Low Carbon Buildings Week 1

Andrew Platten
Global Change
 The world is facing a huge challenge in terms of its long term
sustainability. We see peak oil now being faced, wherein the
maximum output of oil has been reached, yet with rising
demand from across the globe. The discovery of new
petroleum finds has now slowed and the location of feasible
new resources is limited. New fields are now located in deep
waters, at the polar regions, in shale deposits or in the vast tar
sands in Canada where the balance of economic production
vis processing costs and the costs to the natural environment
are huge.
 At the same time existing energy production is almost
exclusively produced by fossil fuel burning, this is transmitted
in the developed nations by a national grid system that
restricts local generation. Such systems are inherently
inefficient with conversion levels of 30% and transmission
losses of 30% along the gird power lines.
Global Oil Price
Context
 The planet is facing a critical point in its history
 Fossil fuels and gasoline reserves are now at the point of
reaching 50% of their total depletion
Oil Discovery
Shale Oil (Fracking)
 HM Government:
 “The UK is legally committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by at
least 80% by 2050, and to meeting renewable energy targets by 2020. Gas is
the cleanest fossil fuel and has half the carbon footprint of coal when used
to generate electricity. So Britain will continue to need gas as part of a
diverse energy mix, including renewable sources, which takes us to a low
carbon future.”
 “Shale gas and oil could provide the UK with greater energy security,
growth, jobs and tax revenue. The Government is encouraging safe and
environmentally sound exploration to determine our shale potential. The
UK has a strong regulatory regime for exploratory activities but we
continuously look to improve it.”
 HMG:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_
data/file/265972/Developing_Onshore_Shale_Gas_and_Oil__Facts_about_
Fracking_131213.pdf
 BGS: http://www.bgs.ac.uk/research/groundwater/shaleGas/home.html
Climate Change
“In my view, climate change is the most
severe problem that we are facing today –
more serious even than the threat of
terrorism.”

(Sir David King, Chief Scientific Adviser to UK Government)

Green House Gases
 The green house effect is the result of a protective low level envelope, known as the
troposphere which at 15 km above the Earth’s surface traps solar radiation. This layer is
critical to maintaining habitable condition son the planet, without it temperatures would be 30
deg C cooler. This layer moderates temperature changes, keeping day time temperatures
cooler and evening temperatures warmer.
 Of the energy of solar radiation, about half is absorbed by the planet. The remainder is
reflected as infra red radiation. This heat is unable to escape into space as gases in the
troposphere absorb the radiation.
 The troposphere includes the “green house gases” (GHG) such as carbon dioxide, methane,
nitrous oxide and man made chloroflurocarbons (CFCs).
 Carbon dioxide is the most abundant green house gas. The other gases are less abundant but
they are more potent. Due to their composition they are more reactive and can absorb
more infrared radiation.
 Carbon dioxide has become more prevalent since the industrial revolution, before which it
was produced by natural processes. Naturally, plants absorb CO2 during the daytime
(photosynthesis) and store it as food and for growth. By burning trees and organic matter
this CO2 is released into the atmosphere.
 Levels of CO2 some two hundred years ago were in the order of 590 billion tonnes, now this
figure is 760 billion tonnes. The additional CO2 means that more heat is captured in the
atmosphere.
 Predictions indicate that temperatures could rise by as much as 4 deg C in the next 100 years
and twice that amount in the next 500 years.
Troposphere
GHG
 METHANE
 Methane is a damaging GHG as it depletes chemicals which help to
break down other green house gases. Globally there has been a 1%
rise in methane per year partially attributed to domestic waste
emissions. Other sources include farming and agriculture.
 NITROUS OXIDE
 Nitrous Oxide ia a potent GHG, it is 300 times as powerful as CO2,
it is responsible for 4% of global warming. NO2 and other
derivatives referred to as NOx comes from a variety of sources such
as motor vehicles, coal burning, munitions factories and farming
from dairy cattle and their urine deposits.
 The life time of NO2 is over 100 years and so pollutants produced
in the early and mid 20th century will be with the globe for some
time.
GHG
 Chloroflurocarbons (CFCs). These are highly potent man made gases which have
been used in aerosol cans to propel various liquids for household use. CFCs have
also been used in domestic and industrial refrigeration equipment. In the 1980’s it
is found that these gases were absorbing ozone which is important to the
protection of the planet from solar radiation. Large gaps in the ozone layer were
discovered over the Antarctic so worsening the green house effect.
 The use of CFCs was banned by international treaty (the Montreal Protocol) in
1989. The presence of CFCs in the atmosphere will now be a legacy for many
years.
 Other gases and pollutants include:
 Sulphur dioxide
 Particular matter (PM10, PM2.5 and PM1)
 Ozone and volatile organic compounds
 Toxic Organic Micro-Pollutants (TOMPS)
 Benzene
 1,3-Butadiene
 Carbon monoxide
 Lead and heavy metals
Climate Change
Climate Change
Climate Change
“The scientific evidence is now overwhelming: climate
change is a serious global threat, and it demands an
urgent global response.”

