An Evaluation of Sustainable Construction in Ireland and the UK
Contents
Introduction
Literature Review
Research Methodology
Findings
Recommendations
Conclusion
References
Introduction
Sustainable Development has been defined in a number of senses but the most acceptable definition of this term states that it is the developmental process in which the demands of the present generation is met without compromising with the needs of the future ones. The human lifestyle is improved while preserving the crucial resources of the nature. The viable schemes under this action have an ability to combine the social, economic and the environmental aspects of the human activity(Magdani, 2015).
Construction Sustainability is a broad term which talks about carrying out construction activities without having a negative impact on the environment and society. Under this, the Construction activities are optimized in such a manner that does not have adverse effects on the resources, surroundings and living ecosystems. In order to meet the prevailing environment and social challenges, the need of Sustainability Assessment is increasing day by day as it doesn’t poses any negative impact on the living ecosystem rather incorporates a number of measures that optimize the Construction costs.
The practice of Sustainable Building Design and Construction is usually followed to create structures and use processes that are environmental friendly and resource efficient throughout the life cycle of a building. Development of sustainable buildings minimizes the use irregular use of water resources, natural resources, energy and land. Simultaneously, it also aims to reduce the emission of wastes in the environment(University of Cambridge, 2008). A lot of construction and demolition wastes are generated at the global level. These wastes are hazardous for the environment and have to be disposed off at a suitable place so as to avoid pressure on the land resources. The other alternative for this could be the recycling of the wastes to minimize the risks of harmful impacts of the wastes. Moreover, the sustainability of the Construction activities could also be increased by using appropriate materials for building which are eco-friendly and simultaneously strong enough to bare the natural and man-made forces.
The following Dissertation is Research Report which primarily aims to evaluate the actual meaning of the Sustainable Construction and how its elements are bought into action by the governments and the local citizens. The report will both qualitatively as well as quantitatively investigate the effects of Construction on the environment and social surroundings. The report will focus mainly on the Irish and the UK Construction Industry and what the government and legislative body is doing to promote the activities of Sustainable Construction in this industry(Building and Construction Authority, 2007). The first section of the report, the Literature Review, will unveil myriads of thoughts and Perceptions of different researchers over Sustainability and its incorporation in the Construction Industry. This section will also evaluate the manners in which Sustainable Culture can influence the lifecycle costs of the buildings and the role of the government of both Ireland and the UK in promoting the idea of Sustainability in their individual Construction sectors.
The following section talks about the Research Methodology undertaken to evaluate the minds of all the shareholders involved in the Irish as well as the UK Industry. This section will include both the Qualitative and Quantitative methods but will mainly focus on the former one. In this section the sample population would be evaluated using questionnaire technique whose results will unveil various perceptions of the people in context to Sustainability and its implementation across the Construction Industry(Charles, 2008). This section will also include the case studies which will highlight the actual status of Sustainable Construction in the considered countries.
Following this will be the evaluation of the Research process under the Findings and Outcomes section. This unit of the Dissertation will propose the actual outcomes of the Research Process which would be derived from the questionnaires and other research methodologies. The prime results could also be derived from the discussed case studies that outline the ongoing efforts in the direction of implementing sustainability in the Construction Industry in both the countries. This section would be followed by a set of recommendations that would allow the future readers and evaluators to implement the best practices of Sustainable Construction and even make them aware of the key drivers that would be required to encourage more and more people to widely use the elements of Sustainable Construction(J Kim, 1998).
The pivotal aim of this report is to unveil the true meaning of the Sustainable Construction and its present and Future implications in the Irish and the UK Construction Industries. The report also aims to evaluate the impacts of Construction sector on the environment and on the Society. The Irish and the UK Construction Industry is in immediate need of installing the elements of the Sustainable Construction as the environmental challenges are increasing at an alarming rate across the globe. Through a deep analysis, this report could also be used to evaluate the extent to which the Sustainable Construction is needed by the undertaken countries and what all is being done by the leading political parties and legislative bodies to attain the supreme benefits of these sustainable activities. The future implications of the Sustainable development are not so clear in the Construction Sector. Hence, this report also has an objective to clear out the actual role played by the Sustainability factors in the Construction Sector and its positive as well as negative impacts on the environment(Kjeldgaard, 2010).
