the role of Transportation in sustainable buildings
Globally, transportation accounts for 25% of total greenhouse gas emissions, making it an essential sector in which to implement reductions. As green building consultants, a number of strategies are available in this regard, all part of a sustainable real estate development or sustainable refurbishment project.
Early decisions such as the site selection and location, or implementing a local procurement strategy will have tangible emission impacts from Day One in a sustainable real estate development, as will integrating Active Travel facilities, providing green parking facilities and tracking commuter emissions in the operational phase.
As sustainable building consultants, below we address each of these points in turn in order to provide the reader with a concise overview of the role transportation plays in the green building sector.
Choosing a Sustainable Building Location
Sustainable site selection is arguably the most important decision in relation to transportation emission reductions and indeed opportunities for active travel.
Although this choice is often made very early in the real estate development process, whenever possible, consideration for transportation and connectivity should at least play a part in that decision making process from a sustainable building perspective.
As outlined in the USGBC’s LEED standard / Location & Transportation category, there are several characteristics to be considered.
Primarily, consider the surrounding density and prioritise locations with diverse uses nearby, such as food retail, community centers, and other services.
This allows people spending time in the building to have access to a variety of services nearby, within walking distance to encourage active travel instead of car use, while reducing the need for longer distance car travel.
Secondly, ‘access to quality transit’ - locating the project in a high-density area, close to multi-modal transportation options such as train, bus and bike share stations. making commuter times shorter on average, and commonly increasing public transportation uptake.
Local Sourcing & Procurement in sustainable buildings
Another strategy that comes early in the design process is selecting healthy building materials, products, and or machinery from local, nearby sources.
From a real estate sustainability perspective, the key is to understand the supply chain transparency of the most prominent selected materials (such as steel and concrete for buildings; or flooring, ceiling panels and wall finishes in interiors), utilize low-emission vehicles in the delivery process, and plan timely construction deliveries.
Local sourcing greatly reduces transportation emissions and should be considered early on in materiality sourcing and procurement decisions.
Healthy and sustainable building materials should therefore be selected based on those within a low-carbon system and within a close radius of the project.
Low-carbon systems can include the whole life cycle of a material and all transportation steps— as well as the incorporation of low-carbon shipping options.
In addition, within the construction phase, the just-in-time delivery method can be used, meaning the materials arrive on site when needed, not before - this helps avoid the loss or damage of resources.
A reduction in excess material use and therefore less waste production, in turn reduces the number of transportation trips needed to get materials on and off site.
Commuter Emission Regulation in sustainable buildings
During the in-use phase of a sustainable building, commuter emissions are the largest contributor to building-related transportation emissions. The main goal is to reduce the number of people traveling to and from the building individually in petrol / diesel powered vehicles.
This can be done through the use of public transport, carpooling, or the use of electric vehicles. In order to regulate and eventually reduce commuter emissions, strategies such as commuter surveys and greenhouse gas tracking are essential steps.
Commuter surveys can be implemented to better understand how employees, residents, or other building users travel to and from the site. This is the first step to understanding the impact of transportation emissions and what the largest decision-making factors are for commuter travel.
This information on transportation related greenhouse gas emissions can not only provide valuable data for real estate ESG reporting but also help guide future building site adjustments to reduce transport emissions, such as parking changes or active travel incentives.
Active Travel in sustainable buildings
From the transportation side of active travel, it is directly connected to the location of the building site and its connectivity, as well as business culture. The general goal of active travel is to increase the health and fitness level of building occupants, but it can also have impacts on transportation emissions.
If the building is located nearby various amenities, commuters and building occupants can walk or bike if they would like to go to the grocery store or get a haircut, for example. This not only increases occupant health, but also reduces transportation related carbon emissions.
In addition, active travel can be fulfilled through commuting to the site by bike or foot. In addition to location, building sites can encourage active travel through the incorporation of bike storage facilities, bike maintenance programs, and showers on-site for commuters heading to work.
Finally, company or building-wide active travel incentives, such a company-wide bike to work month competition can increase active travel participation. The culture of a company can have a large impact on commuter patterns, and active travel should be encouraged socially whenever possible.
The USGBC LEED green building standard ‘Bicycle Facilities’ credit rewards projects that promote bicycle use through locating the site entrance within 180m of a bicycle network, as well as providing short- / long-term bicycle storage and shower rooms on site.
Parking in sustainable buildings
To help reduce commuter-related transportation emissions, parking can be adjusted on site. Strategies can include limits on available parking, designated preferred parking spaces, and EV or alternative fueling stations installed on site.
Limiting parking overall will encourage different travel methods purely due to the inconvenience. In addition, parking that is available should contain designated spots for carpooling and green vehicles to further encourage reductions in commuter emissions.
In addition, parking lots should include EV charging stations to make the use of these vehicles more accessible. Also, when possible, alternative gas fueling stations can be installed on site to further discourage traditional, emission-heavy travel methods.
The Reduced Parking Footprint credit in USGBC LEED’s green building standard rewards real estate projects that deliberately limit their parking footprint, or eliminate it completely, to promote alternative transportation options. This integrates with the Electric Vehicle credit that rewards parking for EVs with dedicated charging stations.