Module B1 Study Book - the Graduate School of the Environment

issues of ‘sustainable’ development. During this lecture we will discuss some
of these legislative regulations and question whether legislation is the key
to provoking the construction industry into adopting a more environmentally
responsive and responsible approach to development.
The Construction Industry in Context
Five per cent of the (UK) construction industry is world class. The rest is
crap.
Attributed to John Egan, 1995 (usablebuildings 2007)
It is generally accepted that the construction industry is responsible for
between 50% and 60% of energy consumption in the UK; the Building
Research Establishment (BRE) have sited a figure of 52% for UK energy
consumption with 50% of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions coming from
building and the process of construction (Edwards 2003). These figures are
reflected worldwide with building and construction processes responsible for
50% of fossil fuel consumption, and 50% of water consumption globally. As
Prof. Brian Edwards has stated:
When an industry uses 60% of the worlds material resources, half
of fossil fuel energy and half of global water supplies, you cannot
relegate sustainability to a secondary concern (Edwards cited in
Abley and Heartfield 2001:7)
(McClaren et al 1998)
Lecture: Getting Something Built 1 111