TALKING POINT
SUSTAINABILITY – A RISING INFLUENCE IN HARDWARE AND BUILDING DESIGN Daniel May, Director at Consort Architectural Hardware, explains how the drive towards sustainability is influencing hardware and building design.
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or some time now, sustainability has persistently – and rightfully – gained traction in many of the world’s leading conversations. Between COP26 and UNEP, both industries and individuals are progressively being held responsible for their environmental footprint, and the growing expectation to go beyond compliance has incited real change. Predictably, the topic of sustainability has stimulated the built environment too. The construction sector contributes £117bn to the UK economy – 6% of the total economic output. But those numbers don’t tell the whole story, where according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, construction, demolition and excavation accounted for a staggering 62% of the UK’s total waste in 2018.
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In fact, the built environment reportedly contributes to 38% of total global energy-related CO2 emissions, and that in itself isn’t sustainable. On all fronts, there has been a shift in focus as the pressure to do better has intensified. And decision makers across the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) supply chain must now keep up to remain on track for the Government’s net-zeroby-2050 target.
Changing environments Promisingly, 82% of AEC organisations now have a dedicated sustainability team in place, and with environmental goals established, sustainable performance is more readily measured today. Third-party assessment methods, such as BREEAM, are zeroing in on new-build projects, as well as the refurbishment of existing
infrastructures, encouraging the use of lower impact construction materials. As published in their official guidance, decision makers are being urged to ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ in a bid to improve their footprint. In terms of waste, construction materials are recognised as an area ready for improvement. The lifecycle of a construction product has become a core focus area for many and is continually addressed by assessment methods, such as BREEAM, and standardised by Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). From material extraction (where in the UK alone, the construction industry accounts for 55% of raw material consumption) to product recycling (where 13% of project materials go direct to waste without being used), all stages of a product’s life are critical – and failing to consider
Daniel May is Director at Consort Architectural Hardware. He has played a fundamental role in supporting product development and commercial growth at Consort.
a product’s and, therefore, a building’s lifecycle is becoming a deciding factor in the modern procurement process. Architectural hardware, for example, is one of the most heavily-used elements of a building and an integral part of any project. As such, hardware must meet the strict safety standards associated with testing, but so too, the stringent environmental management standards such as the widely-recognised ISO 14001 certification. When measuring the functionality of hardware, durability must now be astutely considered, where through increased longevity, quality products can outlast that of the building itself – further minimising environmental impact by removing the need for replacements. As with all building materials, the lifecycle of hardware should be reviewed
