Sustainable development in construction - Use functions

The aim of this dossier is to provide an initial inventory of construction choices in relation to the requirements raised by the need to take sustainable development into account in building.

• If the concept of sustainable development is taken in its most immediate sense, then it has to be recognized that any action taken in this perspective must first and foremost be thrifty with the resources mobilized. The proper use of resources is a guarantee of "responsibility" with regard to future choices.

  There are three possible solutions, each with a different level of effort:

  • first of all, it is essential to "revisit" current practices in order to improve their efficiency, which should lead to a reduction in needs and a reduction in impacts (this is the system approach);

  • then, it is possible to reason about the practice as a phase in a larger cycle, that of ecology (this is the closed-loop approach);

  • lastly, technical innovation must enable us to envisage not just a withdrawal of resources, but also a positive contribution (this is the proactive approach).

  Each of these paths can be broken down into two possible actions, leading to six situations (figure 1 a).

  

• However, sustainable development is also about the long term. It's not just a question of being responsible in the use of resources, but also of being able to control the ageing of the solutions chosen. In this case, what needs to be considered is the object itself, and how it enables end-users to carry out their activities. Indeed, if resources are mobilized, they do so in the service of a primary purpose, namely that the building is the indispensable and necessary support for the long-term survival of the human group....