Beyond Green Buildings

Written by

M O’Ikenegbu

February 2019

Green buildings relate to concepts that include sustainable architecture, eco-housing, low carbon design, ecodesign, and green architecture, to name a few. They are designed and constructed to minimise environmental impact and are also referred to by the following terms: “sustainable buildings”, “green buildings”, “low-energy”, “energy-efficient”, “high- performance”, “passive house“, or “(nearly) zero energy buildings” (Zalejska-Jonsson, 2013).

Green building techniques involve maximising the potential in reducing the amount of resources utilised not just in making and bringing a space to life, but also throughout the lifespan of the building. Therefore, in addition to carefully selecting techniques employed during construction, it is also very important to account for the efficient operation and running of the building. This goes a long way in protecting the environment and preventing further damage to it. However, with the imminent treats from global warming, more drastic measures need to be taken rather than just simply preventing further damage to the environment.

 

Green buildings

The green concept in buildings is generally conceived at the point when the need for a space is established; however, the concept can still be introduced at any point in the life of a building. This being said, there is usually more potential at the planning and design stage. Once the need for a space is established, consideration is then given to sustainable ideas which can be developed into a design, and implemented during construction. At this point, the baton is handed over to users and occupants of the building, as well as operators and facilities managers, to continue the process throughout the life of the building. This puts a fair amount of responsibility on building managers, and, arguably, even more on the occupants of the building.

There are a number of factors that contribute to how environmentally friendly a space is. Some of these include: reduced energy usage, sustainability of raw materials, health considerations, minimal water usage and disposal of waste, specifically the recyclability of waste. During construction, a lot of emphasis is put on the materials used – especially as this affects the building fabric. This has to do with how the materials are sourced, their composition, their long-term environmental effect and possibly their residual value.

There are three key areas of concern when considering green building design, namely social, environmental, and economic. Grierson and Moultrie (2011) reviewed the sustainability design principles in four texts in relation to these three key areas. They gave insight into what may be missing in strictly green buildings. In one of the texts they reviewed, Adapting Buildings for Climate Change, S. Roaf emphasised on the need for buildings to be resilient to climate change, rather than simply being less destructive to the environment. From this, it can be seen that beyond going green, resilience should be at the forefront of design and planning concepts for buildings and community developments.

 

The concept of resilience

Resilience emphasises the capacity for communities to live above the impacts of global warming. Climate change and its effect are imminent, and we have to deal with it. Resilience therefore fosters a credible solution. It promotes the ability to live above the threats of global warming. A resilient community has autarky in its character. This self-sufficiency commonly filters through to the various needs of the community such as power, heating, water, and waste disposal, amongst others. According to van Hinte et al (2003), using autarkic principles means that homes can be designed to be independent from services and utilities such as gas mains and sewers. These homes can get their energy from windmills or solar panels, and from biomass; their water can come from rain or directly from the photosynthesis process that takes place in trees (van Hinte et al, 2003).

According to Climate Investment Funds (CIF), resilient communities are those that are able to foresee disasters before they come. Resilience measures are able to protect lives and properties, and in doing so, drastically reduce potential losses. They include simple design and planning considerations such as not building on flood plains, or raising structures that can withstand wind loads in arid regions. Other examples of resilience measures include completely relocating communities under sudden threat of destructive climatic disasters, or to set up protective mechanisms, such as flood defence walls, that can shield communities as risk.

According to Newman, Beatley and Boyer (2009), resilience is about lasting, it is about surviving the crisis. It is also about overall strength and a strong physical constitution. Resilience can be measured by the extent of disturbance someone or something can withstand and still persevere and there are several benefits to possessing resilience. According to Newman,

Beatley and Boyer (2009), examples of these benefits include greater ease of movement in higher densities and also mixed- use communities that are walkable, with accessible transit options. Other benefits include food that is produced locally and is therefore fresher, efficiency of energy resources, greater general affordability, healthier indoor environments, easier access to natural environments, and more awareness of the local urban area and its bioregion, thus enabling a greater sense of place and identity.

