Sustainable construction is a growing field that seeks to create buildings and infrastructure that have minimal impact on the environment. Sustainable construction methods and materials focus on reducing energy consumption, minimizing waste, and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions. One of the key principles of sustainable construction is the use of environmentally-friendly materials. Sustainable construction also emphasizes efficient design, such as passive heating and cooling, green roofs, and rainwater harvesting. The construction industry globally needs to also tackle embodied carbon emissions, ensuring that the material selected makes the difference between a building with a high carbon footprint, or a building that is actually a net carbon sink. Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) can be carried out to establish how much carbon is emitted from each element that is used in a building.
UK and Irish construction industry standards
Examples of important standards for sustainable construction include EN 15978, or BS EN 15978 Sustainability of construction works - Assessment of environmental performance of buildings - Calculation method
