As the ever-nearing goal of net zero continues to loom, there’s a significant amount of progress that still needs to be made in order to meet the target by 2050. Because of this, it is vital that the UK construction industry accelerates its transition towards low carbon developments, adopting sustainable design build solutions that will improve structures’ overall performance.
Architects, engineers and specifiers, must therefore, look beyond simply selecting sustainable material products and instead implement additional energy-efficient solutions that will help overcome some of the complex challenges of achieving net zero.
What sustainable design build solutions involve
Sustainable design build solutions involve an integrated approach that sees architects, engineers and specifiers planning, designing and constructing buildings in a way that reduces environmental impact while maintaining structural performance, durability and cost efficiency.
It typically includes addressing the following key areas:
- Low carbon material specification
- By utilising low carbon materials in the building process, it ensures minimal impact on the environment from the beginning of the structure’s lifespan. It does not mean that the building is sustainable, but it does mean that the manufacturing process of the materials used are greener and kinder on the environment.
- Ensuring structural integrity
- Demolishing buildings due to poor construction standards is not environmentally nor economically sustainable and therefore ensuring that a building is structurally sound is vital.
- Energy-efficiency solutions
- Prioritising low-energy designs by incorporating high-performance insulation and on-site renewable energy generation (e.g., solar panels, heat pumps) to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
Challenges of achieving net zero construction
The road to net zero construction offers many challenges with some more complexities to overcome. For a majority of buildings, their lifetime emissions are generated before it is even constructed. Materials such as concrete and steel, commonly used for commercial projects, carry high embodied carbon, but building without these can compromise the structural integrity.
Choosing low-carbon alternatives also has its challenges with many of them also having to meet other safety requirements such as: load-bearing capacity, fire resistance, durability and other regulations. Materials henceforth must be carefully considered as building standards can sometimes conflict with sustainability goals and neither should have to compromise for the other.
Additionally, issues like thermal bridging will play a pivotal role in stopping us from achieving net zero construction. A common problem which occurs where the continuous insulation layer is disrupted, allowing for heat to easily transfer, it can have a severe impact on energy consumption if not addressed. Implementing solutions, like thermal breaks, will help work towards energy efficient buildings enabling them to work at optimal performance.
Structural sustainability improvements in building design
Structural sustainability improvements in building design are achieved through careful material specification. From very initial plans, the key consideration must be to reduce the environmental impact of a structure throughout its entire life cycle and selecting certain materials for a build will be vital to that.
By choosing products that are both low-carbon embodied and able to withstand the longevity required of a building, it will significantly reduce the environmental impact.
Designing for controlled temperature construction
Sustainable design is vital for temperature controlled construction because of their mass energy consumption. Typically fitted with large HVAC systems, which run constantly to keep internal temperatures steady, they use a great amount of energy. But with issues like thermal bridging that can occur, this energy can easily transfer through gaps in the building envelope.
Because of these bridges, temperatures can fluctuate, causing the consumption of more energy in order to keep it constant. Specifying thermal break materials into the construction of controlled temperature buildings will mean effectively isolating these areas, restricting the flow of energy and reducing the overwork of the HVAC systems.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sustainable design build solutions are an integrated approach to creating buildings with a key aim of minimising environmental impacts, reducing energy consumption and promoting occupant health throughout the entire lifecycle of a structure.
Because of the requirements of net zero construction, projects face significant challenges that span financial, technical and societal challenges. For instance, the initial price for sustainable construction is higher due to material costs being more for lower-carbon alternatives. Net zero construction projects also use a more modern approach as opposed to traditional methods, causing a skills gap amongst engineers and builders. Not only is there a skills gap, but also labour shortages with many not heading into the industry, causing projects to take longer.
Sustainable design of controlled temperature buildings can reduce the risk of overconsumption of energy. By being able to draw thermal break materials into initial plans of these commercial projects, you can ensure a consistent internal temperature without the need for over use cooling systems.
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