Assignment Sample on Sustainable and Healthy Buildings

Introduction

Anthropogenic climate change has become a matter of grave concern as humans are constantly carrying out practices that are contributing to the increase in temperature of the earth and also leading to climate change. Thereafter, many countries have come up with policies and framework to address the concept of sustainability that will reduce the effects of climate change and in this report the policies and frameworks in the UK will be discussed critically.

Critically discussing about sustainability policy framework and any changes that may occur in the future in the UK

The UK has been blessed with scenic beauty and wonderful landscapes and the country has thus set up several sustainable policies and plans to protect the next generations living in the UK from the adverse effects of climate change. The country has been committed to achieve multiple sustainable goals over the next few years that will lead to the UK having more clean air, water, a habitat in which plants and animals will be able to coexist with efficiency. On a specific note, the government has been indulging in the process of making the UK a far more green and cleaner country to make sustainable living possible for the citizens. In order to make sustainable living a reality the country has put charges on plastic bags for the purpose of reducing the use of plastic carry bags as plastic is an extremely harmful material for the environment. The 5p plastic bag charge has been a significant success in decreasing the use of carry bags by over 83% and it also proves that actions taken by the government are capable of making a difference (Assets.publishing.service.gov.uk. 2021).

This action has been taken as a part of the country’s national plan of action and also to urge others as well to follow in the footsteps of the UK in order to make a cleaner and better world. The country has laid out a 25- year environmental plan that has been developed to help the natural environment to regain and retain its good health (Assets.publishing.service.gov.uk. 2021). The 25 years plan of action will help the country to achieve clean and purified air and water, decrease risk of harm from potential environmental hazards, and utilize the resources from nature in a more sustainable and efficient manner. In addition to that, the plan will also manage the pressure on the environment by mitigating and adapting to the changes in climate, reducing waste, handling the exposure to toxic chemicals and elevating biosecurity. It needs to be mentioned that the members of the United Nations (UN), including the UK have decided to chase the 17 significant global goals for the purpose of sustainable development in the time being till 2030 (Gov.uk. 2021).

Moreover, the country has also developed a climate change act that has been curated to tackle all the adverse effects of climate changes in the future. It needs to be mentioned that the Climate Change Act of 2008 is dependent upon the fundamental basis of UK’s approach to address change in the climate and it demands the reduction of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases as well (Climate Change Committee. 2021). Moreover, through the act the UK government has also set a target to reduce emission of greenhouse gases by 100% by the year 2050 and for that the country has also created a Committee on Climate Change (CCC) to look after the issue (Climate Change Committee. 2021). Furthermore, the country has also attempted to reduce as much carbon emission as possible that is emitted through vehicles and instead has been committed to introduce more electrical vehicles for transportation. In order to summarize, it needs to be mentioned that the country has taken significant steps and made policies to look after the issues of climate change and make sustainable living a reality in the near future.

Review of the sustainability policy framework in relation to the approach taken in other regions