The hypothesis for this Research Report states that there is no negative impact of the ongoing Construction activities on the environment and even there is no need of sustainable elements in the Construction Industry. Another hypothesis for the report could be that the government legislations and incentives are doing nothing in the direction to promote the elements of Sustainable Construction in the Irish and the UK Construction Industry.
The scope of this Research Report is limited to the Irish and the UK Construction Industry and both of these countries would be critically evaluated for the sustainable practices in their Construction Sector. This Report will also unveil the impact of the activities of this sector on the environment and its contribution in the Global Warming. The Scope of the report is also restricted in analyzing the precise role of the of the legal and government bodies only in promoting the concept of Sustainable Construction in their respective Construction sectors. Moreover, the analysis of the precise impact of incorporation of Sustainable Construction elements on the Cost lifecycle of buildings and infrastructures also falls under the scope of this Research Proposal(Constructor, 2015).
Literature Review
Sustainability is defined as a desire to carry out lucrative activities without depleting the resources in the environment. In more simple words, the Brundtland Commission has described this term as “fulfilling the needs of the present generation, without compromising the demands of the coming generation”. Sustainable Construction, in a broader sense, is used to describe the application of the elements of Sustainable Development in the Construction Industry. In a Construction industry, the Primary task is to produce, develop, plan, design, alter, maintain or recreate the environment by building houses, government and private offices, monuments, public places, etc. The major stakeholders in this industry are the manufacturers, suppliers, clients and the end user occupiers (Education, 2016).
In the world of Construction, the buildings often have the capacity to make a great contribution to a more sustainable future to our planet. The population in the developed nations is expanding at a rate of addition of one million people per week. This is an alarm for the clever minds across the globe to optimize the sustainable performance of the buildings that are designed either for work or for living. Sustainable Construction aims to meet the housing, working environments and infrastructures without compromising the upcoming demands of the future generation. A Sustainable Construction not only incorporates the elements of the good environmental performance but it also talks about Economic efficiency as well as about the Social responsibilities. The prime issues that are to be dealt in order to effectively implement Sustainable Construction elements are: design and management of the buildings, construction technology and processes, resource and energy requirements, transformations in technology and products, ethical standards of the country and the company, health safety rules and equipments, interdependencies of landscape, varieties of financing models and the social factors of the countries (Harbour, 2016).
A Construction Industry of a Country however can contribute in a number of manners to the Government in the case of Sustainable Development. For instance, when the government plans to revitalize town centers, the Construction Industry could contribute in this by regenerating the houses instead of investing in creation of new houses. Moreover, the buildings could be designed to use the water and energy in a more efficient manner so that it is equally available for all. During the construction of new buildings and infrastructures, the Construction Companies could implement a number of measures so as to minimize the mineral extraction and save it for the upcoming generation. The Construction companies could also introduce numerous law, policies, rules and regulations in order to protect the countryside from the ill-effects of the construction and its impact on the health of the people. On the social level, the firm executives could also train their subordinates conveying them the actual benefits of sustainable Development. These activities allow the Construction Industry to play a pivotal role in the delivery of Sustainable Development. The environmental and social problems prevailing at the global level has challenged this sector to provide a better quality of life to all the people it serves and through these activities the companies could definitely minimize the adverse impacts of Construction on the environment and the local communities (Jennings, 2017).
