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What is Sustainable Construction ?
For this topic, we need to consider and answer a selection of questions relating to the construction industry and how it operates and what the differing sectors contribute towards climate change and environmental deterioration with the main question being are we able to carry out construction any other way?
Before we tackle the issue of construction in relation to sustainability and climate change, we first need to understand the current levels of pollution caused by the construction industry and where these pollutants come from, we also must understand how the DEFRA UK air quality index measurement operates and influences how the pollution from construction sites is gauged. As we all know the common pollutant from manufacture and construction is carbon dioxide (CO2) but there are other culprits as well but the most dominant is, of course, CO2.
Now that we can discuss pollution emanating from building sites we must first understand that the UK air quality index produced by the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs provides daily statistics and predictions for site managers in order to reduce air pollution (DEFRA.gov.uk, 2021). The need for this pollution index is supported by the Harvard University business school press release which can be found here, Briefly, it talks about how the rate of pollution has been found to be responsible for the majority of deaths in the modern world.
The types of pollution that specifically concern this discussion are: air, water, ground and noise. Noise might be the most annoying and most noticeable aspect of a building site on a day-to-day basis but we shall start this conversation with how construction impacts the air we breathe. There are a broad range of causes of air pollution resulting from construction such as; the vehicles used on site, demolition and removal of the present contents of the site and that's before the pollutants from the creation and construction of the new building and the required supporting structures are constructed for example, wooden frames an additional polluting resource is that of chemicals for example, paints and thinners. The impact noise pollution from the construction site will be experienced by those working on the site as well as the people living in proximity to the site, the pollution can be blamed for exacerbating symptoms of asthma, coughing and wheezing these impacts caused by the air pollution of the construction site have also been known to cause increased stress levels because of the continual movement of materials and vehicle on-site use as states Kristin Guzder in her article “Pollution from Construction: What Are the Types & How Can We Prevent It?” (2019).
The Building Research Establishment rn their pollution control guide part one confirm the statements made by Guzder and further her criticisms and observations of the construction site by stating that “vehicles and construction plant and other equipment should operate as quietly as possible and run on fuel that produces low emissions of fine particles and vapours”, but we need to define what is meant by fine particles, in relation to construction sites, PM10 is anything with a size of 10 micrometres or less and as for fine particles that is what is known as PM 2.5 which is 2.5 micrometres or less in diameter.
Water pollution, in terms of a construction site, will be produced by the usage of chemicals and the disposal, not always legally, thereof will of course impact on the surface flora and fauna but will also gradually leech, after having remained on the surface, into the water table this information has been learned and shared from the environmental pollution centres document titled Construction sites pollution. In terms of ground pollution resulting from either a construction site or an existing operational site we shall turn to the RICS expertise on contamination and risks resulting from real estate referring to the 2014 RICS UK practice standards ‘Contamination, the environment and sustainability’ (GN 13/2010). Every building will leave a form of contamination whether it be from the construction site or the building be it residential, commercial or indeed industrial. Even residential properties will leave contamination in the ground but a question that we need to answer is are we able to construct more sustainably how is it done elsewhere?
Before we tackle the issue of construction in relation to sustainability and climate change, we first need to understand the current levels of pollution caused by the construction industry and where these pollutants come from, we also must understand how the DEFRA UK air quality index measurement operates and influences how the pollution from construction sites is gauged. As we all know the common pollutant from manufacture and construction is carbon dioxide (CO2) but there are other culprits as well but the most dominant is, of course, CO2.
Now that we can discuss pollution emanating from building sites we must first understand that the UK air quality index produced by the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs provides daily statistics and predictions for site managers in order to reduce air pollution (DEFRA.gov.uk, 2021). The need for this pollution index is supported by the Harvard University business school press release which can be found here, Briefly, it talks about how the rate of pollution has been found to be responsible for the majority of deaths in the modern world.
