This document discusses sustainability in construction and provides recommendations based on case studies. It defines sustainability as having three pillars: environmental, social, and economic. A sustainable construction balances all three by carefully considering environmental performance, social responsibility, and economic efficiency to avoid negatively impacting future generations. While some methods reduce energy waste and increase building performance, consumers are often unaware of them or put off by costs. The document recommends several systems and designs used in case studies, such as airtightness, natural ventilation, and sensors, to reduce carbon emissions and energy costs in a new sustainable school.

1. A word which is least understood but is frequently talked
about is sustainability, its definition is often misunderstood
by many different explanations therefore the topic being
treated lightly.
Sustainability is built upon 3 pillars, environmental, social
and economic. Within the construction industry a balance of
all 3 areas are required to build a sustainable construction
where environmental performance, social responsibility and
economic efficiency are all carefully considered to build
without affecting future generations.
There are many methods out in the market which reduce
energy waste and increase building performance lowering
carbon emissions but many are not put together due to the
lack of knowledge in consumers and the price tag which
tends to put buyers off. Many of these individual measures
are commonly used in the high end commercial properties
were great savings are made.
MINIMISING CO2 EMISSIONS AND ENERGY WASTE THROUGH THE
PROCESS OF SUSTAINABLE DESIGN.
Introduction
Name: Sadiq Ali
Student Number: 1228775
Module Code: 6AT005
Module Leader: Dr David Heesom
Supervisor/tutor: Colin Orr
Year of submission 2014/15
University Of Wolverhampton
Course: Architectural Design Technology
School of Architecture and Built Environment (FSE)
A recommendation list shows the findings of the report on what
systems to use to reduce carbon emissions and energy costs.
Figure 1 A section of one of the 82 dwellings
Source: 1 Devsaran, No Date
BedZED (Beddington Zero Energy Development) In 2002 the UK’s biggest carbon neutral development was built
on a brownfield site located in Hackbridge, London. Within the
site there were 82 dwellings in a combination of flat apartments,
town houses, workspaces and offices [Devsaran, No Date].
Figure 3 Diagram shows the flow of natural ventilation
Source: 3 [UKGBC No Date]
Crouch Hill Park London UK
Figure 4 a private office with the heat sensor in the top
left of the image
Source: 4. naylornetwork.com
US HQ Building Green Council
The US Green Building Council HQ had created a new head-
quarters as they had outgrew the previous HQ. Key features
implemented within the planning and design were the use of
advanced green building designs and technology, to portray
the knowledge and skill to visitors and employees while setting
an example to the world. [O’brien, 2009]
An open land located in North London, Crouch Hill Park was
the site with a design focus of creating a carbon negative area
through supplying surrounding homes with low carbon energy
along with building and renovating key infrastructures to bring
the community together [Rambol.2008].
Figure 2 Internal view showing open plan floors of Herman Miller
Herman Miller International HQ UK
Source:2 [Parker, J.2009]
Case Studies
Recommendations
Located on the outskirts of Chippenham, Herman Miller Interna-
tional HQ UK is known for its innovative office equipment. The
Headquarters designed to set an example of a sophisticated
model of a sustainable business premises and practice.
Herman Miller have been successful in being a great example in
energy saving by achieving the highest ratings from both
BREEAM and LEED for sustainable design. [Parker. J, 2009].
For full reviews of all case studies conducted within the report scan the QR Code.
Airtightness is a crucial aspect in creating an energy efficient building as CO2 emissions and energy loss increase when there is an
air leakage from the building.
Fraunhofer Institute of Building Physics carried out a research project where they measured the effects of different size air leakages
on the performance of insulation and moisture penetration of the building fabrics. [Hartwig M. Künzel et al. 2009-2011].
At the start of the test a seamless vapour barrier/check on a 14 cm thermal insulation had a U-value of 0.30W/m2K. Air leakage
width size of 1mm, reduced the performance of insulation by a factor of 4.8(refer to figure5) with the leak in the barrier the U-value
had risen from 0.30W/m2K to 1.44W/m2K.
The conclusion was drawn that having a good layer of insulation is only good as the way the building is sealed. With leakages in the
barrier over time heating energy consumption would rises increasing the CO2 emissions.
A finding to ponder upon
Degradation of airtightness
Figure 5 demonstrates the findings of air leakage at 1mm
Source: 5 [Crosson, N.2008] greenspec.co.uk
From the analysis of case studies the following recommendations are
to be used in the design process to promote sustainability within the
construction of a sustainable school.