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The government has recognised that implementing high quality sustainable development within buildings can make a significant contribution to environmental, social and economic sustainability. It is developing mandatory and voluntary standards to be implemented for new builds and refurbishments, and is also providing support to enable other public sector bodies such as local authorities to support high quality sustainable development in buildings within their own statutory remit.
Delivering sustainable development in buildings starts with the building’s design and construction. The lifetime of a building can be 2030 years or more, so implementing best practice in sustainable development from the start is essential. Building construction has a range of environmental impacts, including the use of raw materials such as aggregates, water or timber. Buildings use creates a similarly wide range of impacts on the environment, including energy and water use and waste generation. Legal, social and community impacts can include regulatory standards, health and safety obligations and community relations. Performance against all of these areas can be significantly improved through the integration of higher sustainability performance standards within the building’s design and subsequent management.
Costs are a priority consideration for any new build or refurbishment. A well designed and constructed building should achieve best value for money for the building’s owners and management. Integrating high standards of sustainable development from the building’s design phase onwards can contribute to the long term sustainability of the building, through reducing its environmental impacts and minimising its lifetime operating costs. A recent LSC-commissioned study found that some providers in the learning and skills sector are starting to incorporate more sustainable features into new build and refurbishment projects. Combining economic and environmental assessment tools to obtain best value solutions in both financial and environmental terms has the potential to make a significant contribution to achieving sustainable development. Financial assessments of any project should therefore consider the building's whole life costs, including its design, construction, running and eventual deconstruction, rather than focussing purely on initial design and construction costs.
Achieving high levels of user satisfaction is a very important consideration in building design, especially for educational establishments. So it is important to ensure that the building provides a high quality learning environment. High standards of building design provide learners with maximum levels of natural lighting and high standards of air quality, good quality artificial lighting, controllable heating and ventilation. There is an increasing level of awareness in society, especially in young people, of the importance of sustainable development to our long-term well being, so the building design will need also to take account of wider sustainable development impacts such as minimising waste and water use, minimising the use of natural resources in construction, and maximising linkages and benefits to the local community. There are also opportunities to incorporate new energy or water saving technologies, such as using combined heat and power, the installation of solar or wind technologies, or rainwater harvesting into the new site. A high quality building will also contribute to wider awareness-raising and demonstrate the role of the FE system to lead by example in integrating sustainable development into its buildings and estates management.
Delivering sustainable development in buildings starts with the building’s design and construction. The lifetime of a building can be 2030 years or more, so implementing best practice in sustainable development from the start is essential. Building construction has a range of environmental impacts, including the use of raw materials such as aggregates, water or timber. Buildings use creates a similarly wide range of impacts on the environment, including energy and water use and waste generation. Legal, social and community impacts can include regulatory standards, health and safety obligations and community relations. Performance against all of these areas can be significantly improved through the integration of higher sustainability performance standards within the building’s design and subsequent management.
Costs are a priority consideration for any new build or refurbishment. A well designed and constructed building should achieve best value for money for the building’s owners and management. Integrating high standards of sustainable development from the building’s design phase onwards can contribute to the long term sustainability of the building, through reducing its environmental impacts and minimising its lifetime operating costs. A recent LSC-commissioned study found that some providers in the learning and skills sector are starting to incorporate more sustainable features into new build and refurbishment projects. Combining economic and environmental assessment tools to obtain best value solutions in both financial and environmental terms has the potential to make a significant contribution to achieving sustainable development. Financial assessments of any project should therefore consider the building's whole life costs, including its design, construction, running and eventual deconstruction, rather than focussing purely on initial design and construction costs.
Achieving high levels of user satisfaction is a very important consideration in building design, especially for educational establishments. So it is important to ensure that the building provides a high quality learning environment. High standards of building design provide learners with maximum levels of natural lighting and high standards of air quality, good quality artificial lighting, controllable heating and ventilation. There is an increasing level of awareness in society, especially in young people, of the importance of sustainable development to our long-term well being, so the building design will need also to take account of wider sustainable development impacts such as minimising waste and water use, minimising the use of natural resources in construction, and maximising linkages and benefits to the local community. There are also opportunities to incorporate new energy or water saving technologies, such as using combined heat and power, the installation of solar or wind technologies, or rainwater harvesting into the new site. A high quality building will also contribute to wider awareness-raising and demonstrate the role of the FE system to lead by example in integrating sustainable development into its buildings and estates management.