Sir Nicholas Stern

Climate Change
 Hold temperature increase below 2°c by end of the
century to avoid “dangerous climate change”
 Hold concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere at
around 400ppm (450 if we’re lucky) to stay below
2°C
 Otherwise, “irreversible runaway effects” the most
likely outcome as we cross that threshold.
 Current CO2 concentrations at 380ppm. Growing at
more than 2ppm per annum.
Impact
 Deforestation
 Desertification…
 Over fishing…
 Build up of toxics…
 Water stress and water shortages…
 Loss of biodiversity…
 Air pollution…
 Water pollution…
Rainfall
Unsustainable Life
 Current development is unsustainable
 We use FAR more than our fair share
 We are reducing environmental quality - the stock
(capital) of resources, etc - for future generations
 UK – living on 3 Earths
 USA - 20
Sustainable Development
“Sustainable development is development that meets the
needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs.”

(Brundtland Commission, 1987)

Why focus upon construction ?
 Buildings use 46% of all energy – up to 70% in major
cities
 Construction uses 53% of primary materials
 Construction has second biggest environmental
footprint after food
 13 million tonnes of materials delivered and not used
 90 million tonnes of waste – 3 times domestic
 21% of all hazardous waste
Critical Issues
 8% UK GDP, 1.5 m people employed

 50% of UK’s total greenhouse gases emissions from built

environment (25% of which from commercial and public
buildings )

