Sustainability (Level 2)

Question 1

What is sustainability?

Answer 1

Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations.

Question 2

What are the key principles of sustainability?

Answer 2

Social - building healthy communities
Economical - build strong, responsive, competitive economies.
Environmental - protection and enhancement of our environment

Question 3

What building regulation relates to sustainability?

Answer 3

Document L - Conservation of fuel and power

Question 4

What are the Energy Performance of Buildings Regulations?

Answer 4

• EPC’s are required for buildings
• Quantify energy efficiency of buildings
• Required when buildings are built, sold or rented.
• Commercial buildings over 500sqm need to display energy certificate DEC based on actual energy used.

Question 5

What does BREEAM stand for?

Answer 5

Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology

Question 6

What are the different BREEAM levels/ credits?

Answer 6

Outstanding 85
Excellent 70
Very Good 55
Good 45
Pass 30

Question 7

What are the categories/ measurements of BREEAM?

Answer 7

• Energy
• Water
• Transport
• Management
• Waste
• Pollution
• Health & Wellbeing
• Land Use & Ecology
• Materials
• Innovation

Question 8

What is whole life costing?

Answer 8

Assessing the total cost of an asset over its whole life.

Question 9

What is COP26?

Answer 9

COP is the Conference of the Parties and is attended by the countries that signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

The 2021 meeting was the 26th meeting

Question 10

What happened at COP26

Answer 10

An explicit plan was devised to reduce use of coal which is responsible for 40% of annual CO2 emissions.

Increase money to help developing countries cope with effects of climate change and make the change to clean energy.

1 trillion dollar a year fund from 2025 onwards.

Question 11

What is urban greening factor?

Answer 11

It is a tool that evaluates and measures the amount of greening in urban areas.

The aim of it is to increase greenery and vegetation around buildings.

Councils can develop their own targets: London has a score of 0.4 for residential and 0.3 for commercial.

Question 12

What are the most common environmental issues experienced on construction sites?

Answer 12

• Water pollution
• Air and noise pollution
• High energy consumption and carbon emissions
• Land contamination
• Damage to wild habitats
• High waste production into landfill
• Release of dangerous gassed and chemicals

Question 13

What are the key pieces of legislation that affect sustainability in construction?

Answer 13

• Agricultural Land Act
• Building Act
• Clean Air Act
• Climate Change Act

Question 14

What is the Agricultural Land Act?

Answer 14

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

Question 15

What is the building act?

Answer 15

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.

Question 16

What is the clean air act?

Answer 16

This legislation provides local authorities within England the measures to control air pollution.

Question 17

What is the climate change act?

Answer 17

A legally binding framework to tackle climate change.

Imposed targets to cut greenhouse emissions compared with 1990 levels

34% by 2020
80% by 2050

Question 18

What sustainability certifications can be achieved on buildings?

Answer 18

BREEAM
LEED
WELL
NABERS

Question 19

What are U-values?

Answer 19

• U-values (or thermal transmittance values) measure the rate of heat transfer through a building element such as a wall, roof, floor, window, or door. It is a critical factor in assessing the energy efficiency of a building.
• U-values are measured in watts per square meter per degree Celsius (W/m²·°C)

Question 20

What are the BREEAM management 01/ 02 credits?

Answer 20

Management 01: Project Brief and Design
Management 02: Life Cycle Cost and Service Life Planning (we outsource this)

Question 21

What is the difference between Life Cycle Costing and Whole Life Costing?

Answer 21

LCC - Focuses on the costs associated with the construction, maintenance, operation, and disposal of an asset.
WLC - Captures everything, LCC costs, plus additional costs like project financing, land, income, and external costs.

Question 22

How is Part L - Conservation of Fuel and Power split?

Answer 22

Dwellings and non dwellings

Question 23

What is an EPC?

Answer 23

Energy Performance Certificate A-G

Question 24

What is NABERS?

Answer 24

NABERS is a sustainability rating for the built environment. Provides a rating from one to six stars for buildings efficiency across:

Energy
Water
Waste
Indoor environment

Question 25

What is the target for carbon in a new build scheme?

Answer 25

600 kgCO2e/sqm

Question 26

What is the GLA and what do they do?

Answer 26

The Greater London Authority works with the Mayor of London to produce the London Plan, which is a strategic plan for London. The plan covers topics such as housing, transport, and the economy.

Question 27

What is LETI and what does it do?

Answer 27

London Energy Transformation Initiative is a network of built environment professionals that works to help the UK achieve a zero carbon future.