Sustainability is a societal goal that broadly aims for humans to safely co-exist on planet Earth over a long time. Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and therefore vary in the literature and over time.[2][1] The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national and individual level (e.g. sustainable living).[3] Sustainability is commonly described along the lines of three dimensions (also called pillars): environmental, economic and social.[1] Many publications state that the environmental dimension (also referred to as "planetary integrity" or "ecological integrity") should be regarded as the most important one.[4][5] Accordingly, in everyday usage of the term, sustainability is often focused on the environmental aspects. The most dominant environmental issues since around 2000 have been climate change, loss of biodiversity, loss of ecosystem services, land degradation, and air and water pollution.[6] Humanity is now exceeding several "planetary boundaries".[7] A closely related concept is that of sustainable development. The terms are often used synonymously.[8]UNESCO formulated a distinction as follows: "Sustainability is often thought of as a long-term goal (i.e. a more sustainable world), while sustainable development refers to the many processes and pathways to achieve it."[9] Both concepts have been criticized. One such criticism is that the concept is vague, ill-defined and merely a buzzword.[1] Another is that sustainability as a goal might be impossible to reach;[10] it has been pointed out that "no country is delivering what its citizens need without transgressing the biophysical planetary boundaries".[11]: 11  How the economic dimension of sustainability should be addressed is controversial.[1] Scholars have discussed this aspect under the concept of "weak and strong sustainability". For example, there will always be tension between the ideas of "welfare and prosperity for all" and environmental conservation.[12][1] Therefore, trade-offs are required. Approaches that decouple economic growth from environmental deterioration would be desirable but are difficult to implement.[13][14] There are many barriers to achieving sustainability,[3][15] which must be addressed for a "sustainability transition" to become possible.[3]: 34  Some sustainability barriers arise from nature and its complexity. Other barriers are "extrinsic" to the concept of sustainability. A number of extrinsic sustainability barriers are related to the dominant institutional frameworks where market mechanisms often fail for public goods. Some example steps humanity can take to transition to environmental sustainability include: maintaining nature's ecosystem services, reducing food waste, promoting dietary shifts towards plant-based foods, further reducing fertility rates and thus population growth, promoting new green technologies and adopting renewable energy sources while phasing out subsidies to energ

1. Prof. Mrs. Jayasinghe
CONCEPTS OF SUSTAINABILITY

2. SUSTAINABLE DESIGN
 “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs”
 Development that is confined to economic development is not sustainable
 What is desirable is Sustainable Development (SD), which takes an integrated
approach blending economic, social and environmental dimensions

3. SUSTAINABLE DESIGN…
 SD takes into account the potential adverse effects of development on people
and the environment
 SD focuses on the quality of life of the future generations as well as the
present generations
 Adverse impacts of such “unsustainable buildings” :
 Environmental degradation
 Energy consumption
 Natural resources depletion

4. BUILDING TOWARDS SD
Buildings can be made to contribute towards SD (Buildings for SD) mainly
through:
 Materials (Building Materials for SD)
 Planning & Design (Building Planning & Design for SD)
 Construction & Maintenance (Building Construction & Maintenance for SD)
 Use (Building Use for SD)

6. 6
EUROPEAN NATIONS CAMPUS
BUILDING AGAINST SD
Environmental degradation
Adverse impacts on bio diversity
Adverse impacts on natural drainage paths & hydrological characteristics
Adverse impacts on water cycle
Promotion of natural disasters
Environmental problems
Indoor & outdoor air pollution
Ground, air and water pollution associated with waste mismanagement
Energy consumption
Embodied energy in building materials
Energy consumption for materials transport
Energy consumption for achieving indoor
Thermal & visual comfort
13.1 Natural resources depletion
Depletion of raw materials
Depletion of non-renewable energy sources

7. ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION
 Adverse impacts on bio-diversity: Vegetation and habitats of other living
beings are adversely affected when ground is cleared for the construction of
buildings
 Some of these living beings are essential for the well being of the human
beings
 Adverse impacts on natural drainage paths & hydrological
characteristics
 Adverse impacts on water cycle: A new building covers the bare ground
that previously allowed rainwater to seep into the earth, recharging the
groundwater
 Promotion of natural disasters: Disturbances to natural drainage paths and
to the water cycle lead to natural disasters such as flooding and landslides

8. ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION…
 Environmental problems: Excessive extraction of natural resources for
building construction has caused several environmental problems. Salt-water
intrusion to rivers, soil erosion and riverbank collapses due to excessive sand
mining for construction in rivers are examples
 Indoor and outdoor air pollution: Buildings contribute to air pollution –
both indoors and outdoors. Toxic finishing materials causes indoor air
pollution. Removal of vegetation contribute to outdoor air pollution.
Vegetation uses up carbon dioxide for photosynthesis and releases oxygen
 Ground, air and water pollution associated with waste mismanagement:
Haphazard dumping of waste generated during construction and use of a
building contributes to ground, air and water pollution

9. ENERGY CONSUMPTION
 Embodied energy in building materials: Production of certain types of building
materials requires high inputs of energy, consuming large amounts of fuels
(e.g., cement, steel and clay bricks)
 Energy consumption for materials transport: Transportation of building
materials from production centers to building sites consumes energy
 Energy consumption for achieving indoor thermal and visual comfort:
 To eliminate thermal discomfort
 Visual discomfort

11. NATURAL RESOURCES DEPLETION
 Depletion of raw materials: Natural resources used as raw materials for
manufacturing building materials
 Consumption of these resources at a fast rate will deplete the resources.
Examples include limestone for cement making and iron for steel making
 Depletion of non-renewable energy sources: Non-renewable energy sources
such as oil, gas and coal have taken millions of years to develop. Their
excessive use paves the way for depletion of these reserves fast and the future
generations will face shortages

12. BUILDING MATERIALS FOR SD
 Environment friendly materials
 Locally available materials
 Materials desirable for indoor thermal & visual comfort
 Low embodied energy materials
 High strength materials
 Durable materials
 Affordable materials
 Recycled materials
 Materials extracted or produced using energy from renewable sources
 Materials extracted or produced using energy from waste fuels
 Non-toxic materials

13. ENVIRONMENT FRIENDLY MATERIALS
 Quarrying for raw materials and producing building materials has caused
extensive adverse environmental effects
 For example, excessive clay mining for brick making lowers soil productivity in
nearby paddy land and promotes mosquito breeding
 Excessive sand mining in rivers promotes flooding, riverbank collapses, and
salt-water intrusion. Use of environment friendly materials can mitigate these
problems

14. LOCALLY AVAILABLE MATERIALS
 Use of locally available materials is a sound solution to bring down the
transport cost of material
 Use blocks cast by local businesses instead of “importing” blocks produced far
away from the construction site
 Decrease of fuel consumption for materials transport, reduction of harmful
emissions during materials transport and thriving of small scale, local building
materials businesses

15. LOCALLY AVAILABLE MATERIALS…
Materials desirable for indoor thermal and visual comfort
 Selecting materials that are desirable for indoor thermal and visual comfort
will lower the energy consumption for indoor thermal and visual comfort
when the building is in use.
 For example, use clay tiles instead of cement fiber sheets as roof covering

16. LOW EMBODIED ENERGY MATERIALS
 Certain materials consume a large amount of energy during their
manufacturing and extensive use of such materials increases energy
consumption in the building materials industry
 Cement, clay bricks and steel are examples
 Where possible, use low embodied materials such as soil blocks and rammed
earth because they do not consume large amounts of energy during
production

19. HIGH STRENGTH MATERIALS
 The amount of material needed for withstanding a particular force is less with
high strength concrete than with conventional concrete
 Concrete of higher strength are more durable
 The key benefit of high strength materials is the reduction of the consumption
of natural resources as building materials while allowing a longer lifespan
 These materials also contribute to lower the energy consumption and
emissions associated with quarrying and building materials production

20. DURABLE MATERIALS
 Use of durable materials delays or even eliminates the need for repair of
buildings.
 While reducing the consumption of natural resources as building materials,
durable materials contribute to lower the energy consumption and emissions
associated with quarrying and building materials production

21. AFFORDABLE MATERIALS
 Shelter is a basic human need and making shelter affordable to a wider
section of the society, especially to the underprivileged, is vital for sustainable
development

22. RECYCLED MATERIALS
 Recycling offers an opportunity to make the maximum use out of the natural
resources gone into a particular building material
 Use of recycled materials contribute to reduce the consumption of natural
resources as building materials and to lower the energy consumption and the
emissions associated with quarrying and building materials production

23. SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS
Materials extracted or produced using energy from renewable sources
 renewable energy sources such as solar energy, wind energy and hydropower
renew themselves and do not deplete with use. Moreover, use of non-
renewable energy causes harmful emissions while use of renewable sources is
clean and environment-friendly
Materials extracted or produced using energy from waste fuels
 While offering a waste management solution, use of selected waste materials
as fuels for building materials production lowers the energy consumption in
the building materials sector

