Environmental homework help...?

Question

maybe its just the way the question is worded...but im really stuck! any help greatly appreciated on this one..

your local authority in partnershipwith a housing association has commissioned the demolition and rebuilding of 300 houses. the policy for this prestegious project is sustainability which has to be build into the new constructioin techniques that will be used.. you have been asked to select a fit for purpose construction technique under each of the following headings:

energy

material

wastage

describe how each will assist the goals of the project

anyone know where i should start????

Answer 1

sorry if your a uni student, but get a note from your mum(mom) or dad saying you didn't understand, i do that and the rteacher explains it to me

Answer 2

blimey! its very badly worded.

maybe just say 'passive solar earthships' which covers all three bases....

Answer 3

MEAT

Answer 4

Hi there,

Most Local Authorities and Housing Associations who are aiming to achieve new sustainable buildings are already working to verifiable Environmental Appraisal Systems which assess the impacts of a build project at design stage, at undeveloped site stage and post build (or after construction). Currently in the UK these tend to be from the Buildings Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology or (BREEAM) family of appraisals for different kinds of building; i.e. multi-residential buildings, schools, offices and even things like prisons. All assessments consider the minimisation of potable (drinking quality) water use, the reduction of energy demand, the sourcing of materials and the reduction of waste.

The BREEAM family used to include the foremost assessment for Housing which was known as the Eco-Homes Assessment.  Over the last few years the UK National Government working with people like the Buildings Research Establishment (BRE) have developed a new method for assessing the environmental credentials of new housing which they hope will become a requirement for all developers nation wide. This new methodology is called ‘The Code for Sustainable Homes (The Code) which has now replaced Eco-Homes standards.  Local authorities and  Housing Associations are now choosing to have their buildings independently assessed and rated against this.  

So the first thing the Local authority and Housing Association would probably do is choose to work towards achieving a good verifiable standard under the ‘Code for Sustainable Homes’.  For each of the categories, energy,

materials and waste ‘The Code’ awards points for taking particular recognised sustainable or environmentally friendly measures.

The Local Authority would want to get as many points as possible, so they would look at how they could gain these at each stage of the building project and draw up a project phase plan.

Phase 1 Would be Site Appraisal:- at this point they would want to ask questions about the site to see how it lent itself to environmental technologies. These might be the sorts of question;

1. Does  the site had good wind speeds if yes we might design in a wind turbine for green carbon free energy later

2. Can we angle the buildings on a compass bearing that means day time occupancy rooms (living rooms and play space could be positioned to gain extra sunlight through roof lights or good windows  to minimise the use of artificial lighting  and save energy

3. Could we create Southerly facing roof spaces to incorporate solar thermal heating so we reduce the energy used to heat water for bathing and pot washing

4. Is there sufficient annual rainfall over the site to make it worthwhile to incorporate rainwater collection or harvesting for flushing toilets rather than using tap water.

5. Is the site big enough to store some materials from the old buildings for re-use without having to transport them off site which would cause transport emissions

6. Is the site on a significant slope and if so could we earth-up or partially bury part of the buildings (low day time occupancy rooms such as bedrooms) into the slope to improve sheltering and insulation. Thus  helping keep the heat in during winter and the building cool in summer without using too much energy.

Phase 2 Would be the Structural Design and Materials sourcing:- At this point working with the known site conditions they would want to design to build homes that had good high insulated walls, roofs, windows and doors. They would look to reduce materials impacts by designing to use recycled materials from the old buildings or failing that materials locally sourced and preferably sustainably made or grown and harvested such as (Forestry Stewardship Council) FSC timber.  

Phase 4 Would be choosing the internal detailing:- things such as “A rated” Low energy use light fittings and goods such as cookers etc. things such as low volume flush toilets and low water use baths, taps and showers.

Phase 6 Would be site preparation:-  making sure that they can store both new and recycled materials on site in a way where materials can be kept safe from damage and where necessary with waste bi-products separated at site for recycling rather than sending to landfill. If they are going to have things like wind turbines on the housing estate later they may want to begin by installing these so the energy they use in building is green from day 1. They would want to ensure that they don’t contaminate the local water supply and they may want to install rainwater harvesting butts or storage tanks early to reduce the construction demand on tap water.

Phase 5 Demolition:- at this point rather than simply demolishing the old building they would be looking to see how many of the buildings materials they could save to re-use on the new building. Recycling building materials in this way reduces demand on Scarce Resources:-  Stone, Clays and other mined materials are finite (i.e. there’s only so much we can extract before it runs out) so recycling building  materials helps reduce pressure on these and also the huge carbon emissions involved in their extraction and transportation. They would gain points for Energy, Saving Waste and Materials from adopting this approach.  

Next the Building begins

Then you have to educate the people who live in it

Then you get the whole thing Assessed

Maybe the Press Love it?

Over to You

Happy Green Building

Answer 5

I have a similar issue with the way in which assignments are written. We have been given crib sheets for some of the more indecipherable projects....these help to break down each task & make it more straight forward to understand. Ask your lecturer/teacher as much as you can...no use struggling when you don't understand what's required.

It sounds like your assignment asks you to evaluate different methods for building houses in an environmentally sustainable manner. Research the different construction techniques and explain how they affect each factor, i.e energy consumption, material usage/costing, and waste control.

Not entirely sure if that's correct, but hope it helps.