Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
The second part of the net-zero carbon equation is the operational carbon, for which there are currently fewer benchmarks.These are still in development by the industry.
However, some have been released by LETI, RIBA and others, and there is an effort within the industry to get them aligned.What we need now is for organisations, clients and engineers to do the calculations to find out what the embodied carbon is within their building designs — both at the design stage and post completion.We need to be monitoring what is actually going into buildings, compared to what we think should be going in.
This means that contractors need to get on board as well.Ultimately, we’ll have to collate the data together as an industry, but benchmarks will help us learn, and guide us at the design stage..
Creating a sustainable future — alignment of standards and guidance.
One of the key challenges we need to address in our quest for a sustainable future, is to align the various forms of guidance and advice coming into the industry from different sources.When designing with engineered timber special attention is required to reduce vibrations, noise transmission and reverberation time..
The layered nature of engineered timber can improve acoustic compartmentation and if properly designed, does not need the same mass as concrete to achieve the same airborne sound resistance.However, detailing is the main challenge and if not properly resolved it can generate sound flanking at the joints which is difficult to resolve without the use of wet trades.
Creating reliable diaphragm action through slabs when trying to achieve acoustic separation and control movement is also fraught with issues.. Other acoustic considerations include the noise from building services and potential increased reverberation time due to smooth surfaces.. Our response is to:.- Engage in early discussions with specialist timber contractors and acoustic engineers to address all potential acoustic difficulties.. - Use additional mass (increase the thickness of the slab) and acoustic ceiling and wall panels.. - Decouple floor finishes from the slab with additional insulation.. - Use alternatives to wet screeds, slab breaks above partitions, and resilient strips between CLT panels.. - Coordinate with engineers to reduce noise transmission caused by HVAC systems.. - Use in smaller size, lower buildings to reduce acoustic transmission and complexities.. Durability, rotting, installation in wet conditions.
(Editor: Heavyweight Switches)