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The challenges and opportunities for sustainable building practices

Article · February 2008

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CIB W107 Construction in Developing Countries International Symposium
“Construction in Developing Countries: Procurement, Ethics and Technology”
16 –18 January 2008, Trinidad & Tobago, W.I..

The challenges and opportunities for sustainable building practices

C. S. Hayles(1) and T Kooloos(2),
1
School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Queen’s University, Belfast, Northern
Ireland, [email protected]; 2Thinc Projects, Canberra., Australia.

Abstract

With growing concerns for the environment and climate change, there has been a focus on
the way new structures are commissioned and built; particularly in their use of energy and
resources. This is not only apparent in the developed world; it is being driven by policy
makers in both developed and developing countries alike.

However there are a number of challenges facing the adoption of sustainable building.
Construction professionals in Australia interviewed as part of a study undertaken in 2006,
highlighted: higher capital costs; cohesive knowledge sharing; and information on materials
and technology. The principal challenge was materials selection and justifying the decisions
made. The use of locally sourced material frequently resulted in higher first dollar costs and
construction delays on projects.

In developing countries the challenge is not the sourcing or affordability of local materials but
combining locally sourced, sustainable materials with appropriate and sustainable new
technologies to provide innovative solutions to meet the demand for more sustainable
building and construction projects. The challenge and the opportunity in both these cases is
cohesive decision making, and the harnessing of capacity and knowledge to ensure the most
appropriate strategies are in place to deliver sustainable building solutions.

Keywords Affordability, challenges, materials, technology, sustainability.

INTRODUCTION

There is a general acceptance within the wider community that use of fossil fuels,
consumption of non-renewable resources and greenhouse gas emissions are causing
environmental harm. Climate change is ‘likely to be the greatest destabilising force politically
and socially of the next Century’ (Edwards, 1998, p.7). The Construction Industry is
recognised as a major contributor to the consumption of energy and thereby greenhouse gas
emissions. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) advising
that the building sector ‘accounts for around 25-40% of final energy consumption in OECD
countries’ (OECD, 2006, p.1). With growing concerns for the environment and climate
change, there has been a focus on the way new structures are commissioned and built;
particularly in their use of energy and resources. There is an increasing recognition that
buildings cannot be designed without consideration for their social impact on the environment
(John et al., 2005). Further 'the impacts of construction and use of any built projects on the
environment are at both local level, such as noise pollution, dust pollution, odour pollution;
and global level, such as changes of climate and ecosystems’ (Shen et al., 2006, p.243).
This is not only apparent in the developed world; it is being driven by policy makers in both
developed and developing countries alike.
Sustainable Construction

The issues highlighted above have been the driving force for more sustainable construction
and the need to build ‘green’. There are many terms for and interpretations of what
constitutes sustainable building practice. Rather than providing a definition, the OECD
sustainable building project identifies five objectives for sustainable buildings: resource
efficiency; energy efficiency (including greenhouse gas emissions reduction); pollution
prevention (including indoor air quality and noise abatement); harmonisation with
environment; and integrated and systemic approaches (John et al., 2005). Sustainable
construction is in effect ‘a series of sustainable or ‘best practice’ decisions, which start well
before construction (in the planning and design stages) and continue long after the
construction team have left the site: a process that takes in the design, construction and on-
going maintenance of what is being referred to as a ‘green’ building’ (Hayles & Holdsworth,
2005, p. 2).

Benefits Of Sustainable Aprpoaches To Design And Construction

According to Guidry (2004), there are three benefits associated with green building, namely:
direct economic benefits; indirect social and psychological benefits; and environmental
benefits. Cost benefits can be accrued as a result of sustainable building as ‘integrating
green principles into a building’s planning and design process can generate 40% more
savings and 40% better performance than simply adding green technologies to a traditionally
planned and designed facility’ (Lockwood, 2006, p.130). In addition, considering material
sales and savings from avoiding landfill, deconstruction projects cost less than traditional
demolition projects, whilst helping to preserve environmental resources at the same time
(Green et al., 2006).

Further, improving buildings’ thermal properties will reduce consumption, the cost to the end
user, and reduce CO2 emissions (Reed & Wilkinson, 2005). The benefits attributed to green
buildings include reduced energy costs, reduced employee health problems and increased
productivity. These operate in conjunction with other less tangible benefits such as an
enhanced company image for occupants of these buildings by demonstrating their corporate
social responsibility, and potentially making them an employer of choice by providing a more
attractive workplace (Edwards, 1998). Green building in the developed world is driven by a
desire to reduce energy consumption and promoted as a financially-sound business decision.

