Rising Demand for UK Building and Construction Industry: Exploring New Designs & Techniques - Essay Sample

Introduction

According to Pitts (2017), the building and construction industry provides the best example of economic sectors significantly affected by continuous advances in technology. Many countries across the world are increasingly utilizing a wide range of building designs and techniques to meet the growing demand for housing. For example, many architects working in the UK's building and construction industry are increasingly shifting their focus to two significant designs to address the needs of their target customers. These two choices include passive and active models. However, research indicates that the number of architects who prefer the passive technique is on the rise when compared to those using the active approach (Garland et al., 2018). As a result, this paper provides a detailed comparison between these two designs with a specific focus on the reasons as to why passive design choices are more effective in the attainment of sustainability as opposed to the active selection.

An Overview of Passive and Active Building Designs

Pitts (2017) averred that building techniques utilize both active and passive design features to ensure comfortable living spaces. Architects, therefore, meet the evolving needs of their customers by using energy-intensive building materials that often result in a significant reduction in the power consumption of the target building. An active design refers to a typical structure or building that either utilizes or can produce electricity by itself, a concept that, in turn, describes the overwhelming majority of the buildings that exist in various countries across the world, including the UK (Garland et al., 2018). Therefore, it is critical to understand that all active designs use various automated devices that modify the state of the building to create energy and comfort, as desired by their target customers. Passive design, on the other hand, refers to a typical construction technique used by architects, mechanical, and electrical engineers to enable the building to use the environment around it to meet fundamental human needs for better housing, such as heating and ventilation (Akadiri et al., 2012). Thus passively designed systems can effectively harness a wide range of natural forces, including sunlight, wind, and gravity, to create favourable living conditions for the target residents.

Reasons Why Passive Choices Achieves Sustainability Than Active Designs

Building architects in the United Kingdom remain focused on using passive design choices over active approaches to meet the growing needs of their customers (Wright et al., 2016). However, it is critical to developing a comprehensive understanding of the reasons behind passive design choices' increased effectiveness in achieving sustainability when compared to the active design approaches. Findings from comparative studies indicate that passive designs tend to maximize energy efficiency by their actual construction approaches (Kang et al., 2015). Energy efficiency refers to the capacity of a building to not only manage but also restrain its overall consumption of energy. Architects in the United Kingdom design and construct passive house buildings to be highly energy efficient. As a result, such structures are more effective in achieving sustainability because they can use up to 90% less energy than the active construction designs (Akadiri et al., 2012). Therefore, a plethora of UK residents prefers passive building over the active approaches because they can still perform the same function as the traditional designs at lowered costs of energy.

Chel and Kaushik (2018) affirmed that a passive house window in a typical UK region, for instance, can minimize heat losses by more than 70% when compared to the country's traditional double glazed windows. Passive buildings also achieve energy efficiency as a result of having external insulation added to their walls. This insulation can minimize heat losses by 90%, as seen in the case of passive designs that have efficient heat recovery systems that help in the reduction of ventilation heat losses by the same amount (Kang et al., 2015). This assertion implies that people living or working in buildings constructed with the use of passive designs would require limited additional heating as well as cooling to maintain comfortable indoor temperatures (Garland et al., 2018). This energy efficiency attribute of passive designs has a far-reaching implication on the financial needs and expenses of a typical UK household.

First, a plethora of residents benefit from significantly reduced fuel bills due to a reduction in the amount of energy consumed while heating and cooling the house to achieve the desired favourable conditions (Wright et al., 2016). Secondly, households can save a considerable amount of money spent on monthly bills to cater to other needs, such as health, education, and food. Thirdly, minimal energy consumption transforms into reduced carbon dioxide emissions, which contributes to the depletion of the ozone layer and climate change. Lastly, continuous focus on using passive design choices creates more job opportunities and boosts the economy with strict adherence to the recommendations outlined in the UK's Passive House Standards (Wright et al., 2016). Consequently, active designs can also provide benefits similar to those realized when using passive approaches, such as energy regulation and comfort. However, this approach is not effective in achieving sustainability, as seen in the case of passive design (Akadiri et al., 2012). The active design approach relies exclusively on different automated devices that help in the modification of the state of the building to meet the residents' needs for comfort.