It needs to be mentioned that the policies and framework made by the UK regarding sustainable development and climate change is quite significant and many other countries have also taken similar steps as well for achieving the same goal. It may be taken as an example that the USA with the help of its Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has also set a target to reduce its footprint regarding greenhouse gas emission as well (US EPA. 2021). In addition to that, similar to the UK, the USA has also put charges on plastic bags in order to reduce the use of plastic and has instead paper bags as a replacement of plastic. Moreover, in the USA the National Environmental Policy act was signed in the year 1970 and during that time certain modification to the Clean Air Act and Water pollution act was made and as a result the Clean Water Act was developed (Ballotpedia. 2021). The USA has also been committed to reduce carbon emissions by vehicles by introducing electrical vehicles as much as possible in order to reduce the harmful effects of carbon emission to tackle climate change. Similar to the UK’s policy to reduce carbon footprint, USA has also been attempting to make buildings in such a way that it will consume extremely less energy and use mostly renewable energy. On the other hand, the Energy Performance of Building Directive (EPBD) has been committed to improving the energy performance of the building stocks of Europe by implementing several measures and policies for existing and new buildings as well. This action has been taken for the purpose of reducing energy consumption by these buildings and to ensure that no pollution is caused by this infrastructure. This plan of actions includes developing the national Long-Term Renovation strategies (LTRSs) for decarbonising the buildings by the year 2050 by setting up minimum required performance in a cost -effective way for buildings that are having significant renovation (CAN Europe. 2021). In addition to that, to ensure that all new buildings meet the requirements for Nearly-Zero Energy (NZEB) requirements from 2021 and the EPBD also suggests that an Energy Performance Certificate (EPCs) is issued whenever buildings are rented or sold (CAN Europe. 2021). The issue of certification will help the real estate industry significantly in selling buildings that use less energy, which will further help the goal of sustainable development to be achieved more efficiently. It needs to be mentioned that sustainable certification of property has an extremely imperative role to play in the financial valuation of properties that are considered to be sustainable (Muldavin, 2010). Furthermore, it is extremely imperative to mention that similar to the policies adopted by the UK for addressing the issues of climate change and environmental sustainability, the majority of countries in the world have resorted to using a similar policy framework. The issue of climate change and sustainable living has become a global issue and all the countries in the world need to come together and implement similar policies to reduce the adverse effects of climate change.

Health and wellbeing policy in the UK

The UK government in order to look after the health of the country’s citizens has made all the residents of the country entitled to public health care at free of cost through the National Health Service (NHS). This service includes physician, hospitals and also mental health care as well and the NHS allocates funding for several Clinical Commissions Group that works by paying for care delivery at the local level. It needs to be established that health coverage in England has remained universal since the inception of the NHS in 1948 and the NHS founded under National Health Service Act in 1946 (Commonwealthfund.org. 2021). Moreover, the government of the UK had spent over 9.9% of overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on healthcare in 2016 that were mainly associated with the NHS (Commonwealthfund.org. 2021).

Especially, during the pandemic, the country has provided free vaccine doses to all its residents and still continuing to do so at free of cost as a part of the country’s healthcare system. An estimated total of 87,421,381 vaccine doses have been administered in the UK and out of that number 89.3% people have got the first dose of vaccine, while 76% have received the second dose (Gov.uk. 2021). Along with physical health, the UK has made significant effort to look after the mental health of the country’s citizens as well. The NHS published a long -term plan in 2019 that had addressed the issue of mental health and made further commitment to enhance mental health services throughout the country (Assets.publishing.service.gov.uk. 2021). The plan also stated that it will provide access to further 380,000 people every year with access to psychological therapy sessions regarding adult mental health services by 2023 or 2024 (Assets.publishing.service.gov.uk. 2021).

Evaluating potential conflicts between health and wellbeing targets and environmental sustainability

Over the years the human population has only increased in number and thereafter, the people’s demand and need has also increased with time. Furthermore, the living standard of people has also developed, which has unfortunately caused significant challenges for the environment to remain healthy. It may be taken as an example that in order to acquire a better living standard, humans are using products and materials that contain extremely harmful materials that are dangerous for the environment. Therefore, the sustainability of the earth is facing severe challenges to be met, which is further contributing to the negative effects of climate change and with each day pushing the earth to the brink of a catastrophe. In addition to that, it may be stated that people nowadays want to live in buildings that have the most modern features and use products that are relevant nowadays. However, it is not taken into action that buildings consume significant amount of energy and the products that are used today cause a lot of toxic chemicals and more importantly, plastic.

Consumption of energy by new buildings is a matter of concern amidst the world’s energy crisis as the resources for energy, such as coal are slowly and gradually decreasing in amount in many countries. Thereafter, a conflict still remains between the wellbeing of individuals and environmental sustainability, which needs to be further addressed in a more effective manner to maintain people’s health and wellbeing along with environmental sustainability. Thus, an environment that encourages walking and biking needs to be developed regarding transportation in order to reduce emission of greenhouse gas and reduce air pollution and these activities will also be beneficial for people’s physical health as well (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. 2021).