Challenges To The Adoption Of Sustainable Building Practices

The challenges facing the adoption of sustainable building described in the literature can be
divided into five distinct categories, namely: cost; information; design processes; construction
processes; and materials and technology.

Captial Cost

The general industry view is that sustainable buildings come at a premium, with a minimal
connection made between the up-front (capital) costs of construction and the operating costs,
once the building is completed. Indeed, there is a widespread perception that sustainable
buildings are higher in cost than the marketplace is will pay for; even when they are not
(Zerkin, 2006). This is believed to be due to the lack of accurate, thorough, and quantifiable
information regarding the financial and economic impacts of high performance buildings
(Suttell, 2006). McKee (1998) suggests that office buildings are not the best place to test
new green technologies and designs, as developers and investors are not willing to carry the
risk.

The barriers to developers choosing high performance green buildings centre on the
perception of higher first-dollar costs, and that the market is not willing to pay them, further
there are not reliable cost models to assist developers to understand the true costs and
benefits of high performance buildings. Developers also face a risk that the lending
institutions may not understand high performance aspects and their value in the marketplace.
Finally any new approaches are perceived as risky, and the developers are reliant on others’
information and may not be able to determine who to trust (Zerkin, 2006). Economic barriers
to sustainable design can include: lack of information about inherent long-term economic
benefits of sustainable building; lack of integration among various incentive programs
(rebates, loans, technical assistance, and recognition programs); reality that first cost is the
overriding concern among financial institutions and investors; and the inherently conservative
nature of the building industry (Townsend, 1997).

Information Gathering

It is not always possible to predict whether a building will perform as predicted, whether the
green costs are affordable or indeed whether the technology reliable (Edwards, 1998). There
is a lack of research on the performance of green building. There is also concern that the
complexity of some green designs (technological high performance) may bring about
obsolescence earlier than conventional design (McKee, 1998).

Further issues include a lack of consensus about what sustainable building actually means.
There is also disagreement as to: what the minimum performance standards should be;
which activities are considered to be environmentally stressful; what the economics are; and
how to evaluate or measure sustainable building (Townsend, 1997). Attempts to integrate
the vast amount of information currently available and effectively disseminate it have so far
fallen short.

The Design Process

There appears to be limited understanding of available green options by design

professionals. This includes: insufficient knowledge to produce specifications; a lack of
available high performance materials; difficulties in gaining approval of new technologies for
building codes; uncertainty about approvals; regulatory barriers to adoption of technologies
and labour issues due to potential labour-saving measures; all providing further challenges to
sustainable design (Zerkin, 2006). In order for sustainable building techniques and materials
to be adopted they must be specified by the designer. However, there is no standard
assessment criterion for products that allows them to be directly evaluated, and therefore
design professionals must invest a lot of time in assessing potential materials and technology
(Weber, 2005).

The Construction Process

Building on the issues described in the design process, the construction process can also be
a difficult one. Issues include a lack of knowledge and consequently skilled labour to install
and maintain new technologies (and minimal availability of training for the industry). There is
limited infrastructure to handle and make available recycled material from deconstruction,
thereby making costs prohibitive (Zerkin, 2006). The additional workers and time required
also make deconstruction seem more costly than mechanical demolition (Green Leigh &
Patterson, 2006). Furthermore time and financial pressures can have a negative impact on
the effectiveness of environmental management systems on building sites (Shen et al, 2006).

Materials And Technology

The challenges described above are all impacted on by materials and technology selection.
Sustainable building practices can make a huge difference to global environmental
sustainability, particularly through a drastic reduction in the use of natural resource
consumption and energy intensive materials like cement, steel, aggregates and aluminum
(du Plessis, 2002). The process of transporting materials via road, sea or air can leave a trail
of pollution in its wake, making it more sustainable to use local products.

Issues arise where, what is considered to be the most appropriate environmentally friendly
product for a particular purpose is not available locally, thereby making materials selection
extremely complex (Edwards, 1998).