24. NON-TOXIC MATERIALS
 Prolonged exposure to certain modern building materials (e.g., certain
adhesives and coatings) causes health problems because they contain
pollutants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
 Avoid such modern materials and, whenever possible, prefer more natural
materials
 Innovative use of soil and cement-based plasters or paint with cement
stabilized earth blocks is an example

25. BUILDING PLANNING AND DESIGN FOR SD
 Avoidance of environmentally sensitive locations for buildings
 Multi-storey preference
 Indoor thermal and visual comfort through a passive approach
 Minimize heat gains
 Facilitate ventilation
 Daylight for visual comfort during daytime
 Planning for future requirements
 Efficient structural systems
 Disaster resistance
 Permeability of ground around building
 Water detention pond
 Rainwater harvesting

26. Building Materials for SD
Environment friendly materials
Locally available materials
Materials desirable for indoor thermal
& visual comfort
Low embodied energy materials
High strength materials
Durable materials
Affordable materials
Recycled materials
Materials extracted or produced using
energy from renewable sources
Materials extracted or produced using
energy from waste fuels
Non toxic materials
Building Planning & Design for SD
Avoid of environmentally sensitive
locations for buildings
Multi-storey preference
Indoor thermal & visual comfort
through a passive approach
Minimize heat gains
Facilitate ventilation
Daylight for visual comfort during daytime
Planning for future requirements
Efficient structural systems
Disaster resistance
Permeability of ground around building
Water detention sump
Rainwater harvesting design
Building Construction & Maintenance for SD
Local techniques using manual labour
Good quality workmanship
Intelligent management of construction waste
Timely maintenance
Building Use for SD
Use of operable passive elements to improve
indoor thermal & visual comfort
Organic gardening
Intelligent management of waste
generated from building use
BUILDINGS FOR SD

28. MULTI-STOREY PREFERENCE
 Whenever possible, select building type as multi-storey as opposed to single-storey because multi-
storey type offers sustainability benefits, as indicated below:
 Compare a multi-storey building with an equivalent single-storey building (i.e., with same floor area). In
the multi-storey building, the lower plot coverage provides more bare ground for seepage of rainwater
into the ground, reducing the surface runoff to road. So, its interference to the water cycle is less and it
lowers the likelihood of flash flooding
 Increased ground area for growing vegetation for creation of a thermally desirable microclimate
 Lower area of thermally most undesirable element (namely roof) when compared with an equivalent
single-storey building
 Increased external surface area for provision of openings (i.e., windows) with thermally desirable
orientation and appropriate area

29. INDOOR THERMAL & VISUAL COMFORT THROUGH A PASSIVE
APPROACH
 In tropical climates, warm indoors causes the consumption of a large amount
of energy for achieving thermal comfort through active means (e.g., fans, air-
conditioners)
 Meanwhile, although the tropics enjoy the sun for half a day, daily, around the
year, improperly planned buildings without due attention to daylight use
requires active means (e.g., artificial lighting) to achieve indoor visual comfort
during daytime
 In order to eliminate, or at least lower this energy consumption, plan and
design buildings that achieve indoor thermal and visual comfort by way of
passive means (e.g., shaded openings with desirable orientation, use of
daylight for indoor illumination during day

30. KEY METHODS OF A PASSIVE APPROACH INCLUDE
 Minimize heat gains
 Facilitate ventilation
 Use daylight for visual comfort during daytime

33. MINIMIZE HEAT GAINS
 Heat finding into the building across the building envelope (i.e., roof and
walls) by way of conduction
 Heat finding its way into the building by convection through openings (i.e.,
with outdoor air coming into the building)
 Direct or reflected solar radiation finding its way into the building through
openings
 Radiant heat gains due to exposure of building to heated bodies (e.g., roads,
other buildings) or excessive heating of elements of the building envelope,
especially the roof
 Heat generated inside building (e.g., use of artificial lighting that gives out
heat in addition to light)

34. LOWER THE HEAT GAIN DUE TO CONDUCTION:
 Create a thermally desirable microclimate around the building using lot of vegetation
 Use thermally desirable wall materials that delay heat flow
 It would be possible to lower the heat gain into the building by way of convention by creating a
thermally desirable microclimate with a lot of vegetation so that the outdoor air is cool.
 It would be possible to lower the heat gains to the house or building by way of direct or reflected solar
radiation using the following ways:
 Provide openings facing shadable directions (i.e., facing north or south) and shade these openings
with overhangs so that direct solar radiation does not find its way into the building.
 If openings facing east or west are unavoidable, provide only short openings and shade them with
operable blinds, as overhangs will not be very effective.
 Promote grass cover or vegetation instead of paving the floor with cemented material

