Sustainable Buildings

Introduction

We all know that we have to build sustainably. But in reality that means more than putting a solar panel on the roof, and carry on as normal. For youth centres, with occupants moving in and out and new people arriving every year, sustainability is especially complex.

How to create a sustainable building

Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. So what does that mean for the client of a building? The first thing to realise is it isnt just over to the designer of the building to make it sustainable. The client has as much, if not more, influence over the projects sustainability. Youll see some pointers about how to make a youth centre sustainable in the section on recognising good design for youth centres. Here we outline the mindset you need to think about to achieve a sustainable youth centre.

Sustainability means thinking about money and investment differently

To be sustainable, we need to be thinking differently about financial value. The cost of not investing sustainably becomes more important than the cost of the investment. Clients need to calculate costs over the long term, because requirements and legislation are only going to get more demanding. Also, if energy costs rise, our buildings will become very expensive to run.

Energy use is important, but there are other issues too

Often energy use is the focus when thinking about buildings. This is because the construction industry and our buildings make up a large portion of our carbon footprint. Much needs to be done here, and this is often called passive design meaning designing a building to be sustainable without added complexity. But we need to be aware this is only one aspect of building sustainably. The energy embodied in the building and its construction is considerable, but if the centre doesnt reflect the needs of the young people the project is there for, it will not last.

Think long life, loose fit, low energy

It may sometimes seem very complex to understand what sustainability means to your project. Adopting some common sense strategies may be useful. Long life means you build to last, loose fit means it isnt too specific to the needs of today, and low energy is making sure you dont make a building that is wasteful.

myplace - Sustainable Buildings 2011

Its worrying how little we know about our actual use of buildings, either ones we might already be using, or thinking about for the future. Do we actually know: How often spaces are actually occupied? When is energy really being used in the buildings? Is the ICT over-specified? Are the occupants comfort levels reasonable? Should you make spaces where wearing a coat is normal? Will this change?

Know how you actually use buildings

If you have an existing youth centre, you need to know how you use buildings before you spend money on capital investment. Cutting down on lighting and ICT consumption, for example, can have a drastic effect on your buildings carbon performance. A super-efficient building can become super-inefficient by overprovision of ICT and lighting.

Assume that things will change over time

One of the challenges of building sustainably is predicting how your project may be used in the future. You have a responsibility to set out a project that will work in changing circumstances. With youth centres, who will be running them may well be different in only a few years time.

Change behaviours before altering your buildings

If you are serious about meeting sustainability targets, user change can be the least resourceintensive way of doing it, though staff management and behaviour are the first things existing organisations looking to make big reductions in energy use. To do this, you need to know how you use buildings. People with this kind of understanding can be a great boost to a young persons skill-set, related to an industry that is expanding.

Think carefully about where you site your building

If you are changing buildings, understanding the choice of site, and how the building sits on that site is very important for long-term sustainability. A project wont be sustainable if it is not in the right place think of its connectivity, context, orientation.

Quick check on whether your site is sustainable: Where is the public transport nearby? What are your staff commuting patterns? Are there opportunities even in the future to link up to local energy production?

myplace - Sustainable Buildings 2011

Know what carbon emission standards you need to work to

In many situations, standards will be already set and you will need to work to them. Your targets should be tailored to your project, to cover issues such as: transport and access the efficient use and disposal of energy, water and waste sustainable construction performance in use impact on or improvement of ecology.

The BREEAM Standard is a good way to cover a range of environmental issues, and is required in many public buildings. The Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) is a voluntary scheme that aims to quantify and reduce the environmental impact of buildings by rewarding those that perform well. Projects are awarded credits for a range of criteria. These include: energy, the use of materials in construction water the generation of waste in construction and use the buildings management processes the health and wellbeing of occupants pollution the impact on transport, land and ecology.

Links and Further Guidance

See our good practice guides to environmental sustainability and environmental sustainability checklist. Life cycle costing is a complex area, but vital to make buildings really sustainable. For more information see www.cabe.org.uk/buildings/assessing-life-cycle-costs There are many definitions of sustainable. One is the 10 principles of one planet living, developed by Bioregional. Set a framework to establish a high quality of life within a fair share of the earths resources. www.bioregional.com/our-vision/one-planet-living The RIBAs sustainability hub is a portal for information about buildings and their sustainability www.architecture.com/SustainibilityHub The environmental assessment method called BREEAM is widely used to assess building performance www.breeam.org

myplace - Sustainable Buildings 2011