Most architects find it difficult to establish the embodied energy or life cycle costs of a
particular product. For example, establishing a balance between harvesting practices,
manufacturing processes, shipping, and the positive/negative impact a certain timber may
have on indoor air quality once it is in situ (Weber, 2005) not to mention disposal or re-use at
the end of the buildings life, is extremely difficult. While the process of Life Cycle Analysis
(LCA) exists to make this evaluation, a number of issues arise, such as the incentive for
suppliers to perform this analysis on their products. This is likely to be consumer or industry
demand driven, however if the results are not positive in environmental terms they are
unlikely to be published (Graveline, 2005). Furthermore, LCA commonly needs to be
completed from a whole of installation perspective, which involves obtaining LCA data for a
number of components and therefore suppliers. Further, these suppliers often consider this
information proprietary and are reluctant to release it into the public domain where
competitors will be able to access it; making the information currently in the public domain
limited and the process involved obviously expensive, resulting in few clients who are willing
to pay the premium required (Graveline, 2005). How efficiently and environmentally the
completed building operates is most commonly measured in terms of energy efficiency and
productivity, detracting focus from the cost to the environment of the structure itself, which
can often be unsustainable.

Australian Construction Sector Study

A research study undertaken at RMIT University, Melbourne in 2006, which aimed to identify
challenges facing the adoption of sustainable building in the Australian commercial sector,
identified similar issues to those descried above. The results of the semi-structured in-depth
interviews conducted with project managers from a number of sustainable building projects,
demonstrated very similar experiences to those described in the literature, and are outlined
below.

Cost was a major challenge to the development of green buildings, with the interviewees’
experiences noting a cost premium of up to 30% and the potential for investors to be
reluctant to invest in a relatively new type of building with no proven returns. Indeed,
investment in sustainable buildings was perceived by investors as a risk, with returns not yet
considered to be proven within Australia. The cost of ‘green’ materials is a key factor in the
cost premium (see ‘Materials and technology’ below).
Availability of appropriate information/specifications, especially when choosing appropriate
‘green’ materials is an issue. Whilst there are websites available regarding ‘green’
specifications and products, these are not yet sufficient. There is also considered to be a
lack of evidence of the benefits of green building in a local context (due to the relative
immaturity of the industry when compared to e.g. Europe). In addition, evidence of the whole
of life benefits of sustainable building in Australia is not yet available, with no local studies
completed.

The construction industry is seeking out more information on sustainable building and the
level of expertise is increasing, however clients’ knowledge is often very limited, making
sustainable building less attractive if they do not understand what they are paying for
(including higher capital costs).

Sustainable design and technology do not create difficulty with planning permissions and
approvals in Australia. Information on new technologies and the ability of organisations to
investigate them during the design process is assisted by schemes like the Commercial
Office Building Energy Innovation Initiative - COBEII (Sustainability Victoria, 2006), and web-
based sources such as the Australian Green Procurement (AGP) database (AGP, 2006).
Materials and technology selection is considered to be the most complex part of the design
process. Likewise for the construction process, many of the issues relate to materials and
technology selection and accurate, appropriate knowledge transfer. Some ‘green’ materials
have longer lead times than their conventional equivalents which can cause delays.
Recycling during the construction process does not cause undue difficulty in Australia, and is
relatively well established.

Methods such as LCA and embodied energy calculations are not used to assess the
suitability of materials in Australia. Based upon the responses of those interviewed, materials
selection in sustainable building is subject to commercial viability as per conventional
construction. Using imported products is quite common due to the relatively small market
and range of local products available in Australia. Aesthetic considerations have been known
to overrule the selection of local products which may be more environmentally friendly.

The availability of indigenous ‘green’ products and their capital cost are a major issue, which
is also magnified by the often longer lead times to manufacture some of the more technical
solutions. These long lead times can delay construction processes if the planner is not aware
of them, and therefore has not factored them into the construction schedule. Furthermore, if a
product is not available locally it is subject not only to longer production lead times, but also
the vagaries of international shipping, which will bring into question where it should be
considered a sustainable solution at all.

Discussion

Today’s Green buildings, while a dramatic improvement over conventional construction, are
rooted in conventional design approaches, pre-existing methods of analysis and design tools,
and dependent on off-the-shelf products and materials. Issues arise when the requirements
of a particular project do not fit well with this antiquated approach. Approaches to building
and construction need to be continually improving and tomorrows of sustainable buildings will
have to be radically different from todays. Sustainable design practices require an integrated
systems approach that can assist in the implementation of the predicted drivers: the
deconstruction of buildings; reusable components; recyclable materials; integration with
ecosystems; hydrologic cycles; and renewable energy (Hayles and Holdsworth, 2005).
As a result, those responsible for design and construction need to rethink their approach to
almost every aspect of their operations (Nobe and Dunbar 2004) and move towards an
integrated design approach. Integrated design necessitates early involvement of all project
consultants in the design process. A shared understanding of the objectives in building and
occupying the building is essential (Hayles 2003) as is a life cycle framework; one which
recognises the need to consider all of the principles of sustainable construction at each and
every stage in planning, assessment, design, construction, operation and decommissioning
of projects (Hill and Bowen 1997). It is essential that appropriate decision making structures
are in place to harness capacity and knowledge; that the decisions made are ethical and
moral; and that the process is fully auditable.

