Grinnell, R C; Austin, S A and Dainty, A J (2011) Reconciling low carbon agendas through adaptable buildings. In: Egbu, C and Lou, E C W (eds.) Proceedings of 27th Annual ARCOM Conference, 5-7 September 2011, Bristol, UK.
Abstract
The UK government has committed itself to demanding CO2 reduction targets. There is an expectation that significant carbon savings can be achieved in the construction and operation of buildings through the application of low carbon technologies. Current concentration on low carbon technologies to reduce operational energy requirements has overlooked the less significant gains possible in embodied energy. However, as gains in operational energy reduction are realised, embodied energy of the construction, maintenance, refurbishment and disposal cycle will become increasingly important in making further progress. In this position paper we suggest that the adaptable building agenda could complement the low carbon agenda by providing a vehicle for the reconciliation of the various facets of low carbon policy. This includes taking account of the need to reduce embodied energy, as buildings which are rendered obsolete significantly before their intended design life, or fail to adapt to increasing carbon reduction performance requirements, cannot be considered sustainable. There remains a need to explore to what extent these agendas, of adaptable, long life buildings and a low carbon society, are mutually beneficial and supporting, and the what extent they can be seen as competing and mutually exclusive.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | adaptability; low carbon; obsolescence; sustainability |
| Index terms: | energy requirement, savings, low carbon, energy reduction, CO2 emissions, carbon reduction, low-carbon society, embodied energy, adaptability, obsolescence, adaptable building |
| Subjects: | sustainability assessment, asset management, user focus, climate science, energy systems, economic analysis |
| Topics: | Sustainability, Business Strategy, Design Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 1 C |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here