Approaches to Sustainable Buildings have recently experienced significant and accelerated global advances.
Underpinned by increased awareness of global warming caused by carbon emissions, developed world populations are not just demanding change, but are taking steps in their own lives and homes to save the planet.
This is being replicated by business and organisations. In 2007, the carbon market became the biggest investment in history, with the Carbon Disclosure Project1 directly influencing US$41 trillion funds under management - representing a third of the Global economy.
Projects that combat Climate Change are attracting enormous financial support including the recent examples of Morgan Stanley, the Bank of America and Citigroup launching funds worth US$3 billion, US$20 billion and US$50 billion respectively. The Carbon trading market tripled in volume to US$28.5 billion from 2005 to 2006 and is projected to continue rising. Some project that the market may grow to US$3 trillion per annum2.
For the global Buildings and Property sector there is good and bad news.
The challenges
On the negative side of the ledger, the sector is arguably the biggest single contributor to Climate Change. It is responsible for consuming about 40% of the world’s energy, 32% of its resources and generating about 40% of the world’s waste and air emissions.
Buildings heavily rely on fossil fuel generated energy to provide our comfort - air is warmed or cooled and then discarded Building envelopes are normally designed to meet building codes with little effort to achieve better than minimum standards of solar control or heat losses (witness the fully glazed facades dominating the cityscape around the world).
Modern buildings rely heavily on concrete as a construction material, the production of which is a significant contributor to global carbon emissions. In the building process, standard sized materials are brought to muddy construction sites, cut to the required size and the off-cuts discarded.
Low hanging fruit
The United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) recent report, Sustainable Construction and Building Initiative 2007, states that the Buildings sector is the "lowest hanging fruit" in terms of abating emissions. It reports that if relatively conservative efficiency regulations were introduced globally, it might deliver over 2 billion tonnes CO2 or close to three times the amount scheduled to be reduced under the Kyoto Protocol.
The good news is that change is afoot and some of the most encouraging initiatives from around the world include:
China – the most rapidly growing economy in the world, where currently about 2 billion square metres of buildings are constructed every year. The Ministry of Construction has established an ambitious energy consumption target of 65% less than existing buildings, for all new developments. The government has also established a tax and fees rebate system to encourage the construction of low energy building.
India – the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) is charged with facilitating the implementation of energy efficiency in the country. Prime Minister Vajpayee announced in 2002 that all the governmental organisations should reduce their energy consumption by 30% and Private Organisations by 20% over a period of five years. Improvement in the building sector is also on the agenda in the BEE’s Action Plan.
United States – California and Pennsylvania have launched extensive solar roof programs and Michael Bloomberg, the major of New York City, has committed the city to becoming the world’s Greenest by 2030. The US federal government, 15 states and 46 cities require new public buildings to meet the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED standards (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). Four states and 17 cities offer incentives for LEED-rated private buildings. Chicago, Pasadena, and other cities now fast-track permit procedures for builders who commit to green standards.
Leading up to the current Presidential election run up both the Democratic and Republican candidates have ambitious energy policies. Leading Democratic candidates have targeted an 80% reduction in global warming emissions based on 1990 levels by 2050. They also target 25% renewable energy capacity by 2025 and that all new Federal Government buildings will be designed to produce zero carbon emissions after 2009.
United Kingdom – in London it is mandatory for all new commercial buildings over a certain floor space size to meet 10% of their power needs from renewable energy systems. And the British Council of Offices, the peak body for setting quality standards for office buildings, has raised the stakes even higher, calling for all office buildings of minimum sizes to use renewable energy for 20% of their power needs.
Energy efficient measures in buildings are tax exempt in the UK and also 100% recoverable in the first year, providing a good incentive to developers.
European Union - the European Building Directive has mandated onerous energy standards for buildings and requiring the public display of the achieved energy efficiency rating. These ratings are to be updated every 5 years and upon the sale of the building or after a major refurbishment. The French Government has set itself a national energy reduction target of 75% reduction by 2050.
Australia - the Property Council, the peak body for setting quality standards for office buildings, has required that the top grades of commercial property must have high sustainability ratings. Numerous State and Local Governments have made the attainment of high sustainability ratings a condition for obtaining development approval. Revised Building Codes also raised energy standards for all building types in mid 2006.
Singapore - the Green Mark sustainability rating scheme has continued to expand
New Zealand - the Building Act (2004) incorporated the principles of sustainable development. Current regulations are focused on improving the thermal performance of the building envelope and improved energy efficiency of the systems such as heating, cooling and lighting.
These challenges are being addressed in building features such as increased day lighting, natural ventilation and Building Energy Management Systems. Building designers are integrating renewable energy systems and in areas affected by drought, measures are being included for water conservation, on-site water capture and re-use.
The future
Internationally, a couple of trends are expected to have a growing impact in the near future.
Health and safety concerns related to indoor environmental quality have instigated legislation on exposure to toxins in the workplace, bans on smoking and increased levels of fresh outdoor air. Numerous sustainability assessment methodologies in recent years have focused attention on reducing indoor toxins, dust, and increased fresh air rates, demanding that fit-out materials are non-toxic to safeguard building occupants against known carcinogens.
Many believe that addressing toxicity in buildings is akin to the society-wide steps over the last decade to progressively eliminate tobacco smoking in public indoor spaces.
Advances in the application of information technology in building design and management promise to deliver improved efficiencies in materials selection use and maintenance. These advances include the use of object based software that allow every building component to be given attributes, the emergence of detailed Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) capabilities and the emergence of next generation building design and simulation tools.
These translate to smart buildings embedded with information on components such as spare parts codes, maintenance and life cycle data and embodied energy. These advances will facilitate energy and resource consumption optimisation and promote waste-efficient factory production of building components.
Global trends are demonstrably moving towards mainstream acceptance of sustainable design principles in new buildings, refurbishments and increasingly retro-fitments, reflecting a convergence of public awareness and desire for sustainable buildings and increasing regulation.
[1] The Carbon Disclosure Project CDP has the largest repository of corporate greenhouse gas emissions data in the world, sets the gold standard for carbon disclosure methodology and provides for investors the business risks and opportunities presented by climate change for the world's largest companies (http://www.cdproject.net).
[2] San Fransisco Market Watch – 22 Feb 2007 – quote from Peter Fusaro, chairman of Global Change Associates
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