Definition of Low Carbon Development
It is important to define low carbon development within the wider scope of sustainable development.
Sustainable development includes a range of elements, which can overlap and include:
- sustainable communities i.e. creating socially and economically resilient, inclusive and safe neighbourhoods
- sustainable place making which addresses, the wider infrastructure of a place including sustainable transport, provisions for sustainable waste management and sometimes extends to sustainable local food production
- sustainable construction is concerned the construction process in particular the use of materials (including the embodied energy of those materials), efficient construction management (including transport and site waste) and the energy used in the construction process
- Sustainable buildings are best understood by referring to the sustainability measurement tools such as BREEAM and the Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH). These tools cover energy use as well as issues such as water use, materials, waste, transport, ecology etc.
For more information on the broader sustainability agenda in the south west refer to Sustainability South West (see http://www.sustainabilitysouthwest.org.uk/about_ssw/.
Future Foundations, the regional sustainable construction organisation (see http://www.buildsw.org.uk/future_foundations_sustainable_construction ), has developed the south west sustainability checklist (see http://www.checklistsouthwest.co.uk/ ) to assist developers with the design and construction process.
There are three components of energy associated with the construction of new buildings:
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Energy used in the construction process
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Energy embodied in building materials
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Energy used for the operation of new buildings
Low carbon development is concerned with energy used in the operation of new buildings. Operational energy emissions are a priority because until they are significantly reduced they represent the majority of a buildings lifetime emissions. However, if your interest is in embodied energy refer to http://www.buildsw.org.uk/whole_life_carbon .
Operational energy emissions are reduced by employing low energy design and adopting high levels of energy efficiency ( see Low Carbon Design section ). With these measures in place emissions are reduced further with low carbon and renewable energy technology (see the Low Carbon Technology section ).
For large developments consideration should also be given to the existing energy infrastructure in the area of the development, the need for new infrastructure and the implications of low carbon development for the deployment of site wide energy infrastructure schemes such as district heating and /or private wire electricity.
