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Buildings are
responsible for half of the UK's global warming emissions. Construction
provides 7% of economic activity, and the industry generates one-fifth
of the UK’s non-mining waste. With these figures in mind the
industry is obviously an area with scope to improve sustainability.
The construction material considerations employed at Beddington
Zero-Energy-Development (BedZED) showcase sustainable construction
ideals actually being put into practice. Findings on the construction
materials aspect will be made available thanks to funding from Biffaward,
a multi-million pound environment fund which utilises landfill tax
credits donated by Biffa Waste Services.
Martin Bettington, Chairman of
Biffaward, said:
" Biffaward strives to fund projects that help reduce the amount
of waste entering landfill, while educating about recycling and
reuse. This project will promote widespread use of reclaimed materials
in mainstream construction by producing and disseminating information
on the materials and methods used at BedZED – which will help
reduce some of the 17.5 million tonnes of construction and demolition
waste and excavated soils landfilled each year in England and Wales."
BedZED is a project partnership
between The Peabody Trust housing association and the BioRegional
Development Group. Situated in Beddington, Sutton, the development
is one of the most coherent examples of sustainable living in the
UK.
All construction materials used
were carefully selected from sustainable sources. Many materials
are reclaimed, for instance the timber used in studwork, or recycled,
an example being the crushed concrete used as road sub-base. Preference
was given to materials sourced within a 35-mile radius thereby reducing
transportation, cutting fossil fuel consumption, reducing the contribution
to global warming and improving air quality. Embodied energy is
also reduced in this way and the regional economy sees benefits
too.
BioRegional has been steering
the teams collective effort in finding materials and evaluating
the difficult trade–offs between the widely different considerations
of local availability, thermal performance (BedZED is an energy
efficient design), cost and architectural suitability. Bill Dunster
Architects, the architects behind BedZED, are experts in specifying
low impact materials and Gardiner and Theobald Construction Management
(GTCM) have become experts in finding sources of reclaimed materials.
Biffaward are funding a report and seminar scheduled for Spring
2002.
Pooran Desai, Director of BioRegional, comments;
”It wouldn’t have worked if everyone on the project
wasn’t 100% committed. It’s too easy to default to the
old way of doing things, It’s all about setting up networks.
We have to work at the interface to build-up the suppliers and the
clients and specifiers.”
Supported by
Notes
BioRegional has worked closely with Peabody and the contractor to
operate a green building site. Waste is segregated on site and recycled
to reduce the amount going to landfill. Site office paper is recycled
and targets are in place to reduce material wastage.
The Forest Stewardship Council
(FSC) is the highest international environmental standard for
forestry.
Biffaward utilises Landfill Tax
Credits donated by Biffa Waste Services, the fund is currently worth
more than £10 million a year which includes contributions
from the acquisition of UK Waste.
The fund, managed by the Royal Society for Nature Conservation,
supports many worthwhile environmental projects involving local
communities, education, biodiversity, heritage and research into
sustainable waste management.
§ Biffa is one of the UK’s largest waste management companies
providing environmentally advanced waste recycling, handling and
disposal services for industry, commerce and local government.
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Recycled green glass sand
used as bedding sand.
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