UK Spec – Sustainable Development
Jambo’s comment on A Blog on Blogging below has actually given me the inspiration for my first blog!
Working over in the ‘freest country on earth’ sustainable development just hasn’t come up as an area to gain experience. In order to be so free Americans avoid Federal Government ‘meddling’ as much as possible leaving it to the states and individual counties, which business then takes advantage of. Examples can be easily found in H&S as well as environmental impacts of how this can cause a race to the bottom in certain areas.
The only time I have seen sustainable development is a tick box form to question if light bulbs meet minimal efficiency standards and if the manufacturer uses sustainable methods where Unknown was an acceptable answer. This form was a requirement as it is a government contract however nobody was interested in the answers, just that the form was complete.
How are others getting on with this competence?
Is sustainable development taken seriously in the UK and Aus, or just individual projects (if at all)?
@bnrbwoods, I expect BP aim to have buzzwords like sustainable development covered off to help with their image? Is this realistically a tough sell?
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year all!
Holdfast Training Services Trial Blog 
Ali, the sustainable requirements for projects in the UK are pretty much set out in legislation that contracts then have to conform with. Because of this my experience with students past is that they are very often getting good E3 experience without even realising it. The situation seems to be the same in Australia, although their attitude to the environment seems to be somewhere between that in the US and ours in Europe.
In a country where the head of state is trying to openly dismantle the EPA, the onus will unfortunately fall to the student, when nobody outside of California is likely to want to listen. On the plus side though, you will have had to comply with a lot of environmental legislation when working in the RE on ops and exercise. It will just take a bit of head scratching to come up with examples when the time comes. In the mean time, anything you can do to reduce waste or improve energy efficiency on your projects will go a long way towards becoming Chartered. I could never get my head around the yanks love of guns until I understood their paranoid fear of federal government and it telling them what to do.
I had the good fortune of going to a Partnership event at the IET this week, with the focus on Sustainability. One of the talks was on the Spherical Tokomak for Energy Production (STEP), a project geared towards providing sustainable energy. A significant commitment by the UK Government. Further details can be found here:
https://ccfe.ukaea.uk/research/step/
Would working on a nuclear power station which feeds into the governments sustainable energy policy tick this box? Although the emissions during construction are high they are offset against 60+ years of “clean” sustainable power generation.
Rob, the whole nuclear sustainability argument is very much based around time sensitive perspectives and the current definition of sustainability. From what I have seen through the work of Bureau Veritas and others, there is no doubt that the use of nuclear base load to meet the demand for power is essential if we are to limit the carbon emissions associated with current human activities. Therefore it is definitely contributing to the sustainability strategies being set out by the government. How this will be viewed in say 100 years time when the waste product has to be dealt with is another thing entirely, but if it helps to get the planet to a point where we are still around to worry about the issue, you could probably still successfully argue at interview that nuclear energy contributed to the sustainability of our lifestyle.
Mr Purcell …really
..when you joined the PE Wing an early blast was to describe what the Building Regulation do…two things; both set by Government on behalf of the populations:
a) set levels of safety what balance safety against costs;
b) set levels of environmental ‘harm’ that is ‘acceptable’ but yet permits social sustainability by permitting building to be ‘done’
Our American friends have the same thing – usually set a Federal level.
However I recently organised a lecture on demolition at the Museum here. What was interesting was the extent of material recovery that was being achieved – over 95%. Even at that end of business!.
This is all being driven by a triple bottom-line accounting expected by clients. The metrics used in the UK are BREAMM , in the States LEED and in Aus GreenStar.
Interestingly projects in London are being both BREAAM and LEED rated because of the international customers for a ‘green’ solution. These can seen to be ‘tick box’. BREAAM has 9+1 metrics to be measured …but they are a far sight better than not trying at all….and it turns out that the commercial value of demonstrating sustainable credentials is all….it’s the market not good ‘ol Greta
Happy Christmas
Sounds like you have the opportunity to delve into just what “sustainability” means. As JM says the “profit” aspect of the 3P’s will typically drive the level of “planet” that a project is willing to invest time into. In the US the difficulty will generally be the “people” aspect.
LEED is a bit dated but at least it is a standard that can be understood by all, like BREAMM – your task is to work out what sustainable development looks like to you in your context, no need to start putting solar panels on everything just yet!!
10 years ago military deployments were sustainable events, they met the needs of the population, were as sensitive to the environment as they could be given the levels of risk associated with failure of systems and they cost an absolute fortune but hey ho! Newer, more reliable technologies are proving that the environmental savings benefits are also reducing cost (see hybrid generators etc) and so the bar is raised; ironically the US are at the forefront of this so maybe there’s food for thought there?
Happy Easter
As has already been mentioned, Oz uses ‘Green Star’ – and it seems that any new development in the city focuses to the point of obsession on attaining a maximum star rating covering design, build and eventual use.
My experience so far in Phase 3 is the bigger the company, the bigger the emphasis. High tier Clients won’t even sniff at anything less than 6 stars in all categories. It seems a necessity and one can only imagine it’s linked in some way to PR.
This contrasted with Phase 2 where I had never even heard of green star. It may have been the fact it was a government project. Whilst there was both a sustainability plan and targets/standards to achieve for the Client (e.g cementitious content), all could be overridden if construction required it (and it usually was if it cost too much).
Australia is a funny one. Sydney is full of yoghurt eating vegan hipsters that recycle everything…but don’t seem to mind that their country is a huge (and increasing) coal user and exporter.
