Material Specification
Material Specification is becoming vastly important when building homes. The client wants the best product at the lowest cost and it can be difficult to understand which products are better environmentally than others. Good material specification is key to choosing or selecting the best material that meets all the environmental tick boxes as well and helping you to meet your Carbon reduction targets.
The following materials are assessed in the calculation of points for the Code for Sustainable Homes:
- Brick
- Composites
- Concrete
- Stone
- Timber
- Plasterboard
- Glass
- Plastics
- Composites
Insulation materials, additives, fixings and other materials which are not listed above are excluded from the assessment.
(from Greenspec - http://www.greenspec.co.uk/html/CSH/CSHquickguide.html)
The Green Guide Ratings
The Green Guide to Specification is an easy-to-use publication, providing guidance for specifiers, designers and their clients on the relative environmental impacts of over 250 environmental specifications for roofs, walls, floors etc. To find out more about this follow the link below.
http://www.bre.co.uk/greenguide/page.jsp?sid=435
BRE environmental profiles.
An environmental profile is a way of demanding reliable and comparable environmental information about competing building materials.
www.bre.co.uk/envprofiles
Greenspec
GreenSpec is the UK construction industry's definitive guide to 'green' building design, products, specification and construction. Inside GreenSpec you will find a wealth of information aimed at helping you to design more energy and resource efficient buildings, using materials and technologies that minimise damage to people and the environment.'
http://www.greenspec.co.uk
http://www.greenspec.co.uk/html/specifications/specificationscontent.php
http://www.greenspec.co.uk/html/materials/materialscontent.html