 60% of UK timber consumption

 420 million tonnes of materials consumed pa; 72Mt of waste

generated

 Adverse impacts on ecology and habitats

Sustainable Development &
Construction
 Sustainable Construction
 Sustainable Communities
 The Triple Bottom Line
 Environmental
 Economic
 Social
Design Led Solutions
 Our concerns for the environment have changes with time in
the sector. The is a long history of notable architects and
engineers being interested in the performance of buildings,
from early times the consideration of morphology and design
characterised the construction of buildings from the need to
conserve scare resources and provide comfortable living. The
management of the built environment so as to control
temperature using mechanical means grew with the advent of
science and technology in the 18th and 19th centuries.
 Further, in the 19th century a concern for public health led to
considerations of water and sanitation at a time of change in
attitudes following the industrial revolution.
The Advent of Building Science
 In these early times the use of energy was not a limiting factor,
although enlightened architects such as Antonio Gaudi started to
experiment with passive design and the management of the internal
environment.
 Likewise the advent of exploration to the extreme climates led to the
assembly of different technologies and traditional approaches to design
in the early 20th century as evidenced by Captain Scott’s hut at
Antarctica which used timber, cork and bitumen.
 The advent of design and its linkage to nature can be seen in the work
of Ruskin, Lethaby and Lloyd Wright.
 The advance of technology in the 20th century greatly advanced
building design, particularly in the post war period in the 1950’s and
60’s.
 The advent of the Building Regulations in the late 1940’s set minimum
standards for building design and incorporated features concerning
thermal performance. These standards were renewed after the severe
winter of 1961. However the oil crisis following the Arab Israeli
conflict of 1973 (Yon Kippur War) started to lead to research and
upgrades in building design and a revision of attitudes to thermal
performance.
Antonio Gaudi detail at Casa Batllo
Political Change
 In the 1980’s the Iran / Iraq war further promoted the focus upon energy prices
and this was coupled with the discover of global warming and the depletion of the
ozone layer. The concept of sustainable development was defined by the Brundtland
Commission.
 The Brundtland Commission in 1983 was created to address worldwide concerns
"about the accelerating deterioration of the human environment and natural resources
and the consequences of that deterioration for economic and social development."
 In establishing the commission, the UN General Assembly recognised that
environmental problems were global in nature and determined that it was in the
common interest of all nations to establish policies for sustainable development.
This approach applies equally to all sectors, but the design and creation of built and
urban environment plays one of the critical central roles in shaping a sustainable
future for all.
 By 1990, the impact of large scale human development and drought in Africa had led
to concerns for the distribution and quality of water, we started to understand the
importance of and resultant protection of the rainforest and with the loss of rare
species our focus upon biodiversity. In 1992, the Rio Earth summit formalised the
need for signatory nations to recognise the imperatives of energy, environment and
ecology.
Earth Summit
 The Rio Earth Summit of 1992, brought together the
environment, but widened its scope to include the impact
of business, farming and global economics.
 Rio is now changing the approach to the built
environment in terms of design, construction and the
management of buildings.
 The approaches challenges older views concerning the
separation of design, engineering and management.
Earth Summit
 By the year 2000, the quality of human life and breakdown of law
and order led to the concern for the health of the cities. The
previous studies in building performance now led to the definition of
sustainable design and construction and the focus upon world
poverty and disease.
 In December 2007, the Bali Conference on Climate Change met to
develop a road map to reduce carbon emissions from the developed
nations by 25 to 40% in 2020. As a world society we have seen 25
years of debate and gradual progression towards a more sustainable
society.
 We now see the ascendancy of the triple bottom line, the focus
upon environment, people and economy as the guiding philosophy
for low carbon buildings and developments in the 21st Century. The
approach is changed by the combined factors of: legislation,
materials, scarcity, consumerism and the ethics of design and the
transformation to the final building product.
Earth Summit 2012: Agenda 21
 The full text of Agenda 21 was revealed at the United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) or Earth
Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, 20 years after the 1st world
environmental summit.
 178 governments voted to adopt the programme, which had four
main sections:
 Social and Economic Dimensions
 Conservation and Management of Resources
 Strengthening the role of Major Groups
 Means of Implementation
 Agenda 21 is a comprehensive plan of action to be taken globally,
nationally and locally by organizations of the United Nations System,
Governments, and Major Groups in every area in which humans
impact upon the environment.
 The Commission on Sustainable Development was set up to
monitor and ensure effective implementation of the agreement.
7 CRITICAL ISSUES AT RIO
DISASTERS
 Disasters caused by earthquakes, floods, droughts, hurricanes,
tsunamis and more can have devastating impacts on people,
environments and economies. But resilience -- the ability of
people and places to withstand these impacts and recover
quickly -- remains possible. Smart choices help us recover
from disasters, while poor choices make us more vulnerable.
 These choices relate to how we grow our food, where and
how we build our homes, how our financial system works,
what we teach in schools and more. With a quickening pace of
natural disasters taking a greater toll on lives and property, and
a higher degree of concentration of human settlements, a
smart future means planning ahead and staying alert.
OCEANS
 The world's oceans - their temperature, chemistry,
currents and life - drive global systems that make the
Earth habitable for humankind. Our rainwater, drinking
water, weather, climate, coastlines, much of our food, and
even the oxygen in the air we breathe, are all ultimately
provided and regulated by the sea. Throughout history,
oceans and seas have been vital conduits for trade and
transportation. Careful management of this essential
global resource is a key feature of a sustainable future.
WATER
 Clean, accessible water for all is an essential part of the world
we want to live in. There is sufficient fresh water on the planet
