Sustainable construction: Dream or reality

Martins Vilnitis
Professor, Dean
Faculty of Civil Engineering, Riga Technical University
Latvia

Nowadays, the principles of sustainability are becoming more relevant in the construction industry and are becoming an integral part of its development. Sustainable construction relies on complex solutions that increase the efficiency of buildings by reducing the consumption of energy, water and other natural resources. It also aims at minimising the use of materials and energy, reducing the negative impact on human and environment during the construction, management and demolition cycle of the building. Sustainability is not just one or a couple of processes in the course of building construction. The principles of sustainability apply from the idea of design to the end of a building’s lifecycle.

Fundamentally, the structure is built to be man-friendly and environmentally friendly throughout its lifecycle. The construction cost of sustainable buildings often tends to be higher than the widely-used cheaper solutions, but investment pays off in the long-term period. In line with the principles of energy efficient construction, building operation and maintenance costs are reduced, added value is increased and economic indicators of the building lifecycle are improved.

Generally, building sustainability assessment tools evaluate the buildings sustainability level through the aggregation of the building performance in a group of sustainability indicators, such as environmental, social and economic indicators. The selection of indicators was performed considering the following aspects:

1. All indicators with a subjective assessment were excluded;
2. All indicators whose performance cannot be changed by design options or whose assessment goes beyond the building boundaries were excluded;
3. All indicators whose performance was difficult to translate into economic terms were excluded.

A common building sustainability level assessment framework has not yet been established. I would like to point out these indicators – Renewable or Non-Renewable Primary Energy / Greenhouse Gases Emission / Water Consumption / Materials-Embodied Energy / Reused and Recycled Materials / Responsible Sourcing of Materials / Waste Production / Indoor Air Quality / Lightning / Thermal Comfort / Acoustic Comfort / Integrated Design Project / Life Cycle Costs.

Although the construction sector has so far focused mainly on energy efficiency and improvement of buildings in response to climate change issues, it is not only the energy consumed during the lifetime of buildings that generates greenhouse gas emissions. About a third of the emissions from construction comes directly from material extraction, production of construction materials, construction process, renovation and demolition. This is the result of a linear economy that transforms raw natural resources into products, then throws away and destroys them.

On the other hand, the future construction strategy must be based on specific principles. Firstly, buildings should be preserved and maintained as long as possible. When a building is no longer able to perform its function, the ways to adapt the building have to be searched for. Only when adaptation is no longer possible, the dismantling of the building and reusing of the dismantled materials or elements can be considered. If reuse is not possible, the materials should be recycled to create new, high-quality materials. Similar principles apply to the construction of new buildings. If it is not possible to find an existing building that can be adapted to current needs, adaptation to other possible future needs shall be considered already during the process of new building construction. It should be possible to dismantle the new building and reuse materials and construction elements.

Considering, the outlined principles, it is possible to propose eight general conditions that promote sustainable construction development:

1. The principles of circular economy and sustainable building design are applicable to all the parties involved in the value chain;
2. When making construction decisions, total life cycle costs, financial and non-financial return on investment should be considered;
3. Theremustbeaviablebusinessmodelateachstageofthesustainablebuildingvaluechain;
4. Theprinciplesshouldbeappliedwithregardtoproportionality:thebenefitsshouldbehigherthanthecosts;
5. Betterknowledgeofconstructionmethods isrequired topromotedeconstructionandincreasebuildingdurabilityandadaptability;
6. The building durabilitydependsonbuildingdesign quality,improvedperformanceofconstructionproductsandinformation sharing;
7. It is necessary to develop innovativedesignapproach, avoidingpremature demolitionofbuildings;
8. The choice of products and systems must be determined by the possibility of reuse, repair or recycle.

This is the way how we could measure progress and success, as well as changes in government policies, such as employment rates, environmental quality, and social wellbeing. Each of us can help create a more sustainable economy by making small changes in our everyday lives. For example, we can recycle more, drive less, and eat organic foods. But sustainability is not just about individual choices; it’s also about working together to create systemic changes. Whethersustainableconstructionwillbecomeareality,andwhenit happens,isaquestionforeveryoneofus. Onlythe cooperation ofthewhole societycanhelpusachievethatourchildren,grandchildrenandfuturegenerationshave the possibility to liveinaworld equal to the one we live in today.

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