I recently came across this interesting article on the sustainablebuild website. I enjoyed reading it and thought it was worth sharing with the BuilderScrap readers.

The concept of a green building was developed in the 1970s in response to the energy crisis and people’s growing concerns about the environment. The need to save energy and mitigate environmental problems fostered a wave of green building innovation that has continued to this day.

Green buildings and green building products are not easily defined. Often known as sustainable buildings or eco-homes, there is a range of opinion on what can be classed as a green home. It is generally agreed that green buildings are structures that are sited, designed, built, renovated and operated to energy-efficient guidelines, and that they will have a positive environmental, economic and social impact over their life cycle. Green specifications provide a good set of guidelines for the building industry, but these are still in the process of being formalised into UK regulation and many are open to interpretation.

Elements of Eco Building

Four main areas need to be considered in green building: materials, energy, water and health.

Construction Materials

These are obtained from natural, renewable sources that have been managed and harvested in a sustainable way; or they are obtained locally to reduce the embedded energy costs of transportation; or used building supplies or surplus building materials at nearby sites. Materials are assessed using green specifications that look at their Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) in terms of their embodied energy, durability, recycled materials content, waste minimisation, and their ability to be reused or recycled.

Energy

Passive solar design will dramatically reduce the heating and cooling costs of a building, as will high levels of insulation and energy-efficient windows. Natural daylight design reduces a building’s electricity needs, and improves people’s health and productivity. Green buildings also incorporate energy-efficient lighting, low energy appliances, and renewable energy technologies such as wind turbines and solar panels.

Water

Minimising water use is achieved by installing greywater and rainwater catchment systems that recycle water for irrigation or toilet flushing; water-efficient appliances, such as low flow showerheads, self-closing or spray taps; low-flush toilets, or waterless composting toilets. Installing point of use hot water systems and lagging pipes saves on water heating.

Health

Using non-toxic materials and products will improve indoor air quality, and reduce the rate of asthma, allergy and sick building syndrome. These materials are emission-free, have low or no VOC content, and are moisture resistant to deter moulds, spores and other microbes. Indoor air quality is also addressed through ventilation systems and materials that control humidity and allow a building to breathe.

In addition to addressing the above areas, a green building should provide cost savings to the builder and occupants, and meet the broader needs of the community, by using local labour, providing affordable housing, and ensuring the building is sited appropriately for community needs.

A Holistic Approach

Green building requires a holistic approach that considers each component of a building, in relationship to the context of the whole building, whilst considering the impact on the wider environment and community around it. This is a highly complex approach that requires builders, architects and designers to think creatively, using systems integration throughout their work. There are several technology tools and assessment methodologies that can help builders with this process including BREEAM (Building and Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) and EcoHomes.

Building Hope for the Future

Although still in its infancy, building green is a rapidly growing trade. UK regulations now demand that green specifications are met in all new building design and development, as part of their wider sustainable development strategy, and this means that green buildings are emerging throughout the country. In an age threatened by climate change, energy shortages and ever-increasing health problems it makes sense to build homes that are durable, save energy, reduce waste and pollution, and promote health and well-being. A green building is more than a model for sustainable living; it can build hope for the future.

BuilderScrap recently attended an exhibition at the University of Lancashire (Preston), where I  got the opportunity to listen to several seminars on a variety of topics regarding construction and in particular green building.  One which particularly stood out to me was a seminar by the University of Liverpool research on Developing Sustainable Concrete Products.

The group has had a considerable amount of success in developing a number of sustainable concrete products manufactured using recycled building materials from demolition waste materials. They are still in the developing stages of the product so the product range is currently fairly limited. The existing products that are fully developed for sustainable concrete include:

• Paving Blocks
• Building Blocks
• Paving Flags

These products have been proved to conform to required British and European standards.

The aggregate component of conventional concretes consists of a mix of quarried stone and sand in different size fractions.  These aggregates comprise the bulk of the concrete mix.

In Liverpool, they have conducted considerable research into the feasibility of using recycled building materials as a substitute for quarried aggregates, and the effect of using such recycled fractions on the concrete’s physical properties.

Aggregate derived from recycled concrete can replace up to 60% of the coarse fraction and up to 30% of the fine fraction, whereas masonry-derived aggregate can only replace a maximum of 20% of either fraction.

The University of Liverpool are developing a technique for the complete replacement of cement to produce a cementless geopolymer using waste materials such as:

• Incinerator ash
• Basic oxygen steel slag
• Ash disposed from coal –fired thermal power plants

Combining the replacement materials with waste alkali solutions from existing manufacturing processes, will enable them to develop cost effective green precast concrete products, manufactured from 100% recycled materials.

At BuilderScrap, we love to hear about new innovation helping sustainable construction.  Please contact us if you know of any new ideas or innovations.

