According to Clare Naden, in a blog post for the International Standards Organization (ISO), close to 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions come from energy, and energy is a key input and output from building works. A new global standard, issued by ISO, seeks to provide guidance to the construction sector in terms of reducing its environmental impact. The standard is concerned with reusing and recycling components, plus other advice aimed at optimizing buildings so that the environmental impact is reduced. The new standard is numbered ISO 20887: 2020 and it is titled “Sustainability in buildings and civil engineering works – Design for disassembly and adaptability – Principles, requirements and guidance”.
The aim is to provide advice to those involved in building – owners, architects, engineers and others – to improve building sustainability. These measures can not only help to lower environmental impact; they can also reduce time and make better use of resources. Other related good practices include encouraging the use of phased developments and matching supply with demand.
The standard also outlines how, when the life of a building is at an end, the various components of construction can be resupposed, such as through controlled disassembly, and the reusing, recycling and disposing of the different building parts and materials. In other words, helping with the notion of the circular economy, an approach that is aimed at aimed at eliminating waste and with the continual use of resources.
Source: Digital Journal
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