Sustainability needs more than just smart technology

Abstract

Sustainable building should be focused more on the intensification of space use and a longer useful life span of built areas, rather than solely improving technological efficiency. This chapter provides an an overview of conceptual solutions with which all factors can effectively add to a better environmental performance. An important stimulance for solutions for efficient use of space and a long life span would be the assessibility of the environmental impact of these. At the moment only the use of building materials, energy and water, the technological efficiency, can be translated into environmental indicators. Space use can only be put into indices that visualize the difference with a reference, but comparison with the environmental impact of building materials is not possible yet. To estimate the eventual life span of a building, and thus the environmental impact of measures in that direction, is even more difficult. Therefore, development of assessment models for space use and life span are a necessity to make these factors of sustainability as important as the technological efficiency.