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Major building and refurbishment bring opportunities to spend your money wisely and make sustainable savings into the future. As well, your choices will make a difference to indoor air quality, benefiting the health of the building occupants.
Below are ideas on sustainable and healthy building and refurbishing considering:
Design and comfort
- A well designed building will be more comfortable for the occupants and in most cases will be healthier.
- Brief designers and tradespeople on your sustainability requirements Research for grants available to support sustainable building or technology Design to achieve minimal material use
- Design to reduce the use of energy for heating and cooling
- Install insulation or consider reflective roof paint to regulate the indoor climate
- Maximise natural lighting and ventilation.
- Consider window sizes, spacing, details such as skylights, light shelves, atriums and courtyards to optimise natural lighting and reduce glare
- Create shaded areas and overhangs to protect the inside of the home from direct sun
- Develop guidelines to preserve vegetation and topsoil as much as possible Consider any requirement to maintain building heritage and therefore a sense of place for the local community
- Design for minimal external noise entering the building as well as comfortable internal acoustics
Materials
- Try to choose materials that have a low impact on the environment and air quality.
- Evaluate opportunities to adapt and/or utilise existing buildings, facilities, infrastructure etc
- Use recycled materials where possible
- Choose materials with low 'embodied energy' – i.e. materials that use less energy in their manufacturing process
- Minimise the use of building materials that create waste
- Reduce or have a ‘zero waste’ construction.
- Consider reusing or recycling materials that need to be removed from the building
- Use the concept of ‘loose fit’ in design to ensure adaptability of buildings over time
- Choose wood that has been grown and sourced sustainably
- Specify appropriate levels of quality and finish to avoid future replacement
- Provide a healthy indoor environment.
- Choose paints, varnishes and adhesives that are non-toxic and have low have low or no VOC (volatile organic compounds) emissions which are bad for health
- Use low formaldehyde MDF and particle boards. Formaldehyde is a known carcinogen that is released from standard MDF and particle boards over time
- Choose carpets, upholstery and treatments that are low in VOC’s and are recyclable at the end of their life
Energy efficiency, capture and use
- Energy prices are likely to continue rising. Payback periods on efficiency investments will become even more attractive.
- Investigate current technology opportunities in renewable energy
- Purchase the highest energy star rated appliances
- Select high efficiency lights such as LED and compact fluorescent
- Invest in an energy efficient hot water system – either solar, gas or heat pump
- Install an energy monitoring system to keep track of your usage
Water efficiency
- There are many opportunities to capture, use and reuse water. So we can use less without noticing any difference.
- Use water efficient appliances and fittings
- Use appropriate water efficient technologies e.g. composting toilets; waterless urinals etc.
- Where possible collect and reuse rainwater from the building
- Where possible, use wastewater recycling systems
- Avoid specifying water-hungry construction techniques
Waste management
- Clever waste consideration reduces ongoing costs of supply and disposal – and can make a new organic resource.
- Design for easy access to recycling facilities and separation of materials on site
- Allow adequate storage space for recycling materials on site
- Where appropriate design for on-site recycling of organic waste (worm farm, compost system)
Social sustainability
- Safe and healthy buildings improve the productivity of the occupants and owners are able to attract higher rents.
- Provide hallways, doorways and ramps or lifts to allow for wheelchair access Use lever style door handles and install zero-threshold showers (no hobs) for disability access
- Provide sufficient, well-located power points to avoid tripping over electrical cords
- Choose cleaning companies that use products and processes that are safe for their workers and your staff
- Use pest management that has a strategy to benefit staff health and the environment
- Consider your role in the community. Is it possible to share facilities (such as solar hot water, water tanks, security lighting etc) with neighbouring businesses or with a not for profit facility
- Ensure the building is safe by considering fire blocks, fire alarm, emergency lighting and fire suppression systems
- Biodiversity Giving back to our local environment by considering how well we blend in.
- Develop a strategy for the property to ensure protection to habitat corridors and ecosystems
- Design landscaping to minimise water requirements and create opportunities to increase bio-diversity
- Develop strategies to re-instate natural water flows on and from the site.
- Where possible provide on-site wastewater treatment system such as wetlands or worm farms etc.
- Transport Reducing our reliance on cars can improve health, productivity, social interaction and cost less. When selecting sites consider proximity to public transport, access to work, schools and services.
- Make provision for access and easy storage for bicycles
- Rather than car ownership consider other options such as car pooling/sharing etc.
- Building management Good design must be backed up by good management.
- Reduce the ongoing costs of your building to make real savings.
- Track resource use (energy, water, waste, fuel) to understand when there are problems or when things are working well
- Have a maintenance program which ensures efficient running of equipment and machinery
- Ensure user manuals are followed for all equipment operation and maintenance Consider revisiting acceptable levels of thermal comfort.
- Building users will accept greater variations in temperature if they have windows they can operate themselves
- Employ smart building management systems to minimise energy requirements
- Create a sustainability team to consider how the building is used and make suggestions for improvement
Web resources
Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts – links assisting in ideas to save water, energy, improve air quality etc. http://www.environment.gov.au/sustainability/index.html
Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water – Sustainable business links page http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/sustainbus/index.htm
Resource Smart – Sustainability Victoria’s resource pages for businesses (grants not applicable in NSW) http://www.resourcesmart.vic.gov.au/for_businesses.html
Your Home design guide – technical resource with builders and renovators guides http://www.yourhome.gov.au/index.html
Environmental design guide http://www.environmentdesignguide.net.au
Green Building Council of Australia http://www.gbca.org.au/
Window Energy Rating Scheme http://www.wers.net/
Forest Stewardship Council – a certification system for wood products http://www.fsc.org/
Green Power – Government accredited renewable energy information. http://www.greenpower.gov.au
Buy equipment and appliances that use an energy or water star rating http://www.energystar.gov.au/ , http://www.energyrating.gov.au
Energy Efficiency Best Practice Guide to Lighting http://www.resourcesmart.vic.gov.au/for_businesses/energy_efficiency_3453.html
Alternative Technology Association - promoting sustainable technology and practice http://www.ata.org.au/
Water saving, water tanks, greywater etc. http://www.savewater.com.au http://www.sydneywater.com.au/SavingWater/
Greenpainters is a non-profit program promoting information and skills in environmentally preferable coatings http://www.greenpainters.com.au/
Good Environmental Choice Australia. Environmental labelling and green procurement http://www.geca.org.au/
Ecospecifier - over 3500 eco-products, eco-materials, technologies and resources http://www.ecospecifier.org/
NABERS is a performance based rating system for existing buildings http://www.nabers.com.au/
Sustainable property guide http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/sustainbus/SustainPropertyGuide.htm
National Toxics Network – A community based network about chemical and toxic issues www.ntn.org.au
Green Skills NSW Business Guide – resources to help train staff in environmental best practice. http://www.greenskills.nsw.gov.au/
Travelsmart – reducing reliance on cars http://www.travelsmart.gov.au/
Green Pod – innovative bike parking http://www.pushbikeparking.com/green-pod
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