A (UK) European’s perspective on
sustainable construction
Miles Keeping
Oxford Centre for
Real Estate Management,
School of Architecture
Oxford Brookes University
Contents/menu
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
Sustainability
Environmental issues
 incl. Investors’ intentions

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Environmental assessments &
sustainability
Sustainability assessment criteria
Conclusions
Sustainability what is it?

It is commonly argued that sustainable
development encompasses three issues:
 Environmental issues; Social issues; Economic
issues

Others argue meanwhile that sustainable
development is not so much a three-cornered
stool as something with four aspects:
 Environment; Equity; Public participation;
 Futurity

So what?
Environmental issues

There are many examples in the relevant
literature of confusion as to the difference
between sustainable development and
‘environmental stewardship’.

Whenever one asks questions of investors &
developers about ‘sustainability’, they often
respond with answers about ‘the
environment’.
Environmental issues

In a survey of 100 UK investors, developers,
bankers and consultants (Parnell & Sayce,
1999):
– 89% were quite or very concerned about
the state of the environment
– only 17% felt able to contribute positively to
‘environmentally-friendly’ design on a
frequent basis.
Environmental issues

Whereas 35% consider rents currently to be affected
by ‘environmental factors’, 66% thought this would be
the case in 5 years.

Whereas 44% consider yields (an indication of future
rental growth) currently to be affected by
‘environmental factors’, 80% thought this would be
the case in 5 years.
So what are ‘green’ buildings?
•
•
•
•
•
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Choice of materials
Choice of systems
Choice of ‘design & layout’
Choice of location
etc…
Those which are assessed as being
‘environmentally friendly’
Environmental assessments
& sustainability

Environmental assessments of buildings fail
as ‘sustainability assessments’.
 “… there is no guarantee that buildings which
score highly against the [BREEAM]
framework are making a substantive
contribution to increased ‘environmental’
sustainability at a global scale.”
 These scales are relative, not absolute.
Sustainability assessment criteria

Note the differences between the different
sustainability assessment criteria in terms of
depth and breadth...
Property Advisory Group (1998)

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Establish possible presence of contamination & need
for remediation
Consider environmental benefits of buildings shape,
orientation & landscaping
Minimise energy consumption, e.g. with lighting &
boiler specification
Avoid polluting gases in components
Allow space for collection & use of recyclable
materials
Property Advisory Group (1998)



Try to avoid factors associated with ‘sick building
syndrome’
Ensure compliance with developer’s environmental
policy
Ensure legislative compliance re. materials, waste,
noise, water & air pollution
Guy & Kibert (1998)

Land:

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Amount of brownfield land developed as proportion of site
Area of green space per building area
Inventory of tree cover
Ratio of land area to perimeter distance of municipality
Water:
 Total impervious surface area per unit area
 Per capita water consumption
 Consumption of recycled/reclaimed water per capita
Guy & Kibert (1998)

Materials:
 Mass of construction & demolition waste recycled per unit
area of new construction
 No. of historic structures
 Proportion of commercial buildings with inherent recycling
facilities

Energy:
 Automobile accidents per selected intersection
 Proportion of electricity consumption from renewable
resources

Toxins:
 Smoke-free interior environments as proportion of total
area.
Curwell & Cooper (1998)

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Review need for the building (might refurbishment
meet need more efficiently?)
Audit & justify all resource inputs (e.g. land, energy &
water management strategies)
Minimise waste & pollution from building &
development process
Reduce dependency on central infrastructure (e.g.
water, energy, solid waste, effluent)
Assess & minimise pollution outputs to air, land &
water over life cycle (e.g. construction & demolition
phases)
Curwell & Cooper (1998)

Cost life cycle & identify building and
component lifetimes during the design stage
(enable design for reuse and recycling)
 Replace habitats destroyed or displaced by
development, reintroduce locally relevant
species & introduce drought resistant species
 Ensure local public participation in decisionmaking in terms of how the building might
impact upon human development aspects of
Local Agenda 21
Ball (1998)

Energy efficiency

Bicycle/pedestrian access

Environmentally sound/green materials

Buying locally

Retaining heritage features

Water conservation

Using second hand/recycled materials

Local community links
DETR (2000)
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Investment in people & equipment for a
competitive industry
Achieving high growth while reducing pollution &
resource use
Sharing the benefits of growth widely & fairly
Improving towns and cities & protecting
countryside’s quality
Contributing
to
international
sustainable
development
Being more profitable and competitive
DETR (2000)
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Delivering buildings and structures that provide
greater satisfaction, well-being and value to
customers & users
Respecting & treating stakeholders fairly
Enhancing and better protecting the natural
environment
Minimising energy consumption and natural
resources
How are (should) assessment
indicators (be) drawn up?

Degree of community involvement

Linkage (between sustainability issues)

Validity

Availability & timeliness

Stability & reliability

Are they understandable?
How are (should) assessment
indicators (be) drawn up?

Responsiveness
 Policy relevance
 Degree to which they represent relevant
issues
 Flexibility
 Degree to which they are proactive
 Whether they focus on the long term
 Whether they promote local sustainability
at the expense of others (globally, for
example).
Conclusions?

Definitions of sustainability are many, various,
different.

Majority of actors consider environmental
issues to be the main issue.

Environmental appraisals are partially useful
in determining a building's level of
sustainability
Conclusions?

Drawing up sustainability criteria is complex.

Existing criteria (whether environmental, economic,
social…) should be used in conjunction.

Local criteria are useful, even if relative

This is the one of the most urgent issues for
investors to consider…

There is a growing movement to get away from the
so-called Vicious Circle of Blame
Occupiers:
Demand sustainable
buildings
Have little choice
Investors:
Would fund
sustainable
buildings
Experience no
demand
Vicious
Circle of
Blame
Developers:
Would ask for
sustainable
buildings
Believe investors
won’t fund them
Contractors:
Can build
environmentally
efficient buildings
Do not have
demand
Show ends…
Research & sustainability

How do we research sustainability without
entering into the realm of guesswork?

There are “inevitable tendencies of the [urban
sustainability] debate to promote a utopian
vision of urban futures, however one might
argue that this is a tendency of any
envisioning and forward looking exercise”.