AdvancedTopic 108 of 112Civil & Structural
Green buildings and sustainability
Design for energy, materials, water and life-cycle impact.
In depth
Aims: reduce energy, water, materials and waste; improve indoor quality and resilience. Strategies: passive design, high-performance envelope, efficient systems, renewables, low-carbon materials, daylight. Rating systems: LEED, BREEAM, Green Star, IGBC. Life-cycle assessment guides decisions.
Key points
- Embodied vs operational carbon
- Net-zero buildings
- Cool roofs
ExamplePassive solar orientation and shading cut cooling loads.
What is Green buildings and sustainability?
Design for energy, materials, water and life-cycle impact.
Why is it important to understand green buildings and sustainability?
Sustainable design reduces energy, water and material use over the life of a building, so it lowers both costs and environmental impact.
What is embodied carbon?
The greenhouse gas emissions from making, transporting and installing materials, which are counted over the building life.
What are the main green building schemes?
Schemes such as BREEAM, LEED and national rating systems assess energy, materials, water and health performance.
How is Green buildings and sustainability used in practice?
Typical applications include choosing a timber frame with low embodied carbon for a new office, designing a building envelope to reduce heating demand and specifying rainwater harvesting to cut mains water use.
What should I learn before Green buildings and sustainability?
Study "Building information modelling" first (topic 107 of 112 in Civil & Structural). It covers the groundwork this topic builds on.
What are the key points of Green buildings and sustainability?
Embodied vs operational carbon. Net-zero buildings. Cool roofs.
Can you give an example of Green buildings and sustainability?
Passive solar orientation and shading cut cooling loads.
What comes after Green buildings and sustainability?
The next topic is "Urban planning and smart cities", which builds directly on this one.
How difficult is Green buildings and sustainability?
It is classed as Advanced in Civil & Structural (topic 108 of 112). It is an advanced topic. It assumes you are comfortable with the intermediate topics in Civil & Structural.