The recent bush fires may change that though. Half a billion dead animals (estimated) and horrendous air quality in Sydney has already seen some protests in the CBD. I attended Remembrance in the centre of Sydney and saw the Australian PM get an earful from protesters (after the ceremony I might add; respectful bunch at least).
Not sure why but I can’t seem to respond to comments individually, so unfortunately its a bulk reply!
@coneheadjim,
I do enjoy asking Americans how are they the freest country on earth, although I am yet to get a response that isn’t “because we’re free”. As you observed it is a complete paranoia of federal government! It is understandable when it is pushed on them from the moment they are born and rarely, if at all, see another perspective. This clip from a US TV show is always a good watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTjMqda19wk
That said, the people I meet outside of work in Baltimore and beyond generally seem a lot more aware of the reality. Apparently the further from the coast, the more backward it gets!
I will do some thinking on my military experience, I have been involved in some projects that have a focus towards sustainable development, hopefully I can tease out some more detail to reflect this. Starting at the design office today my aim is to get involved in anything with a sustainability angle!
@markteeton,
I hadn’t heard of Spherical Tokomak before, thank you! It will be interesting to see when the energy sector goes over the next 2 decades.
I did TMR 3 on the future of electric vehicles, however despite this currently being the most popular there are also significant advances in hydrogen powered vehicles. The Japanese car makers are still showing a preference to push hydrogen cars rather than electric. I expect the dominance of VW group and General Motors will mean electric vehicles end up being the most popular, but with these emerging technologies its easy for one mistake to change the direction! I am sure there is a lesson to be learnt about VHS and betamax or something similar!
@hughesr910,
I am sure after you talk the Chartership reviewers ears off they will just agree to anything you say…
Does the waste from nuclear power come into play with sustainable development? Is the nuclear power just an immediate solution to ‘kick the can down the road’ until renewable energy is solidly established?
@moranj57!
I think I heard you shouting at the computer from this side of the pond. How can I possibly forget the fun of reading the Building Regs? I regularly return to them to reminisce on Phase 1! I am aware of the overarching regulation/standards expected, what I was getting at is how does this translate to whats happening on the ground. My experience is there is usually a big difference between the policy released at the top and the reality on the ground!
My understanding is the LEED dominates around the world except the UK, I wasn’t aware that London was starting to use both although as you say it isn’t surprising due to the international nature of London. Due to the lack of licensed assessors required for LEED and the less prescriptive nature of the program do you think LEED has a chance of taking over BREEAM in the UK? Could Brexit and the fact we will be wanting to make more trade deals around the world, especially the US, contribute to pushing BREEAM out? I expect the fact BREEAM is so embedded in the UK regulations it will be a long hard process for it to be got rid of!
@hobbit108,
I think your comment hits on what the issue is with my experience. The people are 100% the biggest issue when discussing sustainability. By the fact it is a military organisation I think the 3Ps get a bit distorted to what you would normally expect from an organisation. Whilst the project at Fort Meade is at the forefront of technology as a ‘weapon system’, I think the idea of hybrid generators would have got a good laugh! Unsurprisingly there is little to no appetite to adopt relatively new tech, they want to minimise risk of problems at the expense of the planet.
Where as my apartment, as a civilian build, here is a new build and they are quick to advertise the energy rating, electric car charging points etc. and I see this around the city with all the new buildings going up. Interestingly, Fort Meade had electric car charging points and preferential parking for Electric/Hybrid cars. I don’t see that happening in Chatham any time soon!
The US is definitely leading on many sustainable projects, my reading on renewable energy highlighted California when it comes to solar power. I also saw a documentary on Pennsylvania (I think) trying to reinvent itself as a state by becoming the leader in wind power.
I need to figure out what sustainability means to me and in this context, looking for renewable energy powered, carbon neutral projects is not realistic!
@snookdave,
As I said to Mark above, I think I am seeing the same here in the US. It depends on the size of the company, but also the nature (military v civilian). Being on the coast of the US we have a fair few ‘yoghurt eating vegan hipsters’ (calmed down after thinking of them? We’ll have you ‘plant based’ in no time!) but the contrast is stark within a days drive in country. I measure it on the number of Trump 2020 posters I see! I am hoping similarly to you that it is a more important issue at the higher level now I am working in the District HQ.
The waste is seen as a necessary evil for 60-80 years achieved of clean power generation. Renewable power will never replace nuclear as , unfortunately, it is the only form of power generation that will meet the increasing demand for electricity. EDF are currently replacing their fleet of nuclear plants, their investment in renewables is to supplement what the nuclear plants are delivering and to carbon offset during their construction.
I don’t know if it is chrome or the US Army firewall but certain links on here like reply just won’t work for me!
@hughesr910
Thats a bold call! 80 years is a long time, did anyone imagine what modern warfare would look like during WW2? Cyber, information, space?
30 years ago the internet didn’t exist, now modern society is built on it. Without the likes of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos the world would be a very different place…
Did Jim see himself reinventing the site diary to the blog back in the day while he was churning through PET?
Maybe in 80 years people will talk about Rob Hughes (your name ends in S so you fit the trend…) reinvented the energy sector by harnessing black holes…
Oh Ali, you cynic! – Holdfast has just taken delivery of the start of it’s all electric fleet of vans and I think there are plans afoot to look at installing charging points, hello 2020!!!
I won’t deny I am a cynic, are you saying that when I turn up in June with my Tesla that Holdfast will let me plug it in to charge? Sticking to my cynical ways I am going to say no, holdfast use only…