With the mounting interest and thus demand for sustainable construction comes an
increasing need for construction professionals with knowledge in the various aspects of
sustainable construction and ‘green’ building. It may be a long time before all construction
companies think in terms of sustainability, green building and integrated design, but it is
becoming more evident that the education and training of building industry professionals will
have to accommodate these changes, not only in the area of ‘high performance buildings’,
the current driver of sustainability in the developed world, but also to broaden awareness of
sustainability in order to more fully develop the critical area of sustainable design (Kibert and
Grosskopf 2005) and construction practices throughout the developed and developing world.

The adoption of sustainable or green building in Australia shares a number of challenges with
literature derived from the experiences of other nations in the developed world, including
capital cost, and the need for developers to have a proven return on investment for green
buildings before they are willing to take on the risk. Issues regarding access to or the
availability of information (and knowledge) are also shared experiences, which impact directly
on design and construction processes. Aside from capital cost the biggest challenge is the
choice of materials and technology and their affordability; with a limited local selection of
indigenous sustainable materials, supplied at higher prices and with long lead times.

In developing countries the challenge is not the sourcing or affordability of local materials but
combining locally sourced, sustainable materials with appropriate and sustainable new
technologies to provide innovative solutions to meet the demand for more sustainable
building and construction projects. Research undertaken by du Plessis (2002) identified
barriers to sustainable construction in developing countries to include: lack of capacity of the
construction sector; an uncertain economic environment; lack of accurate data; poverty and
low urban investment; stakeholders’ lack of interest in the issue of sustainability;
technological inertia and dependency; lack of integrated research and entrenched colonial
codes and standards. Shared with experiences in the developed world, lack of knowledge
and information on sustainable construction issues and appropriate, affordable solutions are
major obstacles that need to be overcome.

Within Australia, high performance buildings, with their technological approach to greening
the built environment has resulted in increased complexity in projects without appropriate
management systems in place to deal with the various issues that arise. These buildings are
expensive because they rely heavily on new technologies, frequently developed specifically
for individual projects, seemingly designed to outperform the previous one. In the developing
world, where the majority of the population is poor with very limited investment capacity,
technologies and materials representing increased costs will not easily be accepted.
Therefore there is a need to combine traditional materials and construction methods with
modern processes and technology that can be developed locally, for greater accessibility,
including combining indigenous materials with renewable energy technologies. The
developed world would also benefit from such an approach.

Many indigenous communities have practical experience of depending on nature for shelter
and livelihood, and have developed construction practices that make use of natural materials
from their immediate environment; re-using what they can and often leaving demolition waste
to biodegrade (du Plessis, 2002). They have utilised local knowledge to orient, design and
construct buildings to take advantage of climatic conditions rather than working against them.
Whether these practices are still viable is unknown, but it is possible to learn the lessons
offered by these approaches and adapt them for current and future building projects. This is
much more relevant than attempting to replicate the high cost, high performance sustainable
buildings of the developed world where the cost of justifying the materials and technology
used in terms of their sustainability, detracts from the essence of what the buildings set out
the achieve in the first instance.

Conclusion

The challenges to sustainable building approaches in Australia were found to reflect that of
other developed countries, in particular higher capital costs, lack of cohesive information
relating to sustainable construction and availability and affordability of appropriate materials
and technology. A number of the challenges highlighted could be addressed by more
appropriate approaches to green building including an integrated systems approach which
would impact positively on the design and construction process as well rethinking what
sustainable building practices aspire to; refocusing sustainability away from energy efficiency
and highly technical solutions, to a more holistic examination of the impact of building on the
environment.

There are opportunities to learn from the mistakes being made by the developed countries,
and to build capacity, particularly for education as well as in the adoption of indigenous and
sustainable materials and technology, which combined with integrated approaches to design
and construction management, can lead to more efficient, affordable and sustainable results.

The challenge and the opportunity in both these cases is cohesive decision making, and the
harnessing of capacity and knowledge to ensure the most appropriate strategies are in place
to deliver sustainable building solutions.

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