Sustainable Construction Project

GROW Project A 1.1.1
Building for the Future – Sustainable Construction for Professionals

Background

• In the South East England region over £1.6 billion will be spent on replacing and rebuilding the FE College Estate within the next five years.
• This project aims to raise awareness of Sustainable Construction so that sustainability is incorporated into future build programmes.
• The project is also working to promote the inclusion of Sustainable Construction in the construction curricula of FE Colleges.

AOSEC (the Association of South East Colleges) is lead partner of the project, which is part funded by an EU Interreg 3C programme named GROW.

The project is designed to encourage the sharing of knowledge and experience of Sustainable Construction across European regions: We have a Spanish partner (FLC), based in Andalusia. FLC is a national construction organization which represents both Trade Unions and Employers' interests in construction.LSC

The project partnership consists of:

• AOSEC - lead partner, AOSEC carries the contractual obligations
• Fundacion Laboral de Construcion (FLC)
• The Environment Agency
• The Learning & Skills Council  (LSC)FLCA
• SEEDA

Aims and objectives

'Sustainable Development' is a core value for the UK Government and it is increasingly driving government policy. Sustainable Construction is a core element that can make a significant contribution to the overall growth of Sustainable Communities in the UK.

The project in South East England has two components:

• The first is to work with Further Education Colleges, to encourage them to commission buildings that incorporate as much Sustainable Construction as possible.
• The second is raise the profile of Sustainable Construction within the construction curricula that is taught in FE Colleges.

The project addresses these two aims by:

• Colleges acting as construction clients - recording best practice and sharing it across the region so that the lessons learnt by one college can be used to inform the decisions of another college.

• Construction tuition – New sustainable buildings to be incorporated into the fabric of the construction curriculum, so that the building itself becomes a teaching tool for the construction tutor to use as a demonstration example and teaching aid. For example:
  
  • College buildings with exposed pipes with metering
  • Buildings on which students can perform energy efficiency ratings.EU
  • Building design teams to involve Construction tutors from the outset