Homes in the UK contribute 26% to the country’s total carbon emissions, and other buildings will also be significant in the country’s Carbon Footprint. Sustainable building is a phrase used to describe buildings constructed with the local and wider environment in mind and which will be energy efficient for their whole life. As the demand for housing continues to increase, sustainable building is a way of ensuring that this does not have too great an environmental impact.
But what is a sustainable building? The following pointers are general suggestions about making a building more sustainable.
- A building should be energy efficient, designed to minimise energy consumption, with effective insulation and the most efficient heating or cooling systems and appliances. This could include the use of renewable energy.
- A building built with good access to public transport in mind.
- A building should be built with a minimum of waste in its construction and which looks to maximise re-use of on-site materials such as waste soil.
- A building should be designed and constructed to enable its occupants to use less water, through, for example, the installation of more efficient fittings and appliances.
- A building should be designed to make recycling and composting easy for the occupants.
There are a number of ways, therefore, of constructing a sustainable building.
Visit the Association of Environment Conscious Building website for more information on sustainable building.
Source: www.est.org.uk 2010
