Wall Tile: Mosaico Matt 450x1200mm
SUSTAINABILITY IN DESIGN
climate impacts, and while that is true to varying degrees, timber’s impacts are dichotomous. It’s impacts can be substantially negative if sourced from remnant native forests or rainforest in particular, as it comes with massive land-based and aquatic biodiversity loss, topsoil and soil-carbon loss together with siltation of rivers, creeks and streams. Some of these land and aquatic impacts apply to even poorly managed plantations, but at least with properly managed plantation timber, the
Consideration for both human and environmental health are at the
biodiversity loss aspects are not so severe and plantation timber does
fore yet buildings still account for more than 25 percent of Australia’s
bring climate-braking benefits into play, making it a preferred structural
emissions, not to mention the significant impacts of overseas building
material under specific circumstances.
material manufacturing. We have one of the highest population growth rates anywhere in the developed world, but our emissions targets are
If renewable energy is used to manufacture these materials, their climate
26-28% lower than 2005 levels. How do we continue to build more
and other coal-fired energy based chemical pollution impacts are
buildings while reducing our environmental footprint so significantly? We
mitigated, but the other environmental and biodiversity impacts are not.
explore this topic with CEO and Program Director of Global GreenTag International Pty Ltd, David Baggs.
What can designers and architects do to lessen our impact on the environment?
What building materials generally have the highest impact on our
Firstly re-using buildings and materials that have already been used
environment?
previously should be a core target. The next best thing designers
The materials with the biggest impacts are aluminium, stainless steel,
and architects can do is to seek out products that make appropriate
rare metals like zinc, lead and titanium, but in terms of the most used it
information available on the life cycle impacts of products and choose
would be concrete and steel. This is largely because of the high volumes
products that have the lowest climate and other impacts. Then they
and large masses used. They are high durability structural materials and
need to detail and use these products so that they are able to be re-
are the most commonly used for this reason, but both come with large
used or refurbished once that building has come to its end of life phase.
climate impacts even when their differential recyclability is taken into
That said, architecture and design is hard enough as it is without every
account. Steel’s long term recyclability is a long term benefit, but it still
building professional needing to become a life cycle or toxicology expert
generates large, short term climate impacts and when we have such a
to understand obscure technical data. That’s why Global GreenTag does
short time (5-10 years only) to turn climate impacts around to zero, these
all that deep technical analysis and provides sustainability metrics and
short term impacts are important and can no longer be ignored.
reporting in a variety of ways and on specific topics that make it easily accessible and understandable at whatever level it is needed by different
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Timber is another structural material with potentially large impacts. It’s
members of the design team, for consultants, designers, builders and even
often touted that timber is good because it’s a carbon sink that mitigates
the life cycle assessment experts.
