Industrialised, Integrated, Intelligent sustainable Construction - I3con

SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION HANDBOOK 2
housing standards as current and past generations. In terms of housing affordability this process might
be measured by monitoring the incidence of housing stress. In this sense, Yates et al. (2007) refer to
housing policy and suggest that sustainability exists when “all obligations, current and future, can be
met without changing current policy setting” (Yates et al. 2008 p.7).
Social sustainability is not as well understood as economic and environmental sustainability. Chiu
(2004) argues that social sustainability is regularly interpreted from three perspectives. The
development-oriented interpretation emphasises social acceptability, in noting that development is
socially sustainable when it keeps to social relations, customs, structures and values. The
environment-oriented perspective suggests that development is sustainable when social conditions,
norms and preferences required for people to support ecological sustainable actions are met. Finally,
the people-oriented interpretation of social sustainability emphasises maintaining levels of social
cohesion in society and preventing social polarisation and exclusion.
In terms of housing, these conceptual understandings suggest that the social sustainability of housing
encompasses (Chiu 2004 p.69):
• The social preconditions required for the production and consumption of environmentally
sustainable housing;
• Equitable distribution and consumption of housing resources and assets;
• Harmonious social relations within the housing system;
• Acceptable quality of housing conditions.
The term “environmentally appropriate” has a myriad of interpretations, depending on whether the
environment is perceived to have intrinsic value, or value only because of its use to humans (Payne
and Raiborn 2001). Again the interpretation is dependent on the societal value of the environment. It
has been suggested that environmental sustainability depends on preserving a series of inter-related
dynamic equilibriums (Pirages 2005):
1. Between human populations living at higher consumption levels and the ability of nature to
provide resources and services
2. Between human populations and pathogenic microorganisms
3. Between human populations and those of other plant and animal species
4. Among human populations
Human activities and behaviours regularly alter these equilibriums. For example, increases in human
populations tend to degrade the resources and services provided by natural capital, with implications
for future consumption. Considering such equilibriums demonstrates that the debate over
sustainability should consider inherent tensions, which alter the equilibriums, a notion argued by
Davidson (2005a). Indeed Davidson (2005a) argued that sustainability should not be thought of as an
end goal but as a dynamic process.
Winston and Eastaway (2007) suggest that housing is one of the more neglected aspects of
sustainability despite its potential to make a positive contribution. They go on to suggest that the
environmental impacts of housing depend on:
• Land and associated impact on wildlife, landscape and amenity
• Access to public transport
• Previous land uses
• Density and associated access to services
• Construction materials as some hardwoods are unsustainably sourced from tropical forests
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• CFC’s which are embodied in some air conditioning, refrigeration and insulation
• Energy consumption
• Water consumption