BRE BR502 PDF

INTRODUCTION

This report brings together current thinking on defining and measuring sustainability in the context of the built environment. It sets out concisely the key issues in this large and complex area. This subject is moving rapidly so it is not possible to be comprehensive, but this introductory ‘primer' aims to provide a clear overview of the key issues and initiatives in the UK and internationally.

In this report, the Brundtland definition of sustainability is used: ‘meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs‘ (Brundtland, 1987). Unfortunately, the simplicity of this definition belies what is a complex web of systems and cycles in science, economics, politics, ethics and engineering. Figure 1 illustrates the complex relationships between sustainability issues and the impacts of a building, and Table 1 lists some of the major environmental issues, many of which are inter-related.

Fortunately, pioneers of sustainability assessment in the built environment have devised practical ways of addressing sustainability measurement and delivery by focusing on the key issues in terms of:

• economic impacts,

• environmental impacts, and

• social impacts.

Through clarity, transparency, stakeholder engagement and peer review, the leading organisations are also attempting to achieve the objective of Brundtland. This requires that, as understanding improves, we identify and reconcile all of the key issues, which are inextricably interwoven. If we are to solve the problems of sustainability, we need ‘numbers – not adjectives', and must base what we do on ‘evidence not public relations' (MacKay, 2008).