The types of pollution that specifically concern this discussion are: air, water, ground and noise. Noise might be the most annoying and most noticeable aspect of a building site on a day-to-day basis but we shall start this conversation with how construction impacts the air we breathe. There are a broad range of causes of air pollution resulting from construction such as; the vehicles used on site, demolition and removal of the present contents of the site and that's before the pollutants from the creation and construction of the new building and the required supporting structures are constructed for example, wooden frames an additional polluting resource is that of chemicals for example, paints and thinners. The impact noise pollution from the construction site will be experienced by those working on the site as well as the people living in proximity to the site, the pollution can be blamed for exacerbating symptoms of asthma, coughing and wheezing these impacts caused by the air pollution of the construction site have also been known to cause increased stress levels because of the continual movement of materials and vehicle on-site use as states Kristin Guzder in her article “Pollution from Construction: What Are the Types & How Can We Prevent It?” (2019).
The Building Research Establishment rn their pollution control guide part one confirm the statements made by Guzder and further her criticisms and observations of the construction site by stating that “vehicles and construction plant and other equipment should operate as quietly as possible and run on fuel that produces low emissions of fine particles and vapours”, but we need to define what is meant by fine particles, in relation to construction sites, PM10 is anything with a size of 10 micrometres or less and as for fine particles that is what is known as PM 2.5 which is 2.5 micrometres or less in diameter.
Water pollution, in terms of a construction site, will be produced by the usage of chemicals and the disposal, not always legally, thereof will of course impact on the surface flora and fauna but will also gradually leech, after having remained on the surface, into the water table this information has been learned and shared from the environmental pollution centres document titled Construction sites pollution. In terms of ground pollution resulting from either a construction site or an existing operational site we shall turn to the RICS expertise on contamination and risks resulting from real estate referring to the 2014 RICS UK practice standards ‘Contamination, the environment and sustainability’ (GN 13/2010). Every building will leave a form of contamination whether it be from the construction site or the building be it residential, commercial or indeed industrial. Even residential properties will leave contamination in the ground but a question that we need to answer is are we able to construct more sustainably how is it done elsewhere?
At present, in the UK, we have the standard low-rise buildings usually used for residential purposes and the high-rise buildings used for greater scale residential or offices. Buildings are generally constructed using concrete foundations the depth of which will be relative to the planned height of the building. So, high-rises will have deep foundations and low rise will have more shallow foundations. The reason we bring up the topic of foundations is that the deeper the foundations are the greater the impact on the environment as a deep foundation will be close to the water table which will lead to the leaching of polluting liquids into the water table which will in-turn be ingested by the residents of the town.
However, the design and architecture of a building will be dependent on the climate, soil structure, topology of the specific area so, we need to Think about how and why other countries construct their buildings and whether or not we can learn from this and advocate this method for sustainable construction. It can be stated that because of the climate and size of the UK we require construction as it is because we do not have a climate suitable for thin timber structures. In terms of sustainable construction in the UK, because our construction industry is financially driven we must look towards more locally sourced materials in order to minimise the pollution caused by the manufacture, transportation and occupation of the buildings in the UK.
For the meanwhile, we need to resort to trying to counteract the damage the construction industry and the associated pollution is doing to the UK, the environment and the future and we must try to do this by following our methodology, in practice the world over, and planting more trees for example in order to help when you next give a gift consider giving an Acorn, a sapling or even a subscription to helping Become Carbon Negative.
However, the design and architecture of a building will be dependent on the climate, soil structure, topology of the specific area so, we need to Think about how and why other countries construct their buildings and whether or not we can learn from this and advocate this method for sustainable construction. It can be stated that because of the climate and size of the UK we require construction as it is because we do not have a climate suitable for thin timber structures. In terms of sustainable construction in the UK, because our construction industry is financially driven we must look towards more locally sourced materials in order to minimise the pollution caused by the manufacture, transportation and occupation of the buildings in the UK.
For the meanwhile, we need to resort to trying to counteract the damage the construction industry and the associated pollution is doing to the UK, the environment and the future and we must try to do this by following our methodology, in practice the world over, and planting more trees for example in order to help when you next give a gift consider giving an Acorn, a sapling or even a subscription to helping Become Carbon Negative.