to achieve this dream. But due to bad economics or poor
infrastructure, every year millions of people, most of them
children, die from diseases associated with inadequate water
supply, sanitation and hygiene. Water scarcity, poor water
quality and inadequate sanitation negatively impact food
security, livelihood choices and educational opportunities for
poor families across the world. Drought afflicts some of the
world's poorest countries, worsening hunger and malnutrition.
By 2050, at least one in four people is likely to live in a country
affected by chronic or recurring shortages of fresh water.
FOOD
 It is time to rethink how we grow, share and consume our
food.
If done right, agriculture, forestry and fisheries can provide
nutritious food for all and generate decent incomes, while
supporting people-centred rural development and protecting
the environment.
But right now, our soils, freshwater, oceans, forests and
biodiversity are being rapidly degraded. Climate change is
putting even more pressure on the resources we depend on.
A profound change of the global food and agriculture system is
needed if we are to nourish today's 925 million hungry and the
additional 2 billion people expected by 2050.
The food and agriculture sector offers key solutions for
development, and is central for hunger and poverty
eradication.
CITIES
 Cities are hubs for ideas, commerce, culture, science,
productivity, social development and much more. At their
best, cities have enabled people to advance socially and
economically. However, many challenges exist to
maintaining cities in a way that continues to create jobs
and prosperity while not straining land and resources.
Common city challenges include congestion, lack of funds
to provide basic services, a shortage of adequate housing
and declining infrastructure. The challenges cities face can
be overcome in ways that allow them to continue to
thrive and grow, while improving resource use and
reducing pollution and poverty.
 .
ENERGY
 Energy is central to nearly every major challenge and
opportunity the world faces today. Be it for jobs, security,
climate change, food production or increasing incomes,
access to energy for all is essential. Sustainable energy is
needed for strengthening economies, protecting
ecosystems and achieving equity. United Nations
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is leading a Sustainable
Energy for All initiative to ensure universal access to
modern energy services, improve efficiency and increase
use of renewable sources.
JOBS
 Economic recession has taken a toll on both the quantity
and quality of jobs. For the 190 million unemployed, and
for over 500 million job seekers over the next 10 years,
labour markets are vital not only for the production and
generation of wealth, but equally for its distribution.
Economic action and social policies to create gainful
employment are critical for social cohesion and stability.
It's also crucial that work is geared to the needs of the
natural environment. "Green jobs" are positions in
agriculture, industry, services and administration that
contribute to preserving or restoring the quality of the
environment.
In the University Sector - £15B Investment
in Buildings in the next 5 years
 HEFCE: Our vision is that, within the next 10 years, the HE sector
in England will be recognised as a major contributor to society's
efforts to achieve sustainability - through the skills and knowledge
that its graduates learn and put into practice, its research and
exchange of knowledge through business, community and public
policy engagement, and through its own strategies and operations.
 The Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges
(EAUC) is a not-for-profit charity with a membership of over
220 universities and colleges, supporting sustainability within
the UK tertiary education sector.
 The NUS has built upon their research, regarding student’s
attitudes towards sustainability. NUS has found that each year,
80% of students express that they want their institutions to do
more on sustainability, and 60% want to learn more about it.
HEFCE
 Carbon reduction strategy for HE in England
 This strategy comprises:
 sector-level targets for carbon reduction
 a requirement for institutional targets and carbon-management plans
 funding incentives
 HEFCE activities on carbon reduction
 To help the sector reduce carbon emissions, we work in the following
areas:
 measuring scope 3 carbon emissions (supply chain, transport, water and waste)
 providing recoverable grants through the Revolving Green Fund (RGF) for
projects that reduce institutions' emissions
 good practice guidance on producing carbon reduction strategies, targets and
associated carbon management plans
 a report to estimate carbon dioxide emission baselines for each HEI that we fund.
The baselines were provided to help institutions make submissions to the second
Capital Investment Framework.
Leeds Beckett
https://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/staff/sustainability.htm
 Our University has 2,900 staff, 28,000 students and occupies
125 buildings across two campuses, one in the center of Leeds
and one three miles north of the city center in Headingley.
 Our operations have a significant local, national and global
environmental impact. The Sustainability Team, part of Estate
Services, is working to reduce this impact through
implementing:
 Energy efficiency projects across the estate.
 Sustainable transport options, including campus specific bus services,
discounted bus/rail travel and student bike hire.
 A zero waste to landfill contract across our non-residential buildings.
 An environmental management system across our estate that is
externally certified to the standard ISO 14001.
 Environmental legal compliance.
 Sustainable construction criteria in all new build and refurbishment
projects.
Leeds Sustainability Institute
 To meet the Government objective of cutting greenhouse gas
emissions by four fifths by 2050, households and businesses
will have to think carefully about how energy in used in
buildings. Buildings will need a transformation of energy
efficiency, and at the same time make much greater use of low
carbon technologies.
 This research theme is focused on:
 The development of forensic and in-use research to understand new,
existing and retrofit buildings, at domestic and commercial scale.
 Understanding the physics and operation of buildings and their
designs, testing construction models and evaluating their
performance in real world situations.
 https://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/research/research-
areas/research-institutes/leeds-sustainability-institute/
Discussion
 In teams you are tasked to review the implementation of
a sustainable approach to estate management for the
University
 Tasks
 Define the key stages of your project
 Create a word map for your literature investigation
 What considerations would you place as important to your
study
 List possible study methods to be implemented
 Report your findings (5 minutes)