Challenges related to site-specific ground conditions have traditionally made a consistent and reliable measurement of the environmental performance of foundations and substructures difficult if not impossible. As a result foundations and substructures have tended not to feature in environmental impact assessments for whole buildings such as BREEAM. The new IMPACT methodology has changed this situation and presents the building designer with a building specific solution for assessing the embodied impacts for different foundation and substructure options.
This paper, funded by BRE Trust, highlights relevant issues in the environmental performance of foundations and substructures and is aimed at designers, specifiers and other stakeholders.
The challenge of measuring and mitigating the environmental performance of foundations and substructures