Chel and Kaushik (2018) ascertained that active architecture is a labor-intensive design of buildings that rely on a wide range of mechanical devices that help in the transportation of the absorbed solar energy to other strategic locations in the building. Some of the equipment used by architects under the active designs includes fans, lights, pumps, and air-conditioning systems. Most of these systems consume a lot of energy, which, in turn, makes them an unsustainable option among numerous UK citizens and residents. Most of these active design equipment are energy-intensive and often transform into increased electricity bills, which may make it difficult for low-income residents in the UK to meet their critical needs, including health, food, and education. Also, such devices are prone to failure, especially when handled and managed inappropriately (Chel & Kaushik, 2018). Therefore, active design options are unreliable and may transform into increased maintenance costs due to constant repairs to attain operational sustainability.

Nevertheless, the reliability and sustainability of passive design choices over the active approaches lie in their ability to minimize maintenance costs and lack of repairs (Kang et al., 2015). Residents can only spend money on building and constructing cracked walls as opposed to going for the whole mechanical system to help them in achieving the desired house conditions. Therefore, UK homeowners must have a detailed understanding of different strategies to have a well-performing house built using the active design choice. For instance, homeowners must begin by selecting efficient equipment, such as using water conservation fixtures as well as appliances to minimize energy consumption (Pitts, 2017). Also, homeowners must choose the best energy-efficient appliances and lighting, including considering installing fans in their bathrooms as well as kitchens integrated with a source of external air (Garland et al., 2018). Passive design choices provide long-term and sustainable options because they exclusively use the sun as the primary source of heat via the effect of solar energy transmissions in buildings.

Conclusion

A plethora of architects across the world remains focused on using appropriate building designs and techniques to meet the needs of their target customers. A customer's choice of a particular building design depends on a myriad of factors, including the ability to meet the required construction costs, the purpose of the desired building, and the time available for the completion of the entire project. However, sustainability remains one of the primary reasons behind contemporary customers' preference for some designs over others. For example, the passive design achieves more sustainability when compared with the active approach. Hence, a plethora of stakeholders in the UK building and construction industry, including residents, agencies, and architects are increasingly choosing the passive method over the passive design, as discussed in this paper.

References

Akadiri, P. O., Chinyio, E. A., and Olomolaiye, P. O. 2012. Design of a sustainable building: A conceptual framework for implementing sustainability in the building sector. Building, 2(1), 126-152. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/224893604_Design_of_A_Sustainable_Building_A_Conceptual_Framework_for_Implementing_Sustainability_in_the_Building_Sector.

Chel, A. and Kaushik, G. 2018. Renewable energy technologies for sustainable development of energy efficient building. Alexandria Engineering Journal, 57(2), 655-669. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1110016817300911.

Garland, E., Garland, V., Peters, D., Doucette, J., Thanik, E., Rajupet, S., Sanchez, S. H. 2018. Active design in affordable housing: A public health nudge. Preventive Medicine Reports, 10(1), 9-14. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211335518300159.

Kang, J-E., Ahn, K-U., Park, C-S., and Shuetze, T. 2015. A case study on passive vs. active strategies for an energy-efficient school building design. Eighth Conference of the International Forum on Urbanism (IFoU), 1(2), 1-12. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/300250245_A_Case_Study_on_Passive_vs_Active_Strategies_for_an_Energy-Efficient_School_Building_Design.

Pitts, A. 2017. Passive house and low energy buildings: Barriers and opportunities for future development within UK practice. Sustainability, 9(2), 272. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/2/272/htm.

Wright, C. J., Zeeman, H., and Whitty, J. A. 2016. Design principles in housing for people with complex physical and cognitive disability: Towards an integrated framework for practice. Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 1(2), 1-49. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303537717_Design_principles_in_housing_for_people_with_complex_physical_and_cognitive_disability_towards_an_integrated_framework_for_practice.