In the Queen’s speech she spoke of a new era under the Coalition Government, a new dawn which will see a major change in the green initiative, which will allow more loans to enable house holds to invest in measure such as solar panels to help make their home more environmentally friendly.

The new Government wants to create a green investment bank which would loan individual household the money to invest in carbon-reducing measures which includes insulation.

The plan if introduced will be known as ‘pay as you save’, the idea is you will repay the loan using the money you save on your energy bills due to the changes you make. It was originally a Labour idea in which they intended to create a £2bn fund.

No figure has been confirmed as yet, Tories previously quoted £6,500 for every home and the Lib Dems suggest £10,000 maybe a more realistic number. Both will have to increase their quote if they are to reach the typical electricity generating solar scheme cost which is closer to £15,000. However their amounts would allow householders to invest in cheaper solar water heaters or a range of insulation measures.

The new energy bill may also contain measures to:

• Require energy companies to provide more information on energy bills in order to empower consumers and to ensure fair access to energy supplies.

• Regulate the carbon emissions from coal-fired power stations.

• Reform energy markets to deliver security of supply and ensure fair competition.

• Put in place a framework to guide the development of a smart grid that will revolutionise the management of supply and demand for electricity.

• Ensure that North Sea infrastructure is available to all companies to ease the exploitation of smaller and more difficult oil and gas fields.

Chris Huhne, the new energy and climate secretary said: “The Queen’s speech makes clear that energy security and taking real action to tackle climate change aren’t add-on extras for this new government, but are vital to our national interest.”

“The energy bill is designed to help consumers put a stop to wasting energy in their homes through a green deal while making sure our energy system is fit for the 21st-century.”

Paul King, chief executive of the UK Green Building Council, welcomed the focus on improving the energy efficiency of homes and buildings.

“The biggest barrier preventing home owners carrying out low carbon refurbishment is the upfront cost of the measures.”

“The ‘green deal’ will help overcome that problem by leveraging private sector investment – vitally important in this time of public sector spending cuts.”

He said legislation was needed to enable every home in the country to benefit from the pay-as-you-save scheme, which is already being piloted. He then went on to say “The legislation is also an opportunity to create a package of additional incentives that will encourage take-up of the green deal – and to bring forward a version of the scheme that will work for non-residential buildings”.

BuilderScrap welcomes any improvement and cost saving schemes for households and hope this will come into effect if or when the trial is deemed a success.

More on the frankly remarkable results from ‘home energy use’ Builders and Contractors take note. There is an opportunity here!

All respondents who had not installed cavity wall insulation, solid wall insulation or loft insulation (but were able to do so) were asked to say what the main reasons were for not doing so. Those who said they had not heard of that type of insulation and those who said it was not applicable to them were excluded from these questions.

Around 300 respondents (30% of those whose homes were constructed with cavity walls) had not installed cavity wall insulation. Respondents were most likely to say that they had not installed this form of insulation as they could not afford it (27%). Other key reasons provided included never having thought about it (14%), not knowing whether they had it already (11%), because they were waiting until they needed to do other major renovations (9%) and because it would take too long to get costs back through lower energy bills (7%).

Similar reasons were provided by the small proportion (16%) of respondents who had a loft but said they had not installed loft insulation or top-up loft insulation. Cost was the most frequently cited reason – a quarter (23%) said they could not afford to do this, 17% said they were waiting until they needed to do other major renovations, 15% had never thought about it, and 10% said that it required too much effort.

In contrast, respondents whose homes were constructed with solid walls were most likely to say that they had not installed solid wall insulation as they had never thought about it (27%). That said, cost was also a significant factor with one fifth saying that they could not afford to install this form of insulation (20%). Around one in ten indicated that they did not know if they already had it or not (11%) or that they did not know how to go about it or who to ask (8%).

This leads me to the question…. Does the government need to be more proactive when informing homeowners of energy saving options e.g. solid wall insulation. What about Government subsidies?

