Design Economics for the Built Environment: Impact of Sustainability on Project Evaluation

Chapter 27Mapping Sustainability in the Quantity Surveying Curriculum: Educating Tomorrow's Design Economists

Chika Udeaja, Damilola Ekundayo, Lei Zhou, John Pearson and Srinath Perera

27.1 Introduction

The climate change debate has generated considerable interest in the sustainable development agenda throughout the world. The UK, like most other nations, is becoming increasingly aware of the significance and value of having a sustainable environment policy (Khalfan, 2006). In the built environment, the challenges are massive, given the size of the construction industry which accounts for 8% of the UK's gross domestic product; consumes an enormous amount of resources with a major impact on the manufacturing industry that creates products for construction projects and society at large. The built environment's contribution to the economic well-being of a country, the social well-being of people, and the impact on the environment is hugely significant (Cowling et al., 2007; BERR, 2008). Theron (2010) estimated that the built environment in its widest sense is responsible for 40% of CO₂ emission, as well as 40% of all energy used. The Kyoto Protocol, EU Emission Scheme, recent changes in building regulations, and Climate Change legislation are a growing recognition of the need to minimise the consequences of human activities on the environment. These initiatives have created the need for a major reform in the UK construction industry with significant implications for the educational ...