Table Of ContentSustainable Futures in the Built
Environment to 2050
Sustainable Futures in the Built
Environment to 2050
A Foresight Approach to Construction
and Development
Edited by
Tim Dixon, John Connaughton and Stuart Green
University of Reading, UK
This edition first published 2018
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Dixon, Timothy J., 1958– editor. | Connaughton, John E., editor. | Green, Stuart, 1958– editor.
Title: Sustainable futures in the built environment to 2050 : a foresight approach to construction
and development / edited by Tim Dixon, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading,
Stuart Green, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading, John Connaughton, University of Reading,
Whiteknights, Reading.
Description: Hoboken : Wiley-Blackwell, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2017033420 (print) | LCCN 2017056900 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119063803 (pdf) |
ISBN 9781119063827 (epub) | ISBN 9781119063810 (paperback)
Subjects: LCSH: Sustainable development. | Construction industry–Management. | BISAC: BUSINESS &
ECONOMICS / Development / Sustainable Development.
Classification: LCC HC79.E5 (ebook) | LCC HC79.E5 .S8627 2018 (print) | DDC 338.4/7624–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017033420
Cover design: Wiley
Cover image: IJland - Almere Buitendijks - seen at night, a new town in Almere, the Netherlands.
© West 8, MVRDV, WMcDonough+Partners and the municipalities of Almere and Amsterdam
Set in 10/12pt Warnock by SPi Global, Pondicherry, India
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Editorial Board
Editors
Tim Dixon is Professor of Sustainable Futures in the Built Environment at the University
of Reading (School of the Built Environment). With more than 30 years’ experience in
education, training and research in the built environment, he leads the Sustainability in
the Built Environment network at the University of Reading and is co‐director of the
TSBE doctoral training centre (Technologies for a Sustainable Built Environment). He
has co‐led major UK research council research projects on brownfield land and urban
retrofit, and is currently working with local and regional partners to develop a Reading
2050 smart and sustainable city vision, which also connected with the UK BIS Future
Cities Foresight Programme. Recently he has worked on funded research projects on
smart cities and big data, smart and sustainable districts, and social sustainability for
housebuilders. Tim is a member of the Climate Change Berkshire Group, and a member
of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smart Cities and UK Stakeholders’ Group on
Smart Cities. He is also a member of the editorial boards of four leading international
real‐estate journals, a member of the Advisory Board for Local Economy, a member of
the review panel for Commonwealth Scholarship Commission, a mentor for the Villiers
Park Educational Trust, and a member of the review panels of EPSRC and the RICS
Research Paper Series. He was also a member of the international scientific committee
for the national Visions and Pathways 2040 Australia project on cities. He has written
more than 100 papers and books about the built environment.
John Connaughton is Head of Construction Management and Engineering and
Professor of Sustainable Construction at the University of Reading (School of the Built
Environment). John has worked in the construction sector for over 37 years, 30 of which
have been spent in management and related consultancy. Prior to joining the University
of Reading in 2012, John was a partner in Davis Langdon, one of the world’s largest
construction cost and project management companies, where he has spent most of his
professional career. He was head of the firm’s management consulting group from 2005
and has worked extensively on improving construction procurement and management
processes. He was lead author on a range of industry guides produced by the UK
Construction Industry Board following the Latham Review of UK Construction in
1994, and was one of the founding members of the UK Board of the Movement for
Innovation (M4I). His involvement in sustainability in construction dates from the mid‐
1980s when he was involved in the UK Department of Energy’s Passive Solar Design
Studies Programme, and subsequently was responsible for the development of Davis
Langdon’s Sustainability Services, with a particular focus on material resource effi-
ciency. At the University of Reading, John is currently involved in funded research on
new models of construction procurement and on energy use in office buildings. He is
currently Chair of the Executive Board of the UK Construction Industry Research and
Information Association.
Stuart Green is Professor of Construction Management in the School of the Built
Environment at the University of Reading, UK. Stuart enjoys extensive policy connec-
tivity within the UK construction sector and is frequently invited to contribute to indus-
try debates. From 2007 to 2013 Stuart served as a core commissioner with the
Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 which provided assurance to the Olympic
Board and the public on how the delivery agencies performed against their sustainabil-
ity commitments. From 2011 to 2016 he chaired the Chartered Institute of Building’s
Innovation and Research Panel. Stuart has extensive experience of construction‐related
research leadership and has been principal investigator on Engineering and Physical
Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) research awards totalling in excess of £7.5 million.
Stuart originally studied civil engineering at the University of Birmingham. Following
graduation in 1979 he worked for a national contractor on a range of construction pro-
jects throughout the UK. He was subsequently seconded for a year to an engineering
consultancy where he gained the necessary design experience to become a chartered
engineer. Stuart returned to academia to study for a master’s degree at Heriot‐Watt
University in Edinburgh, prior to joining the University of Reading as a lecturer in 1987.
