Sustainable Construction

"Sustainable Construction is new building and refurbishment that promotes environmental, social and economic gains now and for the future. This, within the broader concept of Sustainable Development, is about creating a better quality of life for everyone, now and for generations to come. It means recognising that our economy, environment and social well-being are interdependent.

Sustainable Construction follows these basic principles...

01 Siting: Buildings should 'sit' appropriately in their surroundings - be sensitive in scale and style to the character of the existing natural and built environment, reuse previously developed sites, wherever possible, and develop locations already served by transport, communications and utilities infrastructure.

02 Materials: Construction should prioritise the use of local and natural/recycled materials.

03 Construction Techniques: The latest environmental techniques should be specified - to save energy, water and waste during a development's construction, operation and decommissioning phases.

04 ICT: Construction design and specification should maximise future Information Communication Technology capacity.

05 Community Involvement: Communities should be informed about, and involved in, the planning and design of buildings in their area which should be safe, secure and accessible to all.

06 Local Sourcing: The use of local labour, training, design and creativity should be maximised to support local economies and minimise energy use in transportation/travel.

• Building Green
• Conference: Sustainable Building 2000, 2002
• GBC - Green Building Challenge
• Green building materials
• green building project: WATgreen at University of Waterloo
• Green building: guideline of sustainable design
• References: sustainable development
• Sustainable buildings,
• Web sites: sustainable, green
• US new construction 1996 amounted to $600 billion
• Total construction in US 1997 is $577 billion
• Three largest Canadian construction firm
• Importance of Building Codes in Construction
• More than 5% of all construction lumber in US is for replacing wood that has decayed
• Lack of Basic Construction Techniques' Is Root of moisture problems
• Dictionary of Wood Product and Construction Terminology: CWC
• construction moisture as cause of initial moisture trapped in wall
• Construction industry employs 111 million employees
• US new construction 1996 amounted to $600 billion