Sustainability, the Copenhagen Accord and the built environment: A green-wash out?

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Issues of climate change and sustainability are at the forefront of international concern. The recent Copenhagen Climate Summit failed to secure a binding, legislative agreement, but the Copenhagen Accord did recognise scientific evidence showing carbon emissions need to be reduced and rising temperatures limited to an increase of 2^oC. While the failure to secure a legally binding treaty was criticised by some, progress is being made towards making our world more sustainable – especially with regard to building design.

“There is  a lot being done at a national level to help improve new buildings, not only to provide statutory requirements but also to educate and raise awareness of the issue, for example, the recent Eco-Build conference in London, the WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) initiative, the introduction of non-domestic zero-carbon building targets from 2016 to 2019, depending on building type and the increases in building regulation requirements,” says Nightingale Associates’ architect and director of design, research and innovation, David Rowley.

“However it is important to keep up the pressure up on how we can most effectively improve the existing building stock in cost efficient ways,” he adds.  “One way that could help, would be to get all local authorities to do surveys of housing in their areas, which could then be used to produce a map to show graphically the existing standards.

“Effort and finances could then be targeted at actions that could make the most impact, such as aiming to improve cavity wall insulation to a whole terrace in one go to reduce costs. Energy performance certificates, grants, council tax rebates, cuts in VAT on energy saving improvement refurbishment work etc. could also be considered to increase incentives for home owners.”

The Architects’ Journal rounded-up world leaders’ reactions to the Copenhagen Climate Summit, including UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon’s, who said: ‘The accord delivered by the Copenhagen climate talks is hardly far-reaching [but is] better than nothing.’ Gordon Brown said, ‘a new global body dedicated to environmental stewardship is needed [in order to prevent the deadlock which] undermined the Copenhagen climate change summit’. Barack Obama was more optimistic however, saying the climate change accord pact was ‘a great step forward’ and an ‘important breakthrough’. But what does this mean for architects and building design?

Nightingale Associates' architect and design research and innovation director, David Rowley.

“There is a lot of ‘green wash’ going around, where people are doing things just to show they are ‘green’, without being logical about the choices,” says David.

“Clients need to consider if they are serious about the sustainability agenda, and if so, how far do they want to take it. Is it a case of just satisfying statutory and funding approval requirements?” he asks.

Government initiatives are providing more and more guidelines, statutory requirements and incentives to build sustainably. For instance, the Carbon Reduction Commitment (now titled the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme) will be introduced next month (April 2010) to target all organisations using more than 6,000MWh per year of electricity (equivalent to an annual electricity bill of about £500,000). Other initiatives include green house building money-back incentives and a government target of 11% non-domestic buildings to be zero-carbon by 2019.

But, far from making building design more complex, David believes: “The aim should be to keep the design simple, to minimise the need for technical solutions and make the building comfortable and easy to operate”.

“Taking sustainable measures also means, where appropriate or possible, improving the efficiency of the building’s use, this is where the sensible use of items such as daylight and occupancy sensors and automatic opening vents, with occupant overrides can be beneficial,” he adds.

Sustainable architecture seeks to improve efficiency and provide appropriate use of materials and the output of energy. While the Government Client Construction Panel’s (GCCP) Sustainability Action Plan originally noted that from 2003 all new buildings required by Government departments are to achieve a BREEAM – (or equivalent) ‘Excellent’ rating and major refurbishments at least a ‘Very Good’ rating, many buildings have not achieved this. However, with constantly increasing regulations and commitments, environmentally responsible building design requirements will need to be applied to every new building from the outset and retrofitting of existing buildings needs to be well-targeted.

As a member of the steering group behind BREEAM Healthcare, David believes the solutions should not be geared to a “tick box mentality”; architects need to think laterally to provide flexible solutions that are specific to the situation. “Sustainable buildings need to maximise the use of daylight and natural ventilation where appropriate. But they also need to allow for change,” continues David.

“The approach to high-quality sustainable design has many similarities irrespective of type, location and budget. This includes the commitment of all parties from the client to the design team, the contractor and, ultimately, the user. There is a need to consider practical sustainability aspects from the outset of any building project to be able to assess effective measures early.”

Gateway Sixth Form College in Leicester uses photovoltaics, solar shading, a wind turbine, and a prominent glazed plant room with bio mass boiler as part of its 'visible' sustainability concept.

What does this mean in practical terms? “Initially, decisions can fall into three main groups,” David explains, “Firstly, quick wins. These are sustainable actions that have negligible, reduced or no capital costs, for example, building orientation, off-site prefabrication, use of locally produced materials, recycling of site waste and use of timber certified as being responsibly sourced.

“Secondly, sustainable actions that require increased capital costs but which have a reasonable payback, for example, increasing insulation values, low wattage light fittings, specifying dual 6/4 litre flush toilets and aerated taps.

“Thirdly, sustainable actions that require increased capital costs but may not have a reasonable payback, for instance, the use of wool insultation, solar panels, photovoltaics, micro-wind generation and providing rainwater recycling.

“Some of the options in options one and two may already be required,” David continues, “Ultimately, it’s worth considering what life-cost and commercial benefits would be gained from additional improvements and what payback is required. Some items in the third option may be moved to the second option by government incentives and grants, and some may be necessary to comply with onsite renewable energy generation requirements,” he concludes.

Below are examples of three of our recent projects that help show how building type, locations and budgets can influence design (please click on the images for more information).

Gateway Sixth Form College, Leicester

Alltwen Community Hospital, Porthmadog

Golden Jubilee Wing PFI, King’s College Hospital, London

Further information:

For further information on the BREEAM schemes and an article comparing BREEAM International with LEED (highlighting cases where LEED points were insufficient and out of place for the locality) see their web site.

For further examples of Nightingale Associates’ schemes and their sustainability aspects, please refer to the services/environmental section on our web site.

Nightingales Associates has held two sustainability conferences for its staff and clients. PowerPoint presentations from both can be viewed on the website. For a DVD of Nightingale Associates first conference in 2007 please contact David Rowley. Copies are limited, so early requests are recommended.

Wind turbine image used via Creative Commons licensing, courtesy of Christiaan Conover.