march 2009 chow hill sustainablity quaterly

8/9/2019 March 2009 Chow Hill Sustainablity Quaterly

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u p d a t e s

o u t t h e r e

p r o j e c t s + p e o p l e

c o n n e c t i o n s

c o m m u n i t y

s m a l l s t e p s

r e s o u r c e s


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T h a n k s t o a l l o f t h e p a r t i c i p a n t s i n o u r w o r k s h o p s l a s t y e a r f o r y o u r g r e a t s u p p o r t a n di d e a s . T h e n a m e s e e d s u g g e s t e d b y M a u r i c e w a s s e l e c t e d f r o m t h e

r a n g e o f i d e a s p u t f o r w a r d . W e h o p e y o u e n j o y t h i s f i r s t e d i t i o n .

imag

esource:RichardThomas.www.

ickr.com

c h o w : h i l l s u s t a i n a b l ed e s i g n g u i d e l i n e s

Our Design Guideline is being enhanced to includea more comprehensive set of design parametersand tools relating to architecture, interior design,

urban design and landscape architecture. Amongsta range of measures we will be utilizing existingtools such as Green Star and models developed in

the U.S. for Landscape Architecure. We now hopeto have the revised Guideline launched by end ofMarch this year.

c o m p a n y r e s p o n s i b i l i t y +s u s t a i n a b i l i t y r e p o r t i n g ( c r s )

Chow:Hills adoption of a triple bottom line mode of reporting is timed tocommence at the end of our 2009-2010 nancial year. Over the coming few monthswe will be developing the template of our report and have already commencedcollecting the raw data such as energy use, participation in Chow:Hill CommunityDays, economic performance, etc., as well as looking at future targets, that would

populate the report to ourselves and our community.

g e t s u s t a i n a b l e c h a l l e n g e

The Sustainable Business Network coordinates a programcalled the Get Sustainable Challenge and provides a serviceto establish any organisations baseline or snapshot of current

sustainable operations, performance and targets, with a viewto providing assistance and mentoring in enhancing overallcompany sustainability. Having led with them last year ourown statement of current performance and intent David,

Bridgit, Stuart and Maurice met with the SBN to discuss andconrm our responses. We anticipate receiving their writtenreport shortly.

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im

agesource:VilleMiettinen.www.

ickr.com

' A t i t ' sh i g h e s t l e v e ls u s t a i n a b i l i t yi n v o l v e s t h e

m e d i a t i o n

b e t w e e ne c o l o g y a n dt e c h n o l o g ya n d r e l i e s

o n c u l t u r a l l ya p p r o p r i a t e

a t t i t u d e s a n db e h a v i o u r s . '

Source: www.canadianarchitect.com

s u s t a i n a b l e s l u m s

Slums are generally overcrowded, unhealthy andillustrate gross inequality. However, there is a

growