Sustainable Living
Challenging myths around green building One of the main questions surrounding green building is a fair one, but one rooted in misconceptions about the process as a whole: how much more does building sustainably cost? If implemented into the design process at the beginning, it doesn’t have to cost more at all.
“One of the myths is that building more environmentally friendly is more expensive. We’re only saying it’s a misconception because it needs to be challenged. Find a way to do it,” Solarchitect director and architect, Russell Devlin says. “If builders and clients are talking sustainability, it’s easier to incorporate when it is addressed from the beginning of the process. Doing this from the beginning then doesn’t have to cost any more [than traditional building methods].”
With eco-friendly living at the forefront, Solarchitect has been garnering more and more attention. Russell has been designing using passive solar design principles since 1982, and he’s found that professional groups also turn to Solarchitect for its experience in the field. “We’ve become more relevant – it’s not that we know it all, but we have tried most of it. We know what works and what doesn’t work,” Russell says. In the current day and age, building sustainably has also become synonymous with using durable, long-lasting materials. While this is one part of the equation, it doesn’t paint the picture as a whole. Sustainability is an umbrella term that includes everything in ‘green’ and environmentally friendly design and building.
Piko Wholefoods, designed by Solarchitect—photograph by Lightforge.
Under that umbrella is passive solar design, the design concept that uses the sun’s energy to heat and cool buildings, whether residential
or commercial. This is different from active solar heating systems, which use fans, pumps or electrical controls to utilise solar energy.
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