SUSTAINABILITY SUMMIT

2021 Sustainability Summit

WORDS BRANKO MILETIC

This years’ Sustainability Summit has been designed as not only a celebration of new and sustainable building design but also as a roadmap in order to achieve a range of sustainable outcomes.

The 2021 Sustainability Summit will bring together academics, industry experts, and corporate specialists who will discuss, investigate and evaluate the most pressing sustainability issues currently aff ecting the industry and the country as a whole.

In terms of this years’ fi ve CPD panel subjects, they will be:

1. DESIGNING THE PERFECTLY SUSTAINABLE BUILDING

This panel will look at how to develop the most concise sustainable building designs for our urban environment. It will discuss architectural and structural design tools to facilitate the inclusion of ecological costing throughout the design phase of buildings (e.g. water, embodied energy, carbon). How to improve the uptake of environmentally sustainable technologies will also be discussed while control systems, sensor technology, and other tools for improving building performance and sustainability will be investigated.

2. EVERYTHING ARCHITECTS NEED TO KNOW WHEN DESIGNING WITH TIMBER

Architectural design with timber is too often an underappreciated craft and many architects have little experience when designing with wood and wood products. While client pressure on an architect to use certain materials for their project is understandable, it is also the role of an architect to inform their client about not only their material options, but also the reasoning behind each design decision. Ultimately the look of a building is paramount to its success, so there is an incredible level of consideration that needs to be put in place when designing with timber due to its natural characteristics and the aff ect these can have on the overall aesthetics and surrounding area.

3. CIRCULAR ECONOMY IDEAS FOR ADAPTIVE REUSE OF BUILDINGS

Circular economy strategies seek to reduce the total resources extracted from the environment in order to reduce the waste that human activities generate in pursuit of modern design. Circular Economy concepts – including using waste and recycling waste products as a building material - are well suited to the building and construction sector in our cities. Therefore, this panel takes a deep dive into enhancing material lifespans and multiple benefi ts that can be extended beyond the building project itself and into its internal components while also contributing to economic savings and sustainable design.

4. WATER-SENSITIVE DESIGN – 2021 & BEYOND

As our cities expand and the climate becomes more unpredictable, the need to design buildings and neighbourhoods and even entire cities that use less water has become more important than ever. By examining a range of planning, design and technology strategies, including using water as a ‘secondary sustainability enabler’ like its use in hydronic heating, this panel examines the many ways materials, technology, urban planning and landscape design can eff ectively address the challenge of water conservation across the built environment.

5. WOMEN IN BUILT ENVIRONMENT SUSTAINABILITY LEADERSHIP

There are many societal and environmental issues that require strong leaders to pioneer and promote change while at the same time, cultivating a better understanding of urban sustainability. Whether they are emerging or existing leaders, they must seize opportunities for growth and collaborate with other environment professionals to maximise the impacts of their endeavours. The Women in the Built Environment & Sustainability Leadership panel brings together some of the most accomplished female leaders in the fi eld who’ll explain the current climate of the industry while also help the next generation of female leaders plant the seeds for a much more sustainable future.

The 2021 Sustainability Summit will be held on Thursday November 11 in Sydney.

2021 PARTNERS

Comfort and Familiarity in Aged Care Design: Holy Spirit, Casula

Introduction Unveiled to the public in February 2021, a brand-new residential aged care home, Holy Spirit, was established in the Sydney suburb of Casula. This architecturally designed establishment caters for up to 144 residents and offers a range of comfortable, light-filled rooms with ensuites that are arranged to make occupants feel at home.

Challenge In designing the Holy Spirit facility, the team at Catholic Healthcare prioritised creating a non-institutional sense of comfort and familiarity with an accessible and safe environment that elevated the wellbeing of its residents. Supporting features, such as appropriate grab rails or colour choices that aid visibility, were also required to allow staff to assist the residents as and when required. These overarching goals were key in Holy Spirit’s approach to bathroom design. Solution Caroma’s range of products offered the balance Catholic Healthcare was seeking - residential appeal with features that supported the wellbeing and safety of the residents. Catholic Healthcare fitted out Holy Spirit Casula’s bathrooms with Opal Cleanflush® armrest toilet suites, Opal 720 shelf basins, Elegance lever basin tapware and shower wall top assemblies, and Caroma Plus Starsafe II care showers, creating spaces imbued with a sense of home, but equipped with features excelling in safety and practicality.

The specified toilet suites with integrated drop-down armrests were installed at a 45-degree angle to provide easy access for carers and are fitted with Anthracite Grey seats to offer helpful visual cues for the residents. Contrasting against the darker wall tile, Opal 720 shelf basins were specified to allow more storage space to keep objects, such as hand creams and hairbrushes, and the lack of joinery underneath removes the need to bend over to access essential products and also enables wheelchair access.

Keeping accessibility top of mind, the Caroma Opal 720 basin with bottle trap provides clearance for shower commodes or shower trolleys to move beneath. The basin was equipped with Elegance lever basin tapware, which combines familiar shape and contemporary design with large hot or warm and cold coloured indicators for better visibility. Extended levers give users with limited hand mobility a comfortable grip on the handle.

Essential fittings including assorted grab rails were extended to the toilets near the lounge room, as well as a selection of Caroma sinks and toilet suites for the staff amenities. Meeting Catholic Healthcare’s rigorous design guidelines, the Caroma offering advances Holy Spirit’s key objective – a modern facility that feels like home.