Review of sustainability in buildings

Abstract

Review of sustainability in buildingshttp://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/2205/ Article LJMU has developed LJMU Research Online for users to access the research output of the University more effectively. Copyright © and Moral Rights for the papers on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. Users may download and/or print one copy of any article(s) in LJMU Research Online to facilitate their private study or for non-commercial research. You may not engage in further distribution of the material or use it for any profit-making activities or any commercial gain.The version presented here may differ from the published version or from the version of the record. Please see the repository URL above for details on accessing the published version and note that access may require a subscription. AbstractAt present, It is estimated that the building sector contributes up to 45% of annual greenhouse gas emissions primarily through the use of fossil fuels during their operational phase and consumes up to 40% of all energy in UK. Given the massive growth in new construction in economies in transition, and the inefficiencies of existing building stock, if nothing is done, greenhouse gas emissions from buildings will be more than double in the next 20 years. This is a review paper describe the extent and nature of sustainable buildings in UK, either within new or refurbishing old ones, in order to move away from traditional methods of construction and to look at multi-disciplinary and integrated approaches, as well as end-user perspectives.Key words: Built environment, climate change, energy-efficient buildings, GHG emissions. IntroductionToday, it is widely accepted that human activities are contributing to climate change. The Investing in achieving such results in the building sector also has the potential to boost the local economy and improve living conditions. Given the UK's commitment to cut GHG emissions by at least 80% by 2050 relative to 1990 levels, the government recently updated the details of its strategy and milestones for the next five years in its Carbon Plan. Energy efficiency measures in the UK have historically been primarily delivered by government-backed schemes and supplier obligation programmes (which set targets for energy suppliers) (Mallaburn & Eyre, 2014;Rosenow, 2012). However, to deliver projected energy efficiency measures in the future, the UK government has proposed a combination of market-based and government-regulated interventions, under the 'Green Deal' , the 'Energy Company Obligation' (DECC, 2012a) and 'Renewable Heat 3 Incentive (RHI)' . These schemes are designed to help people make energy efficiency improvements to buildings by allowing them to pay the costs through their energy bills rather than upfront. Research Problem and MethodThis study takes a brief look at the concept of sustainability in existing UK building through the review of relevant literature. It is aiming to present sustainable measures and to investigate how these measures would cont...

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