The Sustainable Construction elements demand a lot from Construction Industry. Firstly, the projects under such companies must exhibit a sensible and judicious use of the natural resources of the country throughout their entire life cycle. The Designing principles of the company should primarily focus on the smart use and management of the material and energy. The projects could eliminate maximum of the carbon footprints and could even reutilize the essential substances released from the industries as waste. The industries’ strategies could be designed in such a way that the natural landscape is preserved in all its forms. The leaders in this could encourage the subordinates to use more and more renewable energy in place of degradable resources of energy. Apart from this, the choice of the construction materials alongwith the technological elements choice could also make a lot of difference in delivering high quality services to the client without compromising the upcoming demands (Cork, 2011). Secondly, the projects need to economically feasible in order to create a smooth channel and flow of the financial resources in and out of the industry. If the industry succeeds in maintaining an Economic Sustainable environment, then it becomes quite easy for the firms to be compatible with the changing demands of the clients across the construction’s lifespan. In order to have the Economic sustainability of a great level, the projects could be integrated with the larger economic frameworks of local, regional and global monetary flows. This will not only give a strong financial support to the projects, but will also show a positive impact of the economy on the society as well as on the environment. The Entrepreneurs involved in this sector must also ensure that the funding arranged for the projects must be from all sorts of legitimate sources and this information should be transparently conveyed to the clients as well as to the higher authorities so as to avoid future objections related illegal funds and support. The projects designs should also be flexible so that they could be easily adapted to the future demands, transformations, user needs, ownership, laws and economic fluctuations. If the projects are readily adapted to the changing demands and needs of the clients then they could easily invest a huge amount in such projects. In the end, to have an Economic Sustainability, the projects could be designed with affordable prices so that all sorts of client could invest in them and the company could have a large customer base rather than restricting its target market to only rich clients and the organization with heavy turnovers each year. However, the Operating Costs of the projects are determined by the returns it receives on the investment, so the industry could focus on minimizing its initial designing and manufacturing prices. Thirdly, the projects must also convey a high level of contextual and aesthetic impacts (Yuanjian & Zheng, 2017). The projects undertaken must reflect high standard of architectural quality so as to match the prevalent cultural expression. The materials incorporated and the design used in the buildings play a crucial role in reforming the physical, cultural and the human environment. The Construction industry could restore the buildings by reusing or remodeling their structures. This will contribute in saving the useful land resources of the environment. The programming strategies of the firms falling under this industry could be flexible in usage, innovative and could have long term adaptabilities too. The Architectural quality and the aesthetic impacts could be placed upon the clients by introducing strategies that focus on the space, spatial sequences, movement, tactility of the materials, light and the ambience of the building and its surroundings (Cook, 1999).
Governments all over the world have already introduced a number of policies to support the concept of Sustainable Construction. The elements under Sustainable Construction will not only save energy for the coming generation but also promises to give a quality of life to the current generation too. Under the prevailing challenges in the energy sector, sustainability will undoubtedly become the most trending concern of the future constructions (Vadera, et al., 2008).
Ireland has a great reputation as a country with a high quality environment in an era where the whole world is facing a number of intensifying environmental threats. The Construction Industry in Ireland is comprised of myriads of firms, including large multinational buildings, service companies, manufacturers of building related products and materials, engineers, architects and providers of building management services. This industry has undergone a number of changes and a fundamental contraction in the last few years. Till the year 2007, the Construction sector was considered as the key driver of the economic growth of the country. But after this year, this sector has experienced the worst contraction of its time. The Residential Construction activity collapsed and even the private and Non-Residential activities suffered a number of uncertain problems. In order to boost up the economy, the government of the country is working extremely hard in the area of Sustainable Construction, mainly as a result of legislative and policy drivers. This step is considered as a successful one by most of the researchers and will definitely provide a great boom to the sector in the coming years (Kenny & Hogan, 2009). The Irish Government has considered a number of key drivers of the Sustainable Development. In the Construction Industry, Buildings are playing a pivotal role in achieving the energy saving and climate change targets. The energy consumption and CO2 emission values varies a lot between different buildings. A directive, named as EPBD (Energy Performance of Buildings Directive) consists of a number of provisions that are specifically designed to improve the energy efficiency of both the residential and non-residential buildings (Walsh, 2010). This directive has been applied to all the new and existing buildings with a floor area of 1000 m2 or greater. In order to allow all the buildings to fall under this directive, ne improved energy standards have also been set up for all the buildings in the Republic of Ireland in the revised Building Regulations which became effective from the year 2009. A prime stipulation of this directive is the introduction of an energy performance certificate to promote greater awareness among the energy saving buildings. Even the Public Sector Buildings were with the floor area above 1000 m2are legally required to have Display Energy Certificates (DECs) displayed in a specific place visible to the common public (Technologies, 2011).
The EPBD was re-casted in the year 2010 and was implemented by almost all the member states by July 2012. The new directive introduced an innovative concept of “nearly zero” energy buildings. According to this concept, the buildings should exhibit a very high energy performance and by the end of the year 2020, new buildings must consume nearly zero energy and should be powered highly from renewable sources of energy. Under this new directive, the member states were asked to produce national plans by the year 2011 that would be implemented to increase the number of buildings under the concept of “nearly zero” energy. They were also asked to list out the financial and other incentives they would be requiring for this great transition. The existing buildings were renovated to adopt smart ways of construction and designs. The buildings were reconstructed to implement smart meters and replace the existing heating, hot water plumbing and air-conditioning devices with the ones which are more energy efficient working on the renewable energy sources (Foundation, 2011).