Take time to think back to what history can teach us about sustainable methods and materials and learn from those lessons. A little more time planning is always saved in the long -run and is the start to achieving real sustainability.

We all want to see our buildings become more sustainable but when we drill down into how we actually deliver the vision, it can be challenging to see a clear path. Jo Williams, Partner in Sanderson Weatherall’s Building Consultancy team looks at some of the lessons to learn from when we look back at the built environment legacy that surrounds us.

To me sustainability in our built environment is about cutting down energy (embodied and in use), using quality materials, good design and thinking about the building as a whole for its entire lifetime. Often we aren’t able to achieve every aspect of this and it’s easy to lose sight of the end goal by getting bogged down in the detail and making compromises, that are too often financially driven.

Sustainability isn’t a new concept. Neither is the Circular Economy. Our ancestors sought out the best use of resources, recycling what they can, limiting their impact on their natural environment by default. We have a built environment legacy which often gets ignored in what it can teach us.

We’re surrounded by buildings that have stood for hundreds of years and been reinvented into new uses to suit our changing society. These buildings are often those built with better quality materials, provide flexibility of uses to meet changing societies and not just the historic Architectural gems.

The vision for sustainability can become too focussed on new ways of thinking, new ‘wonder’ products, new ways of working or new system buildings, hi-tech solutions. We need to look forward, but we also need to look back and learn from the lessons already available.

Asbestos is a prime example of one such wonder product. Since 1880’s it was used extensively in the construction, shipping and textile industries. Its acoustic and fire retardancy benefits are superb and being naturally occurring it was readily available. 1924 saw the first legally recognised link to dangers of the product but it took until 1999 to fully ban its use or import in the UK. We’re still managing the legacy and dangers and will be doing so for many more years. A more recent example was PIR and PUR insulations. A by-product of the oil industry so fantastic for the great circular economy, but since the Grenfell tragedy it has a different image and is a deleterious material if used in high rise construction. Black Ash mortar, marine dredged aggregates, GGBS, High Alumina Cement were all circular economy initiatives of their day now proven to be detrimental or deleterious. The search for green concrete has been ongoing for years. We’re often too eager to find the new wonder material without the holistic picture and thinking through the consequences.

With an increasing number of complex building products available we see more issues such as sick building syndrome, where off-gassing, volatile organic compounds and urea formaldehyde are becoming more prevalent in the environments we live in and affecting our health and wellbeing. Whilst firm evidence is low level and often circumstantial for some of these products, the harm to the environment of oil-based materials and their production is becoming more relevant to how we specify. We need as an industry to be more aware of what we are specifying and the consequences and context of that specification.

Similarly, building fabrics such as breather membrane, DPM, DPC, breathable felt, vapour control layers, and foil-backed plasterboard are specified to control moisture movement in buildings but are too often mis-specified. With the complexity of available materials with unique technical specifications, you often need a science degree to understand. There seems to be an over reliance on data sheets and bland marketing statements without a real understanding of what is in our buildings. Sustainable decisions are too often missed.

We can learn from the simple, well designed and well-constructed built environment just as much as the new ‘hi tech’ ways. Keep it simple and less things can go wrong. Build it well, with intelligent design, and it will last.

Here at Sanderson Weatherall, we have qualified and experienced design professionals within both Architecture and Building Surveying. We take a cohesive approach to understanding our design and how that fits into your building, whether new or existing. The skills and experience in the design process is not as simple as some people believe, and the added value is often only apparent when things go wrong. Do it properly, get it right first time, and reap the benefits. Take time to think back to what history can teach us about sustainable methods and materials and learn from those lessons. A little more time planning is always saved in the long -run and is the start to achieving real sustainability.