The Green Guide to Specification Fourth Edition

THE GREEN GUIDE TO SPECIFICATION FOURTH EDITION

Jane Anderson, David Shiers and Kristian Steele THE GREEN GUIDE TO SPECIFICATION An Environmental Proﬁling System for Building Materials and Components

Fourth edition

Jane Anderson BRE Global David Shiers Oxford Brookes University Kristian Steele BRE Global

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CONTENTS

Foreword v Acknowledgements vi Project sponsors vii The authors viii

PART 1 INTRODUCTION 1 Background 3 2 The Green Guide and related BRE titles 6 3 Life cycle assessment (LCA) in The Green Guide 10 4 How The Green Guide to Specification was compiled 18

PART 2 USING THE GREEN GUIDE 5 How to use The Green Guide to Specification 27

PART 3 THE GREEN GUIDE RATINGS 6 The Green Guide tables 33 6.1 Ground floors 39 6.2 Upper floors 53 6.3 Separating floors 67 6.4 Roofs 87 6.5 External walls 129 6.6 Windows and curtain walling 185 6.7 Internal walls 189 6.8 Separating walls 197 6.9 Insulation 205 6.10 Landscaping 209

Appendix: Project steering group and peer review panels 219 Contacts and further information 220 References 221 Index 223 v

FOREWORD

The relationship between the built and the natural Many organisations in both the public and private environments has received an unprecedented level of sectors are finding that ‘greener’ property can lead coverage in the media in recent years as well as driving to lower running costs, reduced enviro-legal risks, much new scientific research. Concerns regarding greater occupier satisfaction (through better working our ability to meet our present economic and social environments) and enhanced PR and marketing benefits. requirements without compromising the needs of future The numbers of businesses now signing up to Corporate generations, have also been responsible for recent Social Responsibility programmes is evidence of this extensive and far-reaching environmental legislation growth in environmental and social awareness. Better, introduced in many countries, including the UK. more environmentally responsible choices regarding This has happened for good reasons; the use of energy the types of materials that we put into our buildings are in buildings, in industrial processes and in our transport therefore central to reducing the global environmental systems, and the consequent release of carbon dioxide impact of the property sector. and other emissions into the earth’s atmosphere, has In this book, building materials and components are raised very real fears of global climate change. At the assessed in terms of their environmental impact across same time, the increasing rates of deforestation, the their entire life cycle – ‘from cradle-to-grave’, within extensive use of many of our natural but finite resources comparable specifications. Such accessible and reliable and the production and management of waste materials, information will be of great assistance to all those involved are just some of the environmental issues that point to the in the design, construction and management of buildings unsustainable nature of many human systems. as they work to reduce the environmental impact of their There are no guarantees that even with an immediate properties. and concerted effort on the part of politicians and We are sure that this book will help to ensure that in industry, the future will be better than it might otherwise the future, property professionals will be able to make the have been or that the predicted environmental and soundest possible environmentally responsible choices in economic problems will be avoided. However, a new and their materials selection. more responsible approach to the natural environment is surely our best chance of, at the very least, reducing the scale of these impacts to hopefully more manageable Neville Simms Jonathon Porritt proportions. It is also self-evident that less pollution and Chairman Chairman less profligate use of resources can offer many financial BRE Trust Sustainable Development and quality-of-life advantages now. Commission vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors wish to acknowledge the contribution BRE made and the support given by the following individuals Peter Bonfield and organisations. Particular thanks are due to the Mike Clift Construction Products Association and their members Martin Cook for helping the team with information capture and Angus Jack constructive criticism. A special thank you is given to Chris Watson Jane Thornback, without whose hard work and support The Green Guide would not be possible. Oxford Brookes University Professor Martin Avis BRE Global Project Team Richard Grover Kim Allbury Tim Allan Julia Barnard Victoria Blake Others Andrew Dutfield John Bowdidge Sue Fakes Kathryn Bourke Faithful+Gould Emma Franklin Suzy Edwards Katie Halls Professor Anthony Heath University of Oxford Jo Mundy Dr Karen Kearley University of Oxford Kavita Ramchandra Miles Keeping GVA Grimley Bridget Randall Professor Anthony Lavers White & Case Paul Thistlethwaite Professor Paul McNamara PruPIM Alan Pearman Centre for Decision Research, University of Leeds Eva Schmincke Five Winds, Germany BRE Global Jane Thornback Construction Products David Crowhurst Association Richard Hardy Wayne Trusty Athena Sustainable Materials Institute, Canada vii

PROJECT SPONSORS viii

THE AUTHORS

Jane Anderson BA MSc DipLCM FRSA Kristian Steele MEng EngD BREEAM Materials, BRE Global BREEAM Materials, BRE Global Jane is an expert in the development and application of A civil engineer by training, Kristian has a history in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology for building infrastructure management, environmental assessment construction and materials. She is Technical Manager of and sustainability. Kristian joined BRE in 2002 following the BREEAM Materials Group where she has been a key completion of an EngD in Environmental Technology member since 1998. She co-authored The Green Guide with the University of Surrey and Surrey County Council. to Housing Specification and the third edition of The Kristian is currently group leader of the BREEAM Green Guide to Specification. She gained a distinction in Materials team. The BREEAM Materials team provides her master’s degree in Architecture at the University of advice, training and information on the environmental East London. performance of building systems and is responsible for the development of The Green Guide to Specification and Envest. It also manages the BRE Certification scheme for David Shiers BA BArchHons CertHEduc RIBA Environmental Product Declarations. Department of Real Estate, Oxford Brookes University A qualified architect and teacher and environmental consultant with AEA Technology, David has written extensively on many property-related environmental issues and was co-author and designer of the methodology underpinning the original version of The Green Guide to Specification. David has co-edited a special Property and the Environment edition of the journal Construction Management and Economics with Professor Anthony Lavers and has contributed to other publications including Property Management, The Journal of Property Investment and Finance, and Property Review. He has also advised and collaborated with many organisations on green issues including the Housing Corporation, the GLA, Urban Buzz, DTZ, and King Sturge. He was a Visiting Research Scholar at the University of Oxford in 2002 and is a member of the CIB International Working Commission on Sustainable Construction. PART 1 INTRODUCTION

1 BACKGROUND 1.1 Environmental conservation 3 1.2 The purpose of The Green Guide 3 1.3 The development of The Green Guide 4 1.4 Content and layout of The Green Guide 4 1.5 Environmental impacts 4 1.6 The Green Guide rating system 4 1.7 Status of specifications 5 1.8 Balancing The Green Guide with other requirements 5

2 THE GREEN GUIDE AND RELATED BRE PUBLICATIONS AND TOOLS 2.1 The Environmental Profiles Methodology and database 6 2.2 Previous editions of The Green Guide to Specification 7 2.3 Web updates and The Green Guide to Specification Online 7 2.4 BREEAM and EcoHomes 8 2.5 Envest 8 2.6 Green procurement and responsible sourcing 8

3 LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT (LCA) IN THE GREEN GUIDE 3.1 Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) 10 3.2 The Environmental Profiles Methodology 11 3.3 Creating a single score: Ecopoints and weighting 14 3.4 Applying the Environmental Profiles Methodology to construction systems in The Green Guide 15 3.5 Sources of LCA data in The Green Guide to Specification 16

4 HOW THE GREEN GUIDE TO SPECIFICATION WAS COMPILED 4.1 Choosing the building element categories 18 4.2 Choosing the building specifications 18 4.3 Creating the Environmental Profile for a specification 19 4.4 Generating The Green Guide environmental impact ratings 19 4.5 Generating The Green Guide summary ratings 20 4.6 Other information 20 1 BACKGROUND 3

1 BACKGROUND

The purpose of this 4th edition of The Green Guide opportunity for producers of materials to minimise the to Specification is to provide designers and specifiers environmental impact of their products. The release with easy-to-use guidance on how to make the best of chemicals into the atmosphere from manufacturing environmental choices when selecting construction processes has been linked to damage to the ozone layer materials and components. It is more comprehensive and to other effects that are harmful to the environment than its predecessors and contains more than 1200 and human health. Volatile organic compound (VOC) specifications used in various types of buildings. emissions may be irritant or toxic. Nitrogen dioxide and Developing the content has involved the widest nitrogen oxide (NOx), released in combustion processes, possible consultation with industrial partners, are both contributors to acid rain and react with VOCs manufacturers and trade associations, academics and in sunlight to produce photochemical smog. This smog researchers, and reference to a wide range of other is implicated in an increased incidence in asthma and reliable sources of environmental data and information. respiratory illness. Sulfur dioxide (SO2), also released The whole process has also been the subject of more from the combustion of oil and coal products, is a main rigorous peer review procedures than its predecessors contributor to acid rain. All these impacts are relevant and, as a result, both the methodologies used and the and present in building product manufacture. Suppliers findings made are as robust and dependable as they and producers have a responsibility to understand the can be at the present time in the field of environmental relative impacts of manufacture and to work towards impact assessment and life cycle assessment of impact mitigation. Designers and specifiers can assist construction products. in this process through making more environmentally responsible choices. 1.1 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION Similar responsibilities are evident in other parts of the Many in the property sector are becoming more aware construction value chain. Property investors and funding of the need to reduce exposure to ‘environmental institutions, under pressure from shareholders and risk’. While the most common construction and insurers, are also seeking a ‘greener’ and more ‘socially development-related risks have been associated with responsible’ approach to the design and procurement polluting activities or the failure of specialists to deal of buildings, and many property-owning organisations with specific environmental hazards, the future scope are signing up to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of environmental liability may have far-reaching initiatives. A more carefully considered, environmentally implications for the construction industry. The impact aware approach to the specification of materials is of the construction process and the associated impact important in being able to demonstrate that projects from materials extraction and manufacture in terms of are well managed and are protecting shareholders’ energy and resource use or levels of emissions on global interests through minimising the risks associated with conditions could be identified as a major ‘indirect’ environmental impact. Across all these issues, The Green environmental hazard. As such, it is possible that these Guide is designed to provide robust information to assist issues will become potential legal liability flashpoints and in decision-making processes. that designers, specifiers and materials manufacturers will be obliged to take this into account in the design and 1.2 THE PURPOSE OF THE GREEN GUIDE construction process. Before the publication of the first edition of The Green Environmental impacts come in many different forms. Guide in 1996[1], there was little accessible, reliable or It is widely accepted that there is mounting evidence to methodologically robust guidance available for specifiers suggest that the concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) seeking to minimise the environmental impacts of and other ‘greenhouse’ gases (such as methane) in the building materials. Much of the relevant research and atmosphere are increasing. This, it is argued, is leading information at that time offered either generalised to global warming and climate change. As the main guidance, usually unsupported by quantitative data, source of these greenhouse gases is the burning of fossil or, alternatively, complex numerical assessments that fuels for energy, a reduction in the energy levels required proved difficult for designers and clients to interpret. in the manufacture of building materials represents an The first edition of this publication therefore aimed to THE GREEN GUIDE TO SPECIFICATION FOURTH EDITION Like its predecessors, this fourth edition of The Green The performance of each specification is measured Guide to Specification provides designers and specifiers against a range of environmental impacts, including: with easy-to-use guidance on how to make the best • climate change environmental choices when selecting construction • toxicity materials and components. It is more comprehensive • fossil fuel and ozone depletion than its predecessors; it contains more than 1200 • levels of emissions and pollutants specifications used in six types of building: • mineral and water extraction. • Commercial, such as offices • Educational, such as schools and universities The Green Guide to Specification provides robust information to assist decision-making by translating • Healthcare, such as hospitals numerical life cycle assessment data into a simple A+ to • Retail E scale of environmental ratings, enabling specifiers to • Residential make meaningful comparisons between materials and • Industrial. components. The principal building elements covered in this edition The Green Guide to Specification is an essential tool for of The Green Guide to Specification include: architects, surveyors, building managers and property • Floors owners seeking to reduce the environmental impact of • Roofs their buildings by informed and responsible selection of • Walls construction materials and components. • Windows • Insulation • Landscaping.

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