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  3. Why Sustainable Buildings Need to Focus on Community And Collaboration? [A] According to the government, buildings in the UK acc

Why Sustainable Buildings Need to Focus on Community And Collaboration? [A] According to the government, buildings in the UK acc

admin2017-12-07  47
问题     Why Sustainable Buildings Need to Focus on Community And Collaboration?
[A] According to the government, buildings in the UK account for about 43% of all carbon emissions; when you also consider the amount of other resources they require, such as water, and the amount of energy that goes into transporting millions of us to work every day, it’s clear we need to make our buildings more sustainable. Yet sustainability does not begin and end with reducing carbon. The buildings we work in define and shape their neighbourhoods, especially in cities, where they have an enormous social impact upon communities. Local traders depend on the income from the people who are employed nearby, while the wellbeing of employees is affected by their workplace surroundings.
[B] So how can we ensure the buildings of the future are sustainable, creative and productive workplaces that benefit the employees who work in them and the communities that surround them? That question formed the basis of a recent roundtable debate, held in association with property investor Derwent London. Saving energy
[C] Unusually, the early part of the discussion was framed by a prototype office for Derwent’s White Collar Factory project. The building, which goes on site in 2014, has been designed to test sustainable ways of lighting, heating, cooling and occupying a building, for instance, by mixing start-ups with established companies. Compared to a normal office building, the White Collar Factory will save a tonne of carbon every two days, said Derwent London’s director Paul Williams. "It will also be an enjoyable space," he said, referring to the open-plan, high-ceiling design.
[D] However, designing a high-spec building that takes advantage of all the latest energy-saving technologies—such as advanced heating, cooling and building-management software—does not always guarantee a sustainable future.
[E] Chris Early, estates manager of Telefonica, said developers should not get "hung up about the type of air conditioning". By concentrating solely on energy-saving technologies, developers could lose sight of the wider issues surrounding sustainability. "It’s about how you develop a larger site as a whole: the mixture of small and large occupiers and startups." For developments to be successful in the future, you’ve got to be delivering space that works from an occupational perspective, so people can collaborate within their own organisation, but also with others. There has got to be more of a community feel."
[F] Speaking off the record, one participant suggested that the reason why developments weren’t always designed and occupied sustainably was simply down to finance. ’’I’m not sure the ’boardroom’ understands buildings. My finance director will focus purely on the numbers, the minimum amount of space we can occupy, the lowest rates we can secure the space for. We’re constantly challenged trying to explain the wider tangible (切实的) benefits a creative space can offer."
[G] Rab Bennetts, co-founder of Bennetts Associates, agreed it was difficult to measure the benefits of creative space—as opposed to something like rent—in a tangible way, but he suggested that reducing absenteeism and improving recruitment, for example, were benefits that are often overlooked. "If you can improve the workforce a little bit by making it a nicer place so there’s less absenteeism, the difference is huge," said Bennetts.
[H] While all delegates acknowledged that cost was an important issue, Chris Sherwin, head of sustainability at Seymourpowell, suggested many of the related problems could be overcome by thinking about the issues at the initial design stage. Referring to his experience of working with manufacturers and product developers, Sherwin said: "Most of the wellbeing and environmental impacts are locked in at the very early design stages and I think it’s pretty much the same with buildings."
[I] For Ziona Strelitz, founder director of ZZA responsive user environments, the failure to create sustainable working environments in the past resulted from directors being afraid to take what would be perceived as risks. However, she believed that was no longer the case. "There was a generational shift after the dotcom boom, there was a turning point where the people deciding on what kind of spaces they wanted changed. Suddenly much younger people had the money and power to make premises decisions."
[J] But a note of caution was sounded by Stephen Taylor, associate director at Allford Hall Monaghan Morris architects, who pointed out that people have different ideas about what their perfect workplace is. "The best we can hope for as architects is to give people that ’loose fit’ to allow flexibility to happen over time." Designing buildings in this manner would give occupiers flexibility over how they wanted to work, he said. Collaborative working
[K] The benefits of flexible working are not confined to improving employees’ wellbeing, either, said Early. Discussing his own organisation’s policy on remote working, he said: "It’s sustainable as we’re reducing car use by encouraging people to work from home... we’re trying to make it more of a hotel environment, where you come in to do something productive then go." While using LED lighting and other energy-saving initiatives were "good housekeeping", keeping an estate small was ultimately fundamental to reducing an organisation’s carbon footprint. So how can companies reduce their estate?
[L] Many participants thought technology could provide an answer. Strelitz pointed to the work of LiquidSpace, a US-based firm that has created an app to help users find and book a work space suited to their needs, whenever they need it. The app also allows the companies providing the workplaces to optimise the space they have available. Participants agreed this kind of collaborative working could be key to the future of sustainable buildings. "To think people only have their own employees in a building and they’re only going to work in a certain way has gone for ever—and that change has to be embraced," said Williams.
[M] While everyone recognised that collaborative working among occupiers was a major step towards making buildings more sustainable, when it came to collaboration among landlords and developers, many felt a lack of government direction was hindering progress. Unless politicians are engaged in the discussion, it’s hard to imagine there will be much drive for sustainability through regulation, said Tony Travers, director of LSE London. "Most governments are trying to avoid regulations—so making the discussion more accessible to those who make planning decisions is essential, otherwise it will be cut off from the places that bring the pressure to create change."
[N] Bennetts suggested that the government had missed an opportunity when it scrapped proposals to make display energy certificates mandatory for commercial buildings. As an alternative, he suggested introducing a "kitemark" (风筝标志) for buildings, which rated their environmental, social and economic sustainability, including social capital. The mark would be displayed prominently on a building to raise the profile of its energy use.
[O] The way buildings are assessed for their sustainability came in for some criticism. The environmental assessment and rating method was described as too complicated by delegates. "The market has taken it and used it as the standard," said John Davies, sustainability manager of Derwent London. "It has turned from a guidebook into a rulebook."
[P] Despite criticism of the lack of statute and some of the assessment methods, the debate ended with much positivity. Delegates were confident that advances in technology and collaborative working, plus a new generation entering the boardroom, would ensure sustainability became increasingly important to landlords, developers and occupiers in future. As Bennetts pointed out: "There’s been more progress and more innovation over the past five years than the past 25 years."
There is an application now helping users find and book a suitable work space.
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答案L
解析 本题讨论某款应用软件，由此锁定L段。L段第2句中Strelitz提到美国公司LiquidSpace设计了一款app帮助用户寻找并预定能满足他们需要的工作区间。题目中的suitable对应原文suited to their needs，本题句子信息与此一致。
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