The Practice:
In essence sustainable construction (low carbon building) involves and prioritises:

1. Efficiency in energy (CO2 emissions) and water use:
   
• in the use of the buildings;
  
• in the harvesting and manufacture of the materials used in construction;
  
• in the demolition / recycling of the buildings;
  
2. Using renewable resources in construction and use of the building:
   

• renewable energy and water supplies;
• renewable materials:
  • naturally abundant and non-polluting in harvesting or use e.g. some mineral / earth resources;
    
  • renewable / bio-renewable e.g. timber and plant resources;
    
  • easily and efficiently recyclable without significant pollution e.g. steel;

  3. Efficient use of materials:
  

  • waste minimisation / zero waste during the construction phase and in the use of the building;
    
  • design for recycling of the building and its components;
    

  4. Healthy and non-polluting:
  

  • in materials used in construction;
    
  • in the use of the building;
    

  5. Healthy for the local economy and local community:
  

  • uses local labour, skills, expertise and materials;
    
  • retains, invests and recycles incomes and profits locally;
    
  • builds up skills, learning, knowledge and experience;
    

  6. Good / excellent design for function/performance as a building, and in its contribution to the built environment.

  In practice this also means:
  

  • Avoiding materials which produce harmful substances in their production and which use excessive amounts of energy in their production, which produce toxic and ozone depleting chemicals e.g. avoid VOCs, PVC, formaldehyde;
    
  • ‘Least Cost Planning’:  reduce demand on over-stretched infrastructure, that is expensive to manage and extend e.g. infrastructure for water supply, sewage, waste, energy supply and transport systems.
    
  • Generally seeking to maximise the positive effects and minimise the negative effects of housing and construction on the quality of our urban, suburban and rural environments, and our lifestyles e.g. create healthy housing, and healthy built environments.
    

  Key Issues:
  

  • Through careful specification and design sustainable housing and construction can be built at little or no more cost than conventional housing / buildings, as confirmed by the Cyril Sweett report for Kent County Council, leading architects and the Building Research Establishment (the building industry’s research body).
    
  • Sustainable design and construction comes in many forms (which can sometimes be combined):
    
  • ecological design and construction: prioritising natural materials and simplicity;
    
  • traditional design and construction: using essentially standard materials and construction techniques in different ways / combinations / specifications to achieve sustainable performance;
    
  • high technology sustainable solutions;
    
  • Modern Methods of Construction (MMC): modular / prefabricated sustainable accommodation solutions, off-site manufacture panel and pod systems, etc;
    

  In addition sustainable solutions tend to seek two opposites, sometimes combining these
  

  • Lightweight construction: to create super-efficient building envelope which retains heat energy in the air mass contained within the building, and which minimises materials use in construction;
    
  • Heavyweight construction: efficient use of thermal mass, which soaks-up / retains heat energy in the building’s mass/materials;
    
  • Sustainable energy and water efficient housing and construction seeks to create greater local/regional economic benefits than conventional construction through employing local labour, purchasing from local suppliers, using more local materials, and reducing energy and water bills (e.g. reducing economic leakage to remote utility companies) – thus increasing local spending, employment and skills development, and retaining income, skills and profit to build a more healthy and self-reliant local-to-regional economy;
    
  • Sustainable construction involves corporate social responsibility (CSR) so that large companies seek to employ local labour and SME’s, and invest in skills training, to balance the leakage of income, skills and profit from the local economy.
    
  • Sustainable construction builds sustainable communities, through healthy, efficient, well designed homes and built environments, integrated with greenspace and functional ecosystems (e.g. swales, sustainable drainage systems, etc). Sustainable construction builds skills, learning, interest, inspiration, concern and creativity into local communities, and the relationship between our culture and the built environment.
    
  • Sustainable housing and construction creates healthy housing and buildings, which help create a healthy society, cutting health care costs, illness and absenteeism because, unlike conventional construction, sustainable construction includes few if any toxic chemicals in the building materials (e.g. composite boards, paints) and fittings (e.g. carpets) and it is cheaper to keep warm and healthy (e.g. with natural ventilation and light).
    
  • Abundant and bio-renewable natural materials and easily recyclable materials are our most important sustainable resources for building (e.g. timber in particular and other plant materials [e.g. hemp, flax, etc], earth, sand, glass, steel, etc).
    
  • Sustainable design and design excellence combine naturally together to create 21^st century design quality – building conservation is central to sustainability, however local distinctiveness and unnecessarily conservative considerations in planning should not be used as a barrier to creating more sustainable housing  and construction -  visual impact and sustainability are not an either / or choice, they should be integrated. 
    
  • Sustainable housing and construction implies a ‘greater public interest’ when compared with unsustainable housing and construction  -  public interest is the foundation stone of planning law in the UK.
    
  • Sustainability and affordability have important relationships: in construction and in the use of the buildings, and in what our society can and cannot afford in the long run in terms of the impacts of our built environment and construction industry on our communities, society, local to national economies and environment;
    
  • Sustainability benefits are most easily created and impacts are most easily avoided at the specification and design stage i.e. sustainable construction starts with the client and designer.
    

  Sustainable Construction and Climate Change:
  Internationally accepted IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) recommendations state that a minimum of 60% reductions in CO2 emissions is required to stabilise climate change, thus truly sustainable construction must perform in the following ranges in terms CO2 and climate impacts in both the construction and use of buildings / development projects:
  

  • 60% reduction in CO2 emissions over current standards e.g. Part L building regulations;
    
  • 60% to 100% reduction in CO2 emissions – low carbon to carbon neutral construction;
    
  • Carbon neutral: no net carbon emissions associated with the construction and use (a ‘carbon footprint’ of zero);
    
  • Carbon Sequestering Construction / Development: involves CO2 capture / harvesting above and beyond its emissions;
    

  These minimum standards / targets help to define an environmental base-line for truly sustainable communities.