Feb 26 2007
Sustainable buildings can be delivered in Wales - that was the message from the first BRE Wales Annual Conference held at St David's Hotel in Cardiff on February 21st.
Speakers included Phil Roberts Gwalia Housing and Colin King from BRE Wales who spoke about the many opportunities for more sustainable design and development that exist in the principality. Technologies such as integrated renewables and the use of more sustainable materials will all help reduce the carbon footprint of any development at the same time creating homes, workspaces, schools and other buildings that people will want to live and work in.
"What we need is a new architecture for Wales" said Phil Roberts. "One that looks at the design as an integrated whole rather than viewing sustainability as an ‘add-on'. Increasingly buildings are going to have to deal with more unpredictable climactic conditions and it is going to become more and more important, for example, that we address issues such as the need to keep buildings cool if predicted rises in temperatures occur".
Colin King showed how a number of environmentally sensitive developments had produced excellent living and workspaces. Buildings such as the new Early Years Centre in Pontypridd, the refurbished North Aberystwyth Platform and C.R.A.F.T building in Ceredigion and the National Trust Centre in Neath were all hailed as good examples.
"We need to design buildings that make minimal use of virgin materials or use materials from a managed and sustainable source. They need to be designed to operate using minimal energy, for both heating and cooling, and to use energy from renewable sources. In Wales we have many opportunities to use good locally sourced materials, such as timber and slate, which not only reduces environmental impact but also create exciting designs" he said.
The Welsh Assembly has also recently announced that all publicly procured buildings in Wales should achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating, BRE's Environmental Assessment Method, within 6 months and by 2011 all publicly procured buildings will be required to be carbon neutral.
Nick Tune, BRE Wales Director, commented "I am delighted the Assembly is trying to address climate change, via the buildings it procurers, however a step change in design, engineering and construction will be required with Wales in order to meet the challenging targets."
The event also saw the launch of WoodKnowledge and WoodSource Wales by Kevin Lyden, Chairman of the Wales Forest Business Partnership. These two initiatives will provide businesses in Wales with access to information on the use of timber and timber products and help improve the performance of companies in this sector.