Articles
Explaining the benefits of and need for the use of Life Cycle
Assessment in green purchasing and policy. This article explores
green purchasing from an organisational standpoint and looks at the
implications of engaging organisation-wide processes in
sustainability to deliver overall increases in productivity, called
'Green Productivity' benefits, as well as how to engage these
processes and deliver simple easier procurement outcomes.
This paper looks at what it will take to make eco-balanced
cities and eco-balanced products that are engineered with multiple
life-cycles considered before sale and how they can be re-use
enabled by information flow into design, construction and higher
levels of activity in physical re-sculpting at end of use. The
Concept of Restorative Sustainability and the
ecospecifier website as a tool is presented and
case study solutions provided.
The building industry consumes a high proportion of the
planet's resources and comes with a large range of embodied
impacts. This article answers questions like: What are the
environmental impacts of products? What part of a building has the
highest proportion of embodied impacts?
In the past durability has been perceived as the king of
sustainability criteria. High impact products have been able to
claim they heve less impact becuase of long life. This article asks
the hard questions: What impact does durability have on greenhouse
emissions and climate change tipping points now? Can we affford
durability 'premiums' if they come with high greenhouse gas
impacts? The answers might surprise you.
For some, the language of R-Phrases and CAS numbers are
meaningless mumbo-jumbo. This article explains the importance of
these concepts and how they can be used to unscramble the complex
maze of chemical toxicity and its impacts on people and the
environment.
We all know plants absorb carbon dioxide and provide fresh
oxygen in return. But did you know they are nature's highly
efficient VOC filters are air purifiers? This article presents the
benefits of using plants and plantscapes, on, in and around
buildings and considers the green building tool including Green
Star(R) rating implications.
Everybody knows green buildings and products are always
more expensive, right? Wrong....this article presents and debunks
five common falacies about green buildings.
In this first part of a 2 part paper is included some of
the distilled experiences of experienced green development
design teams from around the world on how to deliver green projects
at no or low cost differential to conventional ones.
Part 2 presents information from 4 different continents about
recent discoveries in the benefits of green buildings to
developers, occupants, society and living systems.
Part 2 of this integrative design article will present
information from 4 different continents about recent discoveries in
the benefits of green buildings to developers, owners, occupants,
societies and living systems.
As humans in a hot climate, we instinctively seek shade
when subjected to the hot sun. In early buildings and even in the
adoption of traditional Middle Eastern Dishdasha and Abaya garments
or the traditional tropical ventilated double roof is the
instinctive acknowledgement that shade drives comfort in hot
climates. This article considers the need for shade and demostrates
with measured data why even smartglass alone is inadequate and
looks at ways to deliver it in hot climates.
During the Black Saturday fires, a number of people were
saved in underground bunkers and some were killed due to the
inadequacy of the bunker and their preparation. Earth coverings can
save lives, but adequate research, careful design, detailing,
construction and preparation are required to ensure protection is
successful. This article presents the case for earth covered and
integrated homes and shelters in bushfire. It provides links
to the current Bushfire Shelter Code and other
resources.
Common Solvent Propylene Glycol may pose a wider range of health
effects on human health than previously known.
Legislation is almost silent on a mandate of safe levels
of specific problem chemicals in finished products that might
affect end users. This article explores types of toxicity and
effect on human health and the environment.