Here at BuilderScrap, we have recently come across this intersting article on the Sustainable Build website.  The article looks at eco friendly methods of construction and greener building materials.  Here at BuilderScrap, we believe that the reuse of surplus materials can greatly benefit the environment, but there are lots more things people can do.
There is an urgent need to address the great challenges of our times: climate change, resource depletion, pollution, and peak oil. These issues are all accelerating rapidly, and all have strong links with the building industry.
There is a growing consensus from scientists and the oil industry that we are going to reach peak oil in the next twenty years, and that we might have reached this point already. Global demand is soaring, whilst global production is declining, and oil is set to become increasingly expensive and scarce. The building industry is hugely dependent on cheap oil, from the manufacture and transportation of its materials, to the machinery and tools used in demolition and construction. In the UK, it uses vast quantities of fossil fuels, accounting for over half of total carbon emissions that lead to climate change. The built environment is also responsible for significant amounts of air, soil and water pollution, and millions of tonnes of landfill waste. This is a situation that clearly needs to change.
Reducing Energy Consumption
With the inevitability of declining fossil fuels, and the threat of global climate change, reducing our energy consumption is an essential survival strategy. Choosing to build green saves energy. The low embodied energy of green products ensures that very little energy went into their manufacture and production, with a direct reduction in carbon emissions. Eco friendly design methodology can further reduce energy consumption by minimising energy inputs for heating, cooling and light, and incorporating energy efficient appliances. Saving energy for the occupant also saves money – an issue that will become increasingly important as the cost of fossil fuels inevitably rises in the near future.
Building Healthier Homes
Eco-friendly construction can not only help to create a better outdoor environment, it can also help to build a healthier indoor environment. Conventional building materials and methods have been linked to a wide range of health problems. Chemical pollutants from paints, solvents, plastics and composite timbers, along with biological pollutants such as dust mites and moulds are known to cause symptoms such as asthma, headaches, depression, eczema, palpitations and chronic fatigue syndrome. Green buildings eliminate these problems through good ventilation design, breathable walls, and the use of natural, non-toxic products and materials.
There are many good reasons why we should use eco-friendly construction methods and materials. It can improve the health of our planet, and the health of our own lives. It also supports local business and helps strengthen the local economy, which in turn helps to build our communities into vibrant, prosperous and desirable places to live.
A Necessary Choice
Green building is not only a wise choice for our future; it is also a necessary choice. The construction industry must adopt eco-friendly practices and materials that reduce its impacts, before we reach a point of irreversible damage to our life supporting systems. The UK Government is beginning to recognise this urgency, and is committed to integrating green specifications into building regulations and codes, but the process of developing policy is slow. The industry needs to take its own initiative and find alternative ways to build, using green, renewable energy resources, and adopt non-polluting practises and materials that reduce, recycle and reuse, before it is too late.

BuilderScrap.com is looking into the Recycling effort around the world

We know the UK government is trying to encourage more people to recycle their waste and reduce the UK’s waste mountain. Figures suggested in 2005 that 60% of all household waste could be recycled or composted, but the largest nation in the UK, England, appears to be reusing only 17.7%.

We’ve found some articles from BBC correspondents that provide a snapshot of how the UK’s European neighbours and other countries approach recycling of everyday rubbish.

Todays country is: SWITZERLAND: Imogen Foulkes investigates.

Switzerland is proud of its recycling efforts, and with good reason. Glass and paper are just some of the things the average Swiss refuses to simply throw away.

There are bottle banks at every supermarket, with separate slots for clear, green and brown glass. Every town has a free paper collection once a month, and that does not mean just old newspapers; most people recycle everything made of cardboard or paper, from cereal packets to old telephone bills.

Then there is green waste. If you have a garden, all the trimmings can be put out on the street (neatly bundled of course) every two weeks, and they will be collected.

Aluminium and tin can be taken to local depots, batteries handed over at the supermarket, and old oil or other chemicals deposited at special sites.

Plastic PET bottles are the most common drinks containers in Switzerland, and 80% of them are recycled – far higher than the European average of 20 to 40%.

But the Swiss do not recycle just because they care about the environment. There is a strong financial incentive. Recycling is free, but in most parts of Switzerland throwing away rubbish costs money – each rubbish bag has to have a sticker on it, and each sticker costs at least one euro (60 pence).

So the less you throw out, the less you pay. No sticker? Then the rubbish will be left outside your house to rot.

This weeks first instalment of the BuilderScrap sustainable construction draft responses…Enjoy!

Q: One aim of the proposal would be to create an integrated approach to maintain and where possible enhance biodiversity as a result of construction sector activity. Please say what you think would be helpful to companies in the construction sector to support the aims of maintaining and enhancing biodiversity.

1. One third of those who responded to this question cited the important role of the planning system in ensuring that biodiversity was taken into account in new developments. Better use might be made of the Planning Gain Supplement – or of Supplementary Planning Guidance – in implementing green infrastructure initiatives.

2. Just over a quarter of respondents identified the need for raising awareness of biodiversity issues and the role of training throughout the supply chain to improve understanding of how individual projects could contribute to biodiversity and the creation of public green space.

3. Just under a quarter of respondents cited the need for a simple guide, widely available, on biodiversity and for a list of quick wins on how to improve and protect biodiversity on projects. Many commented that there were already several relevant regulatory and good practice measures and requirements (e.g. Environmental Assessments, such as BREEAM and Biodiversity Action Plans) which might be included in the Strategy.

