How to pass the sustainability test

摘要

Sustainability covers social and economic issues as well as the environment so measuring the credentials of an organisation is fraught with difficulty. MAC finds out how one company survived a profiling test set by Arap. The desired outcome of sustainable construction is to reduce CO{sub}2 emissions, preserve the global and local environment improve quality of life and provide economic stability and growth. Any complete analysis of building sustainability should, therefore, examine issues such as access to public transport, water use, the impact of activities on local employment and so on. Energy use and carbon emissions are right at the top of the agenda, but other areas such as longevity of equipment cannot be ignored in a truly comprehensive analysis of sustainability. In the area of insulation, for example, materials such as mineral fibre are perfectly adequate at the outset, but their performance deteriorates rapidly if exposed to water penetration from condensation, air movement or compression. This will increase heat losses and may compromise the sustainability of the finished building. Other insulation materials, such as rigid phenolic, are not so vulnerable and have a very high level of thermal efficiency. They are said to be able to maintain their performance over the lifetime of the building, offering long-term energy savings and, therefore, sustainable solutions.