Analysing an improved policy framework that takes into account any potential conflicts between environmental sustainability and health and wellbeing in the UK

In order to maintain both sustainability and health and wellbeing of its residents, the UK needs to make policies and encourage people to adopt a sustainable lifestyle as that would be beneficial for the people’s health as well. It has been established before that biking and walking are extremely healthy choices in terms of transportation and people need to be more aware of the benefits of these actions. Majority of the citizens adopting these methods of transportation will reduce the emission of toxic gases and make the air quality relatively pure, thereby reducing the effects of climate change as well. In order to encourage people in adopting these methods the government needs to come up with certain incentive and compensation schemes that would motivate individuals more to take up a sustainable lifestyle. On the other hand, the government may also use certain punishments or fines that an individual may have to pay for violating any rule that does not comply with the country’s sustainable development goal. The government needs to ban all use of plastic whatsoever as plastic is the one of the main components that contribute the most to the degrading state of the environment.

Conclusion

Finally, it may be concluded that human’s standard of living is causing a significant negative impact on the environment and is a contributing factor to the earth’s climate change as well. However, in order to handle the effects of climate change, the UK government has implemented various policies in the country that help to maintain sustainability to a great extent.

Recommendation

The recommendations are as follows: –

1. The UK government should implement more strict actions against maintaining a sustainable framework throughout the country
2. The policies regarding a sustainable environment should be more enhanced and put to work effective immediately so that the 25-year plan becomes a significant success
3. Along with the government, the country’s citizens should also be considerate towards the environment and make sustainable life choices to tackle the adverse effects of climate change
4. Products containing plastic and plastic bags should be banned completely and the use of paper should be more encouraged
5. New and existing buildings should use more renewable energy to reduce energy consumption by these buildings
6. Electric vehicles should be used more in order to reduce carbon footprint and admission of toxic greenhouse gases
7. People should be encouraged to eat more plant-based meals and stop consuming products containing animal meat
8. Rain water along with sunlight should be used as sources of renewable energy and required actions should be taken to conserve these

References

Assets.publishing.service.gov.uk. 2021. [online] Available at: <https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/693158/25-year-environment-plan.pdf> [Accessed 3 November 2021].

Assets.publishing.service.gov.uk. 2021. [online] Available at: <https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/693158/25-year-environment-plan.pdf> [Accessed 3 November 2021].

Ballotpedia. 2021. Environmental policy in the United States – Ballotpedia. [online] Available at: <https://ballotpedia.org/Environmental_policy_in_the_United_States> [Accessed 3 November 2021].

CAN Europe. 2021. Revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. First input into the Commission’s roadmap – CAN Europe. [online] Available at: <https://caneurope.org/revision-energy-performance-buildings-directive/> [Accessed 3 November 2021].

Climate Change Committee. 2021. A legal duty to act – Climate Change Committee. [online] Available at: <https://www.theccc.org.uk/the-need-to-act/a-legal-duty-to-act/#:~:text=The%20Climate%20Change%20Act%202008,to%20deliver%20on%20these%20requirements.> [Accessed 3 November 2021].

Commonwealthfund.org. 2021. England. [online] Available at: <https://www.commonwealthfund.org/international-health-policy-center/countries/england> [Accessed 3 November 2021].

Gov.uk. 2021. 2. Achieving sustainable development – National Planning Policy Framework – Guidance – GOV.UK. [online] Available at: <https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-planning-policy-framework/2-achieving-sustainable-development> [Accessed 3 November 2021].

Muldavin, S.R., 2010. Value beyond cost savings: How to underwrite sustainable properties. Green Building FC.

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. 2021. Global Environmental Health and Sustainable Development. [online] Available at: <https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/population/global/index.cfm> [Accessed 3 November 2021].

US EPA. 2021. Greenhouse Gases at EPA | US EPA. [online] Available at: <https://www.epa.gov/greeningepa/greenhouse-gases-epa> [Accessed 3 November 2021].

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