 

Incentivising resilience

It is important to promote the concept of resilience in building design, particularly amongst stakeholders. In order to achieve a rapid, focused response that allows for the creation of robust and climate-resilient communities, more tailored incentives should be established. In the UK, there are green environment incentives available for communities and businesses. These measures and regulatory frameworks are aimed at promoting sustainable dwellings. Some of them are Enhanced Capital Allowances (ECA) tax relief, Feed-in Tariffs (FIT) and Renewable Heat Incentives (RHI) (CIOB, no date). Others include climate change levies, landfill tax, aggregates levies, building regulations part L, land remediation tax credits, UK Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Scheme, and the Combined Heat and Power Quality Assurance (CHPQA) programme.

Whilst the green environment frameworks are plausible and serve a noble purpose, it is important for more climate- resilience incentives to be put in place. Some of the existing incentives can also be tweaked to provide resilience-targeted measures. For instance, the ECA scheme is only available for commercial buildings and basically allows businesses to claim 100% first-year capital allowances on their qualifying spend on energy-saving plants and machinery. Though this particular scheme will cease to exist from 2020, it would have been ideal to also provide a similar incentive for residential buildings. This could be tailored in such a way as to provide individuals with some added benefit for incurring expenditures from certain environmentally friendly systems in their homes. Also, similar to the ECA is the Structures and Buildings Allowance (SBA) which the UK government introduced in October 2018. The SBA will be useful for incentivising resilience structures and building projects, however, just like the ECA, it is not accessible for residential buildings. Again, it would be beneficial for an SBA-type scheme to be made available for residential dwellings being constructed or remodelled with a focus on climate resilience. This will go a long way towards encouraging property developers, owners and stakeholders to invest in climate- resilient structures that will not merely reduce environmental impact of buildings, but also reduce the effect of climate change on users and occupants.

 

Conclusion

Resilient buildings take into account the past, present, and future effects of climate change, in order to help build communities that will easily spring back to life in the face of any negative environmental response to global warming. Such environmental responses, like flooding which often occur in the wake of extreme weather conditions, are known to rear their ugly heads every once in a while. It is therefore imperative that as well as combating root causes of global warming, such as atmospheric pollution, every effort should be made to prepare for those environmental responses themselves. Resilience is the ability of an institution to withstand disturbance and remain stable in its basic function and structure (Newman, Beatley and Boyer 2009). It is therefore important to always prepare, plan and design for the worst case scenario. Resilience design entails the implementation of well-thought-out design that is capable of fostering cohesiveness. It should be all-inclusive and as a result, able to protect all aspects of the community – lives, properties, biodiversity, etc.

 

References

CIOB – The Chartered Institute of Building, Carbon Action 2050 (no date) Basics of Sustainability 4: Environmental Legislations and     Incentives   in                    the                 UK                        [online],                    Available     from: http://www.carbonaction2050.com/sites/carbonaction.ciobrebuild.io1dev.com/files/document-attachment/4%20-

%20Environmental%20Legislation%20and%20Incentives%20in%20the%20UK.pdf [Accessed 03 November 2018].

Grierson, d., Moultrie, C. (2011) ‘Architectural Design Principles and Processes for Sustainability: Towards a Typology of Sustainable Building Design’, Design Principles and Practices: An International Journal, Illinois: Common Ground Publishing.

van Hinte, E., Neelen, M., Vink, J., Vollaard, P. (2003) Smart Architecture, Rotterdam: 010 Publishers.

Newman, P., Beatley, T. and Boyer, H. (2009) Resilient Cities: Responding to Peak Oil and Climate Change, Washington: Island press.

Zalejska-Jonsson, A. (2013) In the business of building green: ‘The value of low-energy residential buildings from customer and developer perspectives’, Doctoral Theses Building and Real Estate Economics, Department of Real Estate and Construction Management, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm.