Sustainability and the Built Environment
The final sections of the plan cover sustainability across greener buildings, carbon capture, the natural landscape and green finance.
The built environment contributes around 40 per cent of the UK’s total carbon footprint. One of the sector’s biggest challenges involves finding ways to further reduce this energy use while still keeping buildings running effectively. Standards can help support improved energy efficiency across the whole lifecycle of an asset or system, from design and construction to operations and facilities management, particularly through appliances and services, and sustainable products and materials.
Application of the Building Information Modelling (BIM) approach can also be used to support energy efficiency. Through BIM, key performance indicators can be contractually requested as information requirements, ensuring access to this information to make informed design decisions. This can include, for example, the thermal resistance (U-value) of components, or the embodied energy of products.
In addition, the creation of a design model can allow for complex details to be modelled to ensure their viability to achieve performance requirements such as air tightness or the mitigation of thermal bridging. These design models can also be used to adjust the internal dimensions to reduce material offcuts, reducing waste produced on site.
BSI has published specifications and guidance, sponsored by the UK government, on retrofitting homes with energy efficiency measures and improvements, with a focus on insulation, air tightness and ventilation.
Also, by transitioning to a dual-fuel or hybrid boiler, consumers can contribute to the planned transition from natural gas. To aid such efforts, BSI has developed best practice to help the UK’s hydrogen expansion, aimed at appliance manufacturers.
Outside of these domestic specifications, BSI has produced a new technical standard for retrofitting non-domestic properties such as offices, factories and hotels. Sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), PAS 2038 specifies requirements for ‘retrofitting non-domestic buildings for improved energy efficiency’ and is due to publish in August 2021. Meanwhile, PAS 2080, the world’s first standard for managing whole-life carbon in infrastructure, is currently being revised.
When it comes to carbon capture and GHG management, standards are there to assist in every step of the process, from assessment, reduction and management right through to offsetting, reporting and assurance.
Organizations can use this guidance to streamline and reduce the cost of preparing a GHG inventory, as well as controlling ongoing emissions and required declarations.
The plan also sets out a number of policies to protect and promote the natural environment, with specific funding for new national parks, AONB designations, land recovery for habitats and flood defence improvements.
BSI recently published new guidance on biodiversity management, which organizations can use to support many of these initiatives. Applicable to the planning and development of new buildings, as well as changes in land use, it provides a framework with which stakeholders can make sound decisions on ecological and biodiversity issues.
This is in addition to the international standard on environmental management and BSI’s Sustainable Finance Standardization Programme – both of which are key supportive resources.
By easing the integration of new sustainable techniques and technologies, aiding essential conservation projects and enabling businesses to contribute to an unfolding green economy, standards are central to how the UK can realize the full potential of the 10-Point Plan.