Sustainable Buildings : Environmentally friendly ways to build


Sustainable Buildings The environmental impact of a building is becoming an increasingly important consideration. Choice of materials used, construction, occupation and what happens at the end of the building’s life are all factors for sustainable buildings. Off-site construction is an environmentally friendly way to build, with advantages over traditional construction in terms of performance, and both economic and social benefits throughout the life of a building. Building Construction Environmental benefits: Due to of the tight tolerances required in factory production, the performance of a finished modular building can be more energy efficient and have lower running costs than a traditionally constructed building.

The majority of traffic would be visiting the factory, delivering materials and subcontractors to construct and fit out the facility. Once the building is delivered to site a reduced number of vehicular visits is required, thereby causing less environmental impact on site. With less time required on site there is a greatly reduced need for on-site parking.

Reduced speed of build: Using off-site construction the overall programme is greatly reduced. Typical time saving would be in the order of 60% when compared to traditional methods. This is mainly achieved by overlapping enabling works with the off-site construction of the facility.

		Factory quality control: ModuleCo construct within a controlled factory environment where the work is regularly inspected according to a quality assurance regime and with regular feedback, ensuring continuous improvement. Work is able to progress unaffected by the weather and, if need be, longer working hours can be introduced to shorten construction time.

Health and safety: Within a factory, construction takes place in a safer, more controlled environment than would be the case on a traditional building site. Overall, off-site construction reduces risks that often impact on health and safety in traditional on-site construction Building Occupation Factory production ensures that sustainable buildings are constructed to very tight tolerances, which means the building is significantly more energy efficient than traditionally built buildings, with lower running costs and less carbon emissions.

	Modular buildings can be truly sustainable buildings, with floor layouts reconfigured. During the life cycle of a building, floors can be simply reconfigured with new mechanical and electrical services easily accommodated in the service void. The Widespan design of the Pre-Assembled Units, with mainly non load-bearing internal partitions, creates a totally flexible facility for a site-based refit. Typically, site framed solutions would have an additional row of central columns, which would limit the options.

End of life There are a number of options for the future of the building. The building can be refitted and used as a new facility, without the full cost usually experienced. A building constructed off-site is designed with refurbishment in mind. The Widespan PAUs can be removed from site and refitted. This option would leave the site clear, ready for an alternative use, protecting site value, and re-using the entire building, providing an environmentally friendly, genuinely sustainable solution. Any elements of the sustainable building can be recycled.