He completed his PhD in 1996 and was promoted to professor in 2002. While based in
Reading he has travelled extensively and has held numerous international advisory and
consultancy roles in a variety of different locations. He is a visiting professor at
Chongqing University and Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, China.
vii
Contents
List of Contributors ix
Note on Contributors x
Foreword xiv
Preface xvii
Acknowledgements xix
Book Endorsements xx
1 Introduction: Foresight and Futures Studies in Construction
and Development 1
Tim Dixon, John Connaughton and Stuart Green
Part 1 Sustainability and the Built Environment 25
2 Climate Change, Resilience and the Built Environment 27
Janet F. Barlow, Li Shao and Stefan Thor Smith
3 Sustainability in Real Estate Markets 50
Jorn van de Wetering
4 From the ‘Sustainable Community’ to Prosperous People and Places:
Inclusive Change in the Built Environment 72
Saffron Woodcraft and Constance Smith
5 Smart and Sustainable?: The Future of ‘Future Cities’ 94
Tim Dixon
6 Sustainable Infrastructure 117
Martino Tran, Jim Hall, Robert Nicholls, Adrian J. Hickford, Modassar Chaudry
and Geoff Watson
7 Sustainable Design of the Built Environment 137
Lorraine Farrelly
viii Contents
Part 2 Changing Professional Practice 155
8 Planning for Sustainability: Reflections on a Necessary Activity 157
Joe Doak and Gavin Parker
9 Sustainable Construction: Contested Knowledge and the Decline
of Professionalism 172
Stuart Green
10 Sustainable Procurement 194
John Connaughton and Will Hughes
11 Social Media in the Built Environment 223
Bob Thompson
Part 3 Provocations about the Future: Practitioners’ Viewpoints 249
12 Sustainability through Collaboration and Skills Development 251
Andy Ford and Aaron Gillich
13 Built Environment Professionals as Sustainability Advocates 270
Gerard Healey
Part 4 Transformative Technologies and Innovation 285
14 Energy Interactions: The Growing Interplay between Buildings
and Energy Networks 287
Phil Coker and Jacopo Torriti
15 Sustained Innovation Uptake in Construction 310
Graeme D. Larsen
16 Humanising the Digital: A Cautionary View of the Future 325
Ian J. Ewart
Part 5 Conclusions and Common Themes 337
17 Understanding and Shaping Sustainable Futures in the Built
Environment to 2050 339
Tim Dixon, John Connaughton and Stuart Green
Index 365
ix
List of Contributors
Janet F. Barlow
Modassar Chaudry
Phil Coker
Joe Doak
Ian J. Ewart
Lorraine Farrelly
Andy Ford
Aaron Gillich
Jim Hall
Gerard Healey
Adrian J. Hickford
Will Hughes
Graeme D. Larsen
Robert Nicholls
Gavin Parker
Li Shao
Constance Smith
Stefan Thor Smith
Bob Thompson
Jacopo Torriti
Martino Tran
Jorn van de Wetering
Geoff Watson
Saffron Woodcraft
x
Note on Contributors
Professor Janet F. Barlow is in the Department of Meteorology at the University of
Reading and does research in urban meteorology, natural ventilation and renewable
energy. She was a Board member of the International Association for Urban Climate,
and is currently on the Steering Committee for the UK Wind Engineering Society. She
is also on the Met Office Scientific Advisory Committee.
Dr Modassar Chaudry is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Engineering at
Cardiff University. His expertise covers a range of energy topics, in particular modelling
(optimisation) and analysis of gas, electricity and heating supply systems. He has co‐
authored a number book chapters and journal papers on integrated energy network
modelling and analysis.
Dr Phil Coker is a Lecturer in Renewable Energy in the School of the Built Environment,
University of Reading. Following 15 years as an engineer in the UK gas industry, he has
spent the last decade researching the impacts of variability in low‐carbon energy sys-
tems. Current projects range from helping the system operator respond to increased
intermittent renewables, through assessing the system value of hydrogen to supporting
development of a commercial vehicle‐to‐grid solution.
Joe Doak is Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Development at the University
of Reading. He has undertaken major research into the formulation and implementa-
tion of regional, strategic and local planning policies, and was a senior planning officer
at county and district levels of UK local government.
Dr Ian J. Ewart is an anthropologist and engineer, and currently Lecturer in Digital
Technologies in the School of the Built Environment, University of Reading. His
research focus is on the perception and application of technologies, the practices these
influence, and how these inform the real, social experience of the world.
Professor Lorraine Farrelly is an architect and head of the new Architecture School at
the University of Reading. The ambition for the new School is to relate the education
experience to current professional practices in architecture, and to develop a collabora-
tive education model that positions architecture within the built environment profes-
sions. She has written several books considering relationships between architecture and
urban design.
Professor Andy Ford is the Director of Research at London South Bank University. He
has worked extensively on innovative building throughout his career and contributed to
