IFAWPCA Study Award Presentation
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Transcript IFAWPCA Study Award Presentation
Built Environment Solutions That
Meet Goals For Sustainability
Outcomes
Mike O’Connell and Chris Kane
BRANZ Ltd
Presentation to
International Conference on
Sustainability Engineering and
Science
8th July 2004
Overview
Climate change and buildings
Sustainable design and construction
Strategies for climate change
Barriers and challenges
Opportunities and benefits
NOW Home
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Building for survival or disaster?
“…to make no demands on nature that nature
cannot continue to answer, and to refrain from
squandering the limited resources whether of
material (or) biological capital, on which all future
generations, as well as ourselves, depend for
survival”
1972 - Alex Gordon, RIBA Annual Conference, UK
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Climate change impacts
Hailstorm (Sydney)
Flooding - Lower N Island 2004
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Business as usual?
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Or…sustainable construction?
“Sustainable construction is the set of
processes by which the building and
construction industry operates and delivers
built assets to meet the aims of sustainable
development”
2004 – Rachel Hargreaves, Green Payback
What’s required to reduce carbon?
Technology exists for 80-90% less CO2
…but constraints!
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Strategies/approaches to reducing
urban carbon
Preferred Policy Package
NEECS
Adaptation (NZ Climate Change Office, BRANZ guidance)
Kyoto Protocol dependent policies
Built environment policy (Construction Industry Council)
Urban Design Protocol (MfE)
Building Bill, NZ building code
Sustainability inclusions
Education - e.g. The Green Payback (BRANZ)
Voluntary initiatives – e.g. NOW Home, BEACON Pathway
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Challenges
Unsustainable status of existing building stock
Key constraints
Consumer attitude
Lifestyle choice - avg. home 195 m2!
‘Business As Usual’, silo thinking
Decreasing industry skill base
Lack of awareness, information dissemination
Slow uptake of renewables
Energy demand vs. supply
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Constraint – e.g. silo thinking
…required collaboration with the client, his
professional and technical advisors, and the
building team undertaking to integrate design
factors for which they are normally separately
responsible. Decision thus becomes a concurrent
and not a sequential process
(Shepard 1971, cited in Cole 2004)
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Opportunities
Sustainable buildings in practice
New/retrofitted: 3-10 fold less energy use
Proven financial benefits for low-carbon buildings
(Kats et al 2003)
2% investment in ‘green’ features
►life cycle savings of 20% of construction costs
…but can this translate to NZ?!
What action can we take in NZ?
Warm Home Energy Rating Schemes
EBEX21®/CarboNZero®
10
Ancient sustainability!
Barat, Yemen
11
Sustainable buildings international
‘Passiv Haus’, Austria
Condé-Nast, 4 Times Square, NY
BedZED, UK
12
Sustainable buildings - NZ
ZALEH, Wanaka
Paraparaumu library (image
courtesy Warren & Mahoney)
Strawbale house, Canterbury
13
Benefits and co-benefits
Benefits
Reduced resource consumption, waste, etc
Lower business/household operational costs
Environment Canterbury EOC – energy savings
Improved employee productivity, personal well-being
ING Bank, Amsterdam – 15% less absenteeism
Co-benefits
Synergies with adaptation (natural cooling/warming)
Improved local air quality – warmer houses vs. cleaner
emissions, ► reduced PM10, etc
Health – improved building envelope
14
Typical Kiwi Home
Built for the view,
not for the sun!
Our home aspirations
privacy, security, etc
warm/cosy in winter, cool/open in summer
the dream…affordability!
15
The NOW Home
Built for the sun, not
the property lines!
Prototype NOW Home - Waitakere City
Construction consortium (includes BRANZ)
Design principles incorporated from start
Practice to make a difference
First stage of more involved project (BEACON Pathway)
Exemplary voluntary initiative in absence of tougher NZBC
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