Building with the best intentions

Which criteria must a building live up to in order to label it ‘sustainable’? The answer to that question is central to understand the dilemmas facing the construction industry: Constant changes in the legal framework, clients’ demands, and society’s fluctuating expectations put pressure on the entire value chain and require engineering consultancies to step up.

“We are building with the best intentions,” says Peter Noyé, Senior Expertise Director at NIRAS, and one of Denmark’s leading experts on sustainability in construction.

“Some of the demands in the new building code contradict certain targets in the previous building codes. Back in the days when focus changed from indoor climate to energy saving, compromises had to be made. And now the centre of attention has turned towards the climate footprint from the building materials, which in the end may result in less energy-efficient buildings,” he explains the dilemma.

Taking lead on a complex process

He is at the same time concerned and optimistic. Concerned because the building industry is challenged on its carbon footprint and as a consequence risks to be met with bureaucratic solutions and overly detailed legislation. Optimistic because those challenges may force the rather conservative construction industry to become more innovative and to work closer together.

“We must build in a new way, and as engineering consultants we have a lot to offer in that process. The next big challenge will be to strike a balance between newbuild and transformation, and we need to incorporate biodiversity into the projects as well,” Peter Noyé says.

”When transforming our way of working we must strike the right balance between willingness to go new ways and incorporating our hard-gained experience in such a way that our coming buildings have an architectural and functional value together with a technical quality and robustness making them long-lasting”, he adds.

On this background, which scenario expects Peter Noyé to see in the coming years?

“To meet climate targets, we may have to build fewer new houses. Renovating the existing building mass will certainly be part of the solution. We also need more transparency about how climate and other goals will challenge traditional criteria such as functionality and aesthetical value of the buildings,” he says.