SUSTAINABILITY IN CONSTRUCTION AND CIVIL WORKS - Itera

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Sustainable project design is a work method that is intended
to ensure optimal results for the environment in construction
and civil works. This method is used to map out, evaluate, and
prioritize all significant environmental impacts. Goals are set
for how much environmental improvements are intended to
achieve. In addition, care is taken that the relevant measures
to promote sustainability are used in keeping with these goals.
The aim is environmental quality control, with the environmental
standards and measures used to meet them are carried
through consistently in the project during production/extraction,
construction, use, maintenance, and finally removal.
Sustainable project design is an interdisciplinary method that
is of decisive importance for implementing environmental
considerations in construction and civil works. It is essential
that all parties involved in construction focus on sustainability
at an early stage in the project, and it is also important that
environmental considerations be incorporated into the entire
process.
Sustainable project design comprises a life-cycle perspective
for materials, structures, piping and wiring, and the project as
a whole, from extraction to removal.
Lærkehaven, Lystrup, Denmark, Herzog + Partner, 2008
This residential complex was the result of an international project competition, “Architecture
and sustainability in Danish housing construction,” in 2003. Lærkehaven (50 lowenergy
houses) was designed with an emphasis on high-quality architecture, sustainability,
and the incorporation of environmentally sound products and building techniques from the
site plan to the detailing. The buildings are compact and well-insulated with an average
blower-door test result of 0.8. FCS-certifi ed wood is used for the larch cladding. The windows
on the north have a U-value of 0.66, while others have a U-value of 1.18.
Floor-to-ceiling windows optimize daylight, and there are manual shutters on the east,
south, and west facades. District heating with piping under the buildings minimizes heat
loss. There is LED lighting in kitchens, corridors, and bathrooms. PCM temperature regulating
panels are used in the ceilings. An 80-sq. m. photo-voltaic panel system is installed
on the site. The two-story units are low energy class 1. Rainwater is infi ltrated via french
drains or is channelled to the local stream.