4. Some suggested that environmental assessment methodologies, such as BREEAM, could serve to enhance and measure biodiversity on sites. These tools could also be developed to provide credit for site-wide ecological enhancement. Environmental Management Plans such as BREEAM and Biodiversity Action Plans were existing mechanisms for helping the construction industry engage more effectively with conservation and biodiversity issues.

5. Some respondents suggested the Strategy should acknowledge the importance of a green infrastructure in delivering a range of social, environmental and economic benefits. Attenuating storm water run-off through the use of green roofs and green space was, for instance, seen as an important component of sustainable communities. To realise its full potential, considerations about the green infrastructure needed to be taken into account in development proposals from the outset.

6. Many respondents welcomed the proposal to convene a construction and building materials industry workshop. A result of this workshop might be a Draft Strategy for Sustainable Construction Chapter Title: Biodiversity set of guidance papers for the industry developed in partnership with a range of organisations such as local water authorities, Natural England, the Environment Agency, wildlife Trusts, NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisations), the Town and Country Planning Association, CIRIA (Construction Industry Research and Information Association), BSRIA, the Building Research Establishment, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and English Heritage.

7. Some respondents favoured a stronger emphasis on the natural environment in the targets for sustainable construction. Possible targets could be impacts on biodiversity which were neutral or enhancing (e.g. in terms of species and habitats), which could be measured through BREEAM or CEEQUAL (Civil Engineering Environmental Quality and Assessment Scheme).

8. Other suggested possibilities included:

The creation of habitat maps for particular species or wildlife in the area around a site;

Encouraging consultants and developers to increase habitat links in the area as a means of enhancing the biodiversity of the site;

Options to contribute to biodiversity projects offsite; and

The development of Site Biodiversity Action Plans for projects over a certain value (say £1m).

Respondents also pointed out that initial site surveys of biodiversity could be time-sensitive (subject to seasonal variations) and delay development considerably..

This article we have come across on the Building website, discusses the proposed improvements to the sustainability of new home construction.  We believe that BuilderScrap can help by providing a sustainable method of passing on surplus building materials.

Housing minister John Healey has proposed changes to Part L of Building Regulations which will introduce a 25% improvement on current standards of energy efficiency of both homes and commercial buildings from October 2010.

The new housing minister launched a consultation at the RTPI planning conference on changes to the building regs that would require new buildings to have much better insulation and lower-energy lighting and heating. The 25% improvement in domestic performance was widely expected as it is already contained in the Code for Sustainable Homes, however the plan to expected non-domestic buildings to achieve the same improvements will come as a surprise to the industry.

Healey said such a move could save families £100 a year on their heating and electricity bills.  He said: “We must build our homes to a better, greener standard. We are leading the way globally, with our ambitions for zero-carbon homes and buildings. Today I have announced the next step towards zero carbon – a 25% improvement on current standards for new homes or buildings from 2010.”

Robert Upton, secretary-general of the RTPI, said: “To adopt this 25% improvement in 2010 will be tough but this is a bold decision which we welcome and fully support. If we are to achieve our targeted reduction of carbon emissions of 20% by 2020 as the minister indicated, we have to act now… It’s time for planners, architects and developers to step up to the mark and respond to this challenge.”

This week at BuilderScrap, we have come across this interesting article about sustainable building materials on ehow.com.  Have a read, and let us know what you think.

In all of the phases of construction of a new house there are material decisions that are required. The materials for the foundation, the material for the super-structure of the house and so on. In choosing these materials home builders have more choices than ever to build using sustainable products. This article will discuss the major steps in the construction of a house and correlate those major phases to the applicable sustainable materials that can be used. In most instances the sustainable material choice has a higher “up front” cost compared to conventional materials but as many business cases have shown they have a pay back over the long run when considering the lower maintenance costs and the longevity of the materials. Another major factor to consider with sustainable materials is the instant “character” that is integrated into the construction of your new home.
According to the U.S. Green Building Council “A green home will have been constructed or renovated with healthy, non-toxic building materials and furnishings, like low- and zero-VOC (volatile organic compound) paints and sealants and non-toxic materials like strawboard for the sub-flooring. Wood-based features should come from rapidly renewable sources like bamboo, but if tropical hardwoods are used, they must be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. A green home uses salvaged materials like kitchen tiles and materials with significant recycled content.”

Let us here at BuilderScrap know what you think!

BuilderScrap recently exhibited at the Greenbuild Expo in Manchester, where we met lots of interesting people from all walks of the construction industry.  Here are some pictures from the two days we spent there:

BuilderScrap‘s own Eddie McGee gave a superb speech about lowering construction costs and waste

Danielle working hard for BuilderScrap handing out all our information on reuse of building materials

Managing Director Les Owens and Danielle spreading the BuilderScrap word!