- Case studies
- Projects seeking partners
- Lessons learnt
- Best practice today
- Life-cycle costing made simple
- Sustainable refurbishment
1. Reduce carbon dioxide emissions
The risk of global climate change is possibly the biggest environmental threat facing the global economy. Increasingly erratic weather and the possibility of permanent man-made climate change can destabilise national economies and result in parts of the world's population being marginalised socially and economically, whilst other parts may suffer noticeable changes to their standard of living, quality of life and disposable incomes, as a result of living in an environment which is less predictable and more subject to extremes. Around 52% of the UK's carbon dioxide emissions come from creating or using buildings, and in Sweden the sector creates around 20% of Sweden's total emission of CO2. The construction industry bears a considerable responsibility for taking action to reduce this impact.
- Energy efficiency can either be considered here, or under the heading of resource use. Either category is relevant! Providing more insulation, more efficient glazing (with adequate ventilation), and introducing measures such as recovery of heat from waste water or air and individual meters for heating and hot water can have a major impact on the amount of energy needed, whatever its use, and can provide financial savings as well as environmental benefits - and, at the same time, good indoor air quality.
- Embodied energy is the energy which it takes to create the materials used in construction. Materials such as brick or concrete have a high embodied energy because the manufacturing process has a very high energy demand. However, offset against this must be the capacity for a material to retain heat, which will then be released back into a building. It is therefore a question of working out what is the best combination of materials for a particular project. The intended use has to be taken into account, along with the heating system and other installations to be used, not just the construction technique and materials.
- Renewable energy sources have an important part to play in reducing carbon dioxide emissions, as their emissions tend to be much lower than conventional energy supplies. There is a very wide range of renewable energy technologies that can be used in buildings, some of which may be more appropriate than others for particular projects. These include (amongst other things) solar panels, photovoltaic installations, wind turbines, heat exchange systems, and micro-scale hydro-generation.Capital costs of the majority of renewable technologies are still high at the moment, but as they become more widespread then costs will fall dramatically. In the UK, government grants under the Low Carbon Buildings programme help to offset the initial additional cost. It should also be noted that revenue costs are very substantially reduced by introducing renewable energy sources.