35. THE HOT ROOF WILL TRANSFER HEAT TO EXPOSED BODIES INSIDE THE BUILDING –
INCLUDING THE OCCUPANTS – BY WAY OF RADIATION
Following measures are recommended
 Minimized the area of roof (e.g., by way of multi-storey type)
 Use thermally more desirable roof materials (e.g., clay tiles instead of cement fiber sheets)
 Provide a ceiling below roof, preferably with ventilated attic space
 Provide insulation for the roof and the ceiling
 Paint the external surface of the building envelope (roof and walls) with a light colour (preferably white)
so that the major component of solar radiation falling on the building undeveloped is reflected.
 To lower the heat generated inside building:
 Use daylight to illuminate indoors during daytime so that need for artificial lighting during daytime is
minimized

36. FACILITATE VENTILATION
 In tropical climatic conditions, facilitation of natural ventilation is important
because ventilation promotes:
 Conductive-convective heat loss from the human body
 Evaporation of the skin moisture from the human body, resulting in a
physiological effect of cooling
 Structural cooling, paving the way for a cooler structure at the beginning
of the next day

37. TO PROMOTE VENTILATION INDOORS
 Provide an adequate number of openings for each space (i.e., room) of
building
 In a particular space, if possible, provide two openings on perpendicular walls
 Use night air for cooling
 Provide larger and more number of openings by way of a courtyard

38. BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE FOR SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT
 Local techniques using manual labour
 Good quality workmanship
 Intelligent management of construction waste
 Timely maintenance

39. LOCAL TECHNIQUES USING MANUAL LABOUR

40. GOOD QUALITY WORKMANSHIP
Good construction quality can achieve the following:
 Durability
 Lower any need of repairs
 Lower resource consumption for maintenance

41. GOOD SET OF FORMWORK AND BETTER FINISH

42. PLASTER-LESS CONSTRUCTION – LESS MATERIAL

43. DAYLIGHT FOR VISUAL COMFORT DURING DAYTIME
 By utilizing daylight for indoor visual comfort during daytime, need for
artificial lighting during daytime can be lowered or even eliminated.
 While saving electricity consumed by bulbs, such use of daylight contributes
to lower the heat generated indoors by bulbs. So, to utilize daylight:
 Provide an adequate number of openings to allow daylight into the building.
 Paint with light colors (preferably white) the internal surfaces of roof/ceiling,
walls and floor. Or use light color tiles for floor.
 Avoid tinted glasses for openings.
 Avoid blind walls.

44. TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY DEVELOPMENT
Proper planning for future requirements
 Plan the building properly considering the future requirements
 Then changes or unplanned extensions to the building can be reduced so that
materials and labour spent on such changes can be saved
Efficient structural systems
 An efficient structural system will resist these forces by consuming a smaller
amount of materials, lowering materials consumption

45. TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY DEVELOPMENT…
Disaster resistance
 A building designed for resistance to a particular natural disaster (e.g.,
earthquakes, cyclones, tsunamis, flooding) will suffer less damage in the face
of that particular natural disaster.
 Such design will lower the need for complete demolition or serious repairs,
lowering material consumption for replacement or repair after an event where
the extreme force of nature have occurred.
Permeability of ground around building
 Extensively built up spaces in urban areas have blocked the rainwater from
recharging the groundwater. So, following heavy, continuous rain, rainwater
quickly runs into the roads, creating flashfloods.

46. TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY DEVELOPMENT…
Water detention pit
 In heavily built up areas (e.g., urban areas), inadequate area of bare ground
makes rainwater find its way from gardens to the road, generating flashfloods.
A water detention pit with brick-lined walls and an unlined bottom built in
gardens will delay the flow of rainwater into the road, lowering the likelihood
of flashflood generation.
Rainwater harvesting
 Rainwater running into the road causes many problems, including flashfloods.
By way of rainwater harvesting design, rainwater can be used safely for
flushing toilets and gardening. It will lower the demand for pipe-borne water
and will reduce the water bill.

49. TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY DEVELOPMENT…
Building Use for SD
Desirable options with respect to Building Construction and Maintenance can be
summarized as follows:
 Use of operable passive elements to improve indoor thermal & visual comfort
 Organic gardening
 Intelligent management of waste generated from building use
Use of operable passive elements to improve indoor thermal & visual
comfort
 Use operable passive elements appropriately to improve indoor thermal and

50. TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY DEVELOPMENT…
Use of operable passive elements to improve indoor thermal & visual
comfort
 Use operable passive elements appropriately to improve indoor thermal and
visual comfort, lowering the need for active means.
Organic gardening

55. Interiors