ADVERTORIAL
Sustainability: taking the long view T
Jenny Smith-Andrews, Head of Marketing at aircrete manufacturer H+H, looks at the challenge of durability.
he very term “sustainability” can be defined in many ways. The current focus is very much on embodied carbon and H+H is among many
manufacturers to have pledged to be zero carbon in its operation by 2050. Crucial though this target is, there are other issues at stake, such as resilience and durability. In its “Assessment of UK Climate Risk”, published in June this year, the Climate Change Committee highlights just how unprepared the UK is for climate change that is already happening.
Building in resilience Increasingly erratic weather events including extreme heat and heavy rainfall are already having an impact and the CCC considers overheating and flooding to be the major risks to people’s homes. With rising summer temperatures already
evident, even more moderate climate change observers anticipate we will be seeing summer peak temperature of nearer 40 degrees centigrade than 30. The CCC report suggests the current 2,000 heat-related deaths each year could triple by the 2050s. Building Regulations are starting to include requirements to control overheating in new homes. When it comes to flooding, the report notes that 1.9 million people across all areas of the UK are exposed to frequent flooding from either river, coastal or surface water flooding – a total that is likely to increase further. A flooded home is not only an immediate disaster for the occupants but can lead to ongoing problems of damp and rot in the structure. This all points to the need to build robust homes. Homes that are built of durable materials that don’t rot, burn or decay and that actively contribute to both thermal insulation and moderating summer temperatures.
Looking at the lifespan We would also argue that it is important to focus on the lifespan of the structures too. From a sustainability perspective it surely makes no sense to build homes at volume that will need to be replaced in less than 100 years. Short- term profligate use of resource cannot be sustained in the long term. From a purely practical and economic perspective too longevity is surely an issue.
Curiously, there is no regulation that sets out how long a house should be expected to last. The commonly accepted design life is to be around 60 years. In England, over half the homes lived in now
are more than 60 years old. If we build houses out of lightweight materials that really are not going to survive much beyond that time, the sheer scale and cost of keeping up with the need to replace aged homes is unimaginable. We currently demolish and replace very few homes each year. If we continue at this rate, then every house built today would need to last over 1,000 years. That’s a challenge all of its own, but at H+H
our argument has always been that the most sustainable house is one that lasts a very, very long time.
Unintended consequences? The aspect of durability affects the embodied carbon argument as well. Many European countries (Finland, Sweden, for example) have started to introduce limits on the embodied carbon permitted in the structure of a new home and these are calculated against an expected lifespan – typically 50 years. Setting a less-than-one-generation lifespan ambition could end up being the reverse of what is intended. If there is no need to consider a lifespan beyond 50 years then we could end up creating an accelerating cycle of demolition and replacement which is in no-one’s interests. It’s a complicated picture, of course, as
different elements of a home will have different lifespans and our focus, naturally, is on
November 2021
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the loadbearing structure of a building. It seems perverse not to expect the maximum possible lifespan for the structure of a home which its owners (and mortgage lenders) have every right to expect will last for many generations.
Sustainability into the future We believe that the building industry is right at the start of its sustainability journey. Up until now we have been asked to consider the sustainability of a home in use – hence the increasingly ambitious thermal efficiency targets. Now we are focused on embodied carbon – ensuring that the materials used in the structure produce as little environmental impact as possible. Where next? We think the next stage will be
to consider the reuse of materials, recognising that we live on a finite planet and that its resources need to be endlessly recycled. Every stage is complex and the regulations set out to achieve each objective need detailed debate, but H+H is confident that its robust, durable and ultimately zero carbon aircrete will be making its contribution well into the future.
For more information on H+H products, please visit
www.hhcelcon.co.uk
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