Development of Sustainable Buildings in the UK - Coursework Example

Name: Course: Topic: BREEAM Date: Introduction BREEAM is an assessment tool that is owned by BRE (Building Research Establishment). This tool is used to address social and environmental issues related to a project. One of its aims is to distinguish buildings that have low environmental impact to the society. This includes ensuring low carbon buildings. The materials selected for the building should have low environmental impact. The scoring for BREEAM rating is done by awarding credit depending on the environmental impact obtained from the objective judgment of the development versus set criteria. During construction of buildings with BREEAM excellent rating, construction methods and materials used for the construction have to be selected to match the low carbon rating. This paper shall evaluate the possible building and construction methods and materials for the design of a twenty storey hotel in Cardiff. It will also describe possible strategies of design for fire safety, taking into consideration environmental and economic constrains on the building (Simmons, 2011). Construction Methods and Materials The description for the construction of the 20-storey building fits the sustainable construction methods. These are methods that are eco-friendly and those that address the challenges faced by the world today in terms of changes in climate, pollution and resource depletion. One of the methods that can be used is off-site construction of the materials used in the construction. Offsite construction reduces the amount of material wastage by nearly 80 %. This is a positive contribution to the green construction. It provides greater control of the materials used and provides the opportunity to reduce waste, reuse some of the waste and recycle the wastes as well. Reduction of waste is a key consideration during green construction. Products that are precision machined at close tolerances offer low values of thermal resistance and air tightness. This provides improved performance and also keeps the insulation levels high. This improves the energy efficiency and energy performance of the building. Use of machine profiled interlocking logs provides zero carbon and a carbon status that is positive. Therefore, machine profile logs promote the green construction by offering low values of thermal transmittance and efficient use of energy. The low levels of energy and lighting achieved through energy efficiency contributes to low carbon emission. Sustainable selection of material is also critical for green construction. The materials selected have to be resistant to all the forces that they will come in contact with and they also have to be resistant to fire; albeit they must not propagate the fire in the event of its occurrence. These materials should also be heat insulators so as to shield the building form excess heat. Combustible materials should be avoided during construction since they propagate fire in the event of its occurrence. Various materials can be used to facilitate green building. Some of the materials that are gaining popularity in their use include rammed earth, glass bottles, auto tires and straw bale. Rammed earth provides external walls that ensure superb protection from extreme changes in climate. The thickness of the material used ensures that penetration of heat or cold across the wall is slow and as a result, it helps in minimizing heat loss. It also ensures that the temperature of the building is stable. These walls are also good at reducing noise levels. The walls have great sound proofing characteristics. Maintaining rammed earth walls is cheap. They do not require any paintings unless the user has their own needs for paint. The walls are also fire proof. They do not burn easily and their fire resistance has been tested to be at nearly four hours fire resistance. One of the exciting features of rammed earth is its environmental friendliness. The material is non-toxic and non-polluting. It also breathes, meaning the buildings are safer and more friendly to people. Use of glass bottles for the walls helps in minimizing the amount of glass waste in the environment. This is part of the re-use and recycles policy that is a drive towards green construction. In addition, a structural insulated building panel is also favours green construction. This is a combination of foam and engineered wood. It is a building panel that is monolithic and uses expandable polystyrene (EPS) as its insulation. The EPS is crammed between two oriented strand board panels and both of these are friendly to the environment. The construction achieved has uniform thickness and the walls have no voids. These panels should be finished away from the site of construction so as to allow for straight walls. Use of reinforced concrete provides excellent qualities. This is because concrete is a composite and it is non combustible. When reinforced with steel, they offer excellent strength characteristics. However, they are subject to early failure during a fire. Steels can also be used for reinforcement since they offer great strength. The steel can also be recycled and in North America, steel is the number one material that is recycled. The products are recycled and brought back to operation long after their usefulness. Steels therefore offer an environmental impact that is greater that offered by wood. In addition, steels offer great fire protection to the building. Steel is non-renewable. However, building constructed using steel has a lifetime of between 250 to 500 years. To save on energy and ensure comfort in the building, the roof should be selected with materials that ensure there is good air sealing, ventilation and insulation. The roof should also be fire proof. Metal roofing can be used since they are long lasting and they can stand fire. The metal should have low lead levels. Metal also saves on the energy used for heating and cooling. It can also reduce the temperatures of the room drastically. The UL rating for metal is reported to be high and this means that the roof can stand winds that have up to a speed of 200 miles per hour. Further, metal can withstand rust, rot and cracking together with melting snow and ice by reflecting heat. Asphalt shingles are examples of metal roofing. They are petroleum based products that although us a lot of energy to manufacture, they last for many years when installed on the roof. A roof that lasts for long is green because it does not require frequent changes. This saves the cost of repair and replacement. By saving on energy and through reduced carbon levels, the building complies with the BREEAM ratings (Simmons, 2011). Possible strategies of design for fire safety, taking into consideration environmental and economic constrains on the building Fire safety strategies in a building are influenced by various factors. For instance, the evacuation procedures from the building, the standards set for fire precaution, the number of occupants of the building and their use of the building and the management responsibilities and roles influence the strategies that will be set for fire safety. One of the fire strategies includes incorporation of fire fighting facilities to fight of the fire in the event of its occurrence. Emergency plans should also be put in place so that people can find their way out in the occurrence of a fire. In addition, the buildings should be built so as to meet the needs of the disabled. For instance, this could be done by providing routes for wheelchairs. Security arrangements should also be in place so as to keep the people in the building safe. It is paramount to have a fire alarm so that the fire alert is made known to everyone in the building. This alarm can be connected to the fire fighting authority so as to make on time notifications to these authorities (Harrison, 2006). Further building design aspects for fire safety include secondary lighting in the building so as to provide illumination for people to escape, quick and easy access to the fire fighting facilities, facilitating of fire fighting installations that are fixed, providing fire hydrants and fire fighting equipment that are portable. Refuges, lifts and communication systems should also be provided within the building. Further, the design should incorporate a fire suppression system like a sprinkler, one that will attempt to put off the fire. Designing of building materials should avoid use of materials that are highly combustible. Selection of thermoplastics for ceilings should be made on consideration of their fire characteristics (Harrison, 2006). Conclusion and Recommendations Development of sustainable buildings in the UK should be done with full consideration of the environmental impact. This includes the effects of the construction materials on the climate. For instance, materials that emit high levels of CO2 when heated should not be used for roofing since they will increase the carbon footprint of the building and as a result, increase the effects of CO2 on the environment. Furthermore, selection of materials should be based on their abilities to save energy; that is their energy efficiency. Materials should be selected so as to save the energy used in the building. Some methods like off site construction save on material wastage and they should therefore be considered during construction. In addition, the design of buildings should incorporate all the possible fire fighting mechanisms such as automatic fire detectors and extinguishers and fire alarms. The emergency routes should also be incorporated and they should be well labeled to facilitate exit of people during fire outbreaks. Bibliography Simmons, L 2011, Olin's Construction: Principles, Materials, and Methods, 9th Ed, John Willey and sons, UK. Harrison, P 2006, Fire Strategy: New and Existing Buildings, Wales. Read More