Two individuals at a construction site review a set of architectural plans or blueprints. One person wears a white hard hat, while the other’s face is obscured. The background features an active construction site with structures in various stages of completion and cranes against the sky.

The Advantages of Sustainable Building Design in Refurbishment

18 January 2018

Roughly a tenth of the carbon emissions produced in Ireland are associated with the manufacturing of construction materials and their transportation to site. The same can be said for refurbishment activity, which makes up a significant part of the construction industry as a whole.

Sustainable design is something that we, at Varming Consulting Engineers take very seriously, as it represents a more ecologically sound future for everyone and as the UK and Ireland are committed to reducing emissions by 80% over the next 30 years, fully adopting the concept gives the industry the best chance of success.

Opportunities

There are opportunities to effect the necessary changes to mitigate the impact refurbishment construction has on the environment and they fall under four distinct categories:

  1. Materials – Each stage of any given refurbishment project offers a point at which to consider the ‘greenest’ type of materials to be used. These include the survey stage, the design stage and the construction stage.
  2. Waste – Building services design consultants have recognised the opportunity to save resources by reducing waste materials. Recent research shows that in 2016, Ireland produced around 20 million tonnes of waste, half of which was created by the construction industry.
  3. Water – The reduction of water consumption post completion is another important place to achieve improvements, as it has both environmental and economic benefits. Advanced fittings can be a simple and cost effective way of doing so.
  4. Energy – Refurbishment represents an excellent opportunity to improve a property’s overall energy efficiency status, as tackling the issue amidst other major work is the ideal moment.

Implementing the latest methods and practices associated with sustainable design during construction and refurbishment works is the most prudent way to approach the issue and if you are about to embark on your own project, now might be the time to involve professional m & e consulting engineers.

If you would like to know more about anything discussed here, then we would love to hear from you and you can contact us on 01 4872300 anytime. Or if you’d like to see more about what we’re about, visit our website www.varming.ie