Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
According to the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment
Method (BREEAM), and its US equivalent Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design (LEED) developed by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), it
is possible to audit and assess a broad range of issues within the design, procurement
and management of an office building. For example, a detailed evaluation can be
made of the materials selected and the energy systems employed to light, heat and
cool the building. Interestingly, both of these assessment methods identified the new
commercial office market as having most potential and this sector became the testing
ground for various BREEAM and LEED schemes. The BREEAM scheme for new
office designs was launched in 1990, and the LEED equivalent followed eight years
later in 1998. Subsequently, schemes to evaluate existing commercial buildings,
homes (both new and old) and various other outlets such as shops, schools, health
centres and industrial units followed.
BREEAM and LEED have the advantage of sharing many years of experience
and their websites currently boast that more than 250,000 buildings have been
certified across 121 different countries. A significant majority of these, however,
are still in the UK and the United States. Furthermore, these figures simply
represent the number of environmental assessments that have been carried out by
the Building Research Establishment, the United States Green Building Council or
their authorised assessors. It would be more interesting and informative to know
how many other green buildings exist that have not been put through a formal
environmental assessment scheme. Either way, the number of green buildings is
certainly on the increase.
Construction firms seeking to differentiate their products on the basis of their
environmental performance need to deploy their assets in a distinctive way. There
is a new breed of commercial client emerging that needs to know that their
requirements can be competently fulfilled by the contractor. There are a range of
features that typify state-of the-art green developments, and the common ones are
listed in
Table 9.1
.
Table 9.1
The characteristics of green commercial buildings
Makes maximum use of natural daylight
Minimises consumption of fossil fuels, by techniques such as natural
ventilation, combined heat and power, and orientation of site to
benefit from passive solar energy
Reduces the use of fresh water by using grey water recycling for
landscape irrigation, flushing toilets, etc.
Minimises site impact by careful landscaping and the preservation
of local ecosystems
Reduces the quantity of 'virgin' materials used and selects those that
have the least negative environmental impact
Reuses and recycles existing buildings and sites
Minimises material waste during construction and demolition
Source:
Adapted from Shiers (2000: 354)
