Sustainability: Aspirational concept or workable practice? hot topic or hot potato?

‘Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’ This famous quote from the Brundtland Report is still the most commonly used means of summarising what sustainability is all about. It is more commonly thought of as an aspirational concept than a workable practice. Traditionally initial building purchase decisions have been made on the basis of issues such as capital cost, not issues such as life-cycle costings and so on.

However this view may well be about to change, as over the course of the next 12 to 18 months we are set to see a number of important developments that will firmly cement the concept of sustainability within the mindset of the construction industry. One such development will be the European Commission’s Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, which will be enforced through Part L of the Building Regulations by early next year. In addition, a draft of the Government’s Code for Sustainable Buildings will be published shortly, which should take effect early in 2006. It will not be mandatory, but it is possible that it will require improvements of 25 per cent in energy efficiency and water consumption for new buildings.

With these seismic shifts in policy towards sustainable construction methodologies there are those who have been left unsure as to what this means for product and system specification during the building design process. Increasingly, as a result, architects and building designers are looking towards manufacturers for guidance.

Further changes ahead

In a further move backing this current trend, the Government has recently appointed a number of high-profile executives, including former Carillion Chairman and Chief Executive, Sir Neville Simms, to a panel that has been tasked with the responsibility of thrashing out a sustainable procurement plan. The sustainable procurement taskforce, set up by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has been given until next April to develop an action plan for change.

Any proposed guidelines are likely to include calculations on the environmental impact of using certain building materials, energy in construction and transport infrastructure. Obviously these points are of crucial importance to manufacturers with one of the key issues faced by the panel to be whether or not to give priority to environmentally sound solutions when there are cheaper alternatives available.

The responsibility for educating and informing specifiers about the ‘sustainable credentials’ of products and systems falls squarely at the feet of manufacturers. In Kawneer’s case for example, the aluminium industry has to work especially hard to combat the misconceptions that exist regarding the sustainable value of aluminium systems, like the common preconception that coated aluminium cannot be recycled, which is of course untrue.

At Kawneer, sustainability is defined as using our Values to build financial success, environmental excellence, and social responsibility through partnerships in order to deliver net long-term benefits to our shareowners, employees, customers, suppliers, and the communities in which we operate.

Considerations

To allow for the assessment of the suitability of a particular product for a ‘sustainable specification’ consideration, the three dimensions of sustainability are a sensible starting point. Often referred to as the ‘Triple Bottom Line’, these are: improving social welfare, economic viability and the protection of the environment.

The contribution a product makes to each dimension is considered and the management of all three factors together support sustainable development and the resulting quality of life. To assess the sustainable credentials of a construction product, it is important to consider each of these three performance dimensions over the whole lifecycle of the building.

It is with the application of these criteria that the true benefit of building components, such as aluminium architectural systems, can be accurately assessed. For example it is now estimated that up to 70% of the aluminium used in construction can be recycled, without any significant degradation of the material’s intrinsic properties. In fact, 63% of the aluminium sold to end customers in transport, engineering and building is eventually returned for recycling.

Manufacturers must adapt to embrace the constituents of the Triple Bottom Line

Aluminium production is certainly an energy intensive process, at approximately 12kW hours per kilogram, yet over 50% of the world’s smelters use hydroelectric power, a sustainable resource that clearly minimises the environmental impact.

What is being done?

Ultimately it is the end building solution that is of most interest to architects and building designers. Manufacturers must adapt to embrace the constituents of the Triple Bottom Line and modify their manufacturing processes and product developments and designs accordingly.

The specialised needs of the Consortium of Local Authorities Special Programme (CLASP) are a prime example of this requirement. An unincorporated association of Public Sector Authorities, it has been tasked with the development of more efficient building technology and building system methodologies for use within the Government’s extensive Building Schools for the Future (BSF) and other client programmes across the UK.

This massive undertaking has facilitated the need for the development of specialised systems that embrace the full concept of sustainability, including the AA‚4001 unitised framing system from Kawneer, which has recently been applied at the Mundy School in Derbyshire.

Modeled on the DfES Exemplar Schools, the Mundy School is seen as a forerunner, showcasing types of technological advances that are to be used in the BSF and similar programs. The building has been specifically created to make the best use of natural light and ventilation and to ensure low energy running costs through the incorporation of the glazing and cladding system. Natural ventilation is achieved via a lower bottom hung open vent and a higher level top hung open out vent, which creates a natural flow of air within the teaching environments. The window has been designed from the outset as an integral part of the environmental strategy. Extensive modelling was undertaken by environmental engineers, WSP, to create the optimum learning environment.

The problem of ‘end-of-life’ costs must also be taken into consideration with the energy efficiency of recycling becoming a major issue. One of the most sustainable aluminium systems to have ever been designed, the AA‚4001 for example, is manufactured from aluminium sections, which are 100% recyclable, with 70% of the aluminium utilised in the system having been reclaimed, retaining 95% of the initial energy invested.

The installation of systems can also affect the overall sustainability of the building and therefore this must also be taken into consideration during the planning and specification processes. More and more commonly it is off-site or unitised systems that are being employed for these very reasons, with the key benefit obviously being that they are manufactured off-site.

The old perception that these systems are expensive, is in part, based on crude bidding techniques that ignored other elements of savings – tower cranes, scaffolding, reduced man-hour requirements and the reduced likelihood of defect due to overall quality control. More sophisticated methods of pricing demonstrate that systems such as unitised curtain walling are an economical and cost effective concept in terms of both initial capital investment and reduced upkeep costs.

With all this taken into consideration the sustainability agenda looks like it will be around for quite a while and it is the responsibility of the entire industry, including manufacturers, to work together to ensure the responsible management of future building projects. There is willing, compulsion and now a legislative framework to ensure that this will be the case, as more people realise that sustainability can deliver profit, value for money and long-term rewards, all at once.