M.C. Georgiadou

Future-Proofed Design for Sustainable Communities

This research investigates ‘best practice’ design and decision-making processes for achieving sustainable buildings and communities over the long-term. Amongst the core objectives of strategic urban planning for sustainable communities is to accommodate future changes, however this is not explicitly integrated into the planning and design processes. A framework of future-proofed building design is proposed, which aims to bridge the gap between the traditional shortterm outlook and the need for resilient and flexible buildings over the long-term. An overview of design principles for sustainable urban communities and buildings within them is followed by an examination of decision-support techniques and tools. Insights regarding how new developments should address these objectives are captured. The research represents a shift away from the short-term mindset that still dominates design and construction practices, and provides a critical review of assessment methods for improving and incentivising sustainable urban design over the long-term.

Future-proofed energy design for dwellings: Case studies from England and application to the Code for Sustainable Homes

This paper investigates ‘future-proofing’ as an unexplored yet all-important aspect in the design of low-energy dwellings. It refers particularly to adopting lifecycle thinking and accommodating risks and uncertainties in the selection of fabric energy efficiency measures and low or zero-carbon technologies. Based on a conceptual framework for future-proofed design, the paper first presents results from the analysis of two ‘best practice’ housing developments in England; i.e., North West Cambridge in Cambridge and West Carclaze and Baal in St. Austell, Cornwall. Second, it examines the ‘Energy and CO2 Emissions’ part of the Code for Sustainable Homes to reveal which design criteria and assessment methods can be practically integrated into this established building certification scheme so that it can become more dynamic and future-oriented. Practical application: Future-proofed construction is promoted implicitly within the increasingly stringent building regulations; however, there is no comprehensive method to readily incorporate futures thinking into the energy design of buildings. This study has a three-fold objective of relevance to the building industry: Illuminating the two key categories of long-term impacts in buildings, which are often erroneously treated interchangeably: – The environmental impact of buildings due to their long lifecycles. – The environment’s impacts on buildings due to risks and uncertainties affecting the energy consumption by at least 2050. This refers to social, technological, economic, environmental and regulatory (predictable or unknown) trends and drivers of change, such as climate uncertainty, home-working, technology readiness etc. Encouraging future-proofing from an early planning stage to reduce the likelihood of a prematurely obsolete building design. Enhancing established building energy assessment methods (certification, modelling or audit tools) by integrating a set of future-oriented criteria into their methodologies.

Strategies and techniques to future‐proof the energy performance of housing developments

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate “best practice” building strategies and sustainability‐oriented techniques and tools used to assess the energy performance of housing developments. The objective is to propose guidelines that can integrate futures thinking into the selection of energy‐related design responses, such as materials, building components and energy systems, from the early project stages.Design/methodology/approach – An interdisciplinary approach is adopted with the inclusion of social, economic and environmental aspects of the energy supply and demand. A multiple case study approach is employed, which focuses on the residential sector of European mixed‐use developments that represent sustainable communities of “best practice”.Findings – The investigation of “best practice” housing developments reveals that the majority of design responses cover mainstream environmental design strategies. Energy efficiency measures are still the “low hanging fruit” towards meeting the sustain...

Future-Proofed Design of Low-Energy Housing Developments: Case studies from the UK and Sweden

This study examines the concept of ‘future-proofing’ the energy design of housing developments so as to achieve low levels of energy consumption and carbon emissions over their lifecycle. This refers particularly to the selection of fabric energy efficiency measures and onsite low- or zero-carbon technologies (microgeneration or local energy networks) at an early design stage. The research adopts a multiple case study method with data gathered from two ‘best-practice’ housing developments in the UK and Sweden, namely North West Cambridge (Cambridgeshire) and Valle Broar (Vaxjo). The research explores the future-proofed approaches used in the two cases in relation to a pre-established conceptual framework, which involves two aspects, namely adopting lifecycle thinking and accommodating risks and uncertainties. The cross-case analysis reveals that there is widespread experimentation, which demonstrates that future-proofing is still in its infancy. Drivers for future-proofing mostly prompt strategies to accommodate risks and uncertainties in the UK, whereas in Sweden, they lead to the adoption of lifecycle thinking. This is due to unique context-specific governance and institutional factors at both national (country) and local (case study) levels. The chapter concludes with the need to transfer knowledge to mainstream housing construction and inform policy-making in relation to long-term performance over a project’s full lifecycle.