ASSESSING MATERIALS: METHODS OF DETERMINING SUSTAINABILITY

摘要

The reporting of climate change and environmental issues in both the general press and trade media has helped 'sustainability' become one of the buzz words of our generation. Often the term is associated with everything that is deemed good and desirable but how does one assess how 'sustainable' a building project or construction product is? In terms of what we call 'sustainable' a little bit of care and caution is needed, as it can be employed as a 'one term fits everything' phrase. The definition of sustainability that encompasses and balances the three strands of life: Economic, Social and Ecological, is by now likely to be familiar with most people [fig. 1], and there is rapidly growing interest and urgency to find ways how we can meet the environmental challenge that we face, in such a way that integrates both economic and social concerns whilst not compromising the planet for future generations to enjoy. Assessing ecological sustainability in the construction sector is notoriously difficult as any project has a wide range of impacts: from energy consumption in use, through to the raw materials of each of the component parts, including transportation, waste, water and toxicity. As well as there being so many varied effects to measure, the measurements come in a disparate range of units, for example weight and volume, kWh, carbon dioxide and toxicity in levels of particulates. Typically, most of impacts are converted to give a summary result in terms of quantity of carbon dioxide but some issues, such as waste or toxicity, defy simple conversion.