclaimed or have a higher recycled content
  • different parts of the supply chain working together
35
Q

What is renewable energy? Can you give some examples?

A

Energy that comes from a source that is not depleted when used. For example,

  • solar energy
  • geothermal energy
  • wind energy
  • biomass
  • hydropower
36
Q

How to photovoltaics work?

A
  • They convert sunlight into electricity
  • Light energy strikes cells, electrons are knocked loose from atoms
  • Positive & negative electrical conductors capture electrons in the form of current
  • The energy is stored in batteries or immediately used to power the building
37
Q

How do ground source heat pumps work?

A
  • they absorb energy from the warmth in the ground
  • they comprise of a series of pipes buried underground which extract this solar energy
  • this energy is then converted into heat for use in the home
38
Q

What is energy recovery?

A
  • Energy recovery is any technique or method of minimising the input of energy to an overall system by the exchange of energy from one sub-system to another
  • Such as heat recovery in buildings
39
Q

What is the Paris Agreement?

A
  • sets out a global framework to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming the well below 2 degrees Celsius and pursuing efforts to limit it it 1.5 degrees Celsius
  • under the Paris Agreement, each country must determine, plan & regularly report on the contribution that it undertakes to mitigate climate change
39
Q

What is Construction 2025?

A

The UK Government’s agreement with the construction industry in 2013, which sets out the following targets to be achieved by 2025:

  • 50% reduction in whole-life greenhouse gas emissions
  • 50% reduction in construction time (inception to completion)
  • 33% reduction in whole-life costs
  • 50% reduction in the trade gap between imports and exports
40
Q

Name some of the technology available to help meet Approved Document L.

A
  • Wind Turbine
  • PV cells
  • GSHP
  • Rainwater harvesting
  • Increased Insulation
  • Natural ventilation
41
Q

What are green roofs?

A
  • Also known as sedum roofs, grass roofs or living roofs
  • roofs that are completely covered with plants & vegetation
  • the vegetation is usually planted over a drainage membrane that sits on top of the roof, along with additional layers such as root barriers & waterproofing products
42
Q

What is a U-Value?

A
  • measure how effective a material is as a heat insulator

- the lower the U-value is, the better the material is as a heat insulator

43
Q

How does a soakaway work?

A
  • mainly created as a solution to standing surface water
  • consist of a large hole or pit that receives surface water from a drainage pipe & helps the water to slowly percolate through the soil, reducing the risk of flooding
44
Q

What is carbon neutral?

A
  • Carbon neutral means that net carbon emissions equal zero
  • through a process of calculating building operational emissions, reducing those emissions & offsetting residual emissions
45
Q

How can solar gain be prevented in buildings, assisting compliance with Approved Document O?

A
  • Horizontal shading to glazing
  • Limiting areas of glazing
  • orienting glazing away from south facing
  • use of reflective glazing
46
Q

Please provide some examples of SUDS’.

A
  • filter strips & drains
  • swales
  • permeable surfaces
  • basins & ponds
  • underground storage
  • green roofs
  • rainwater harvesting

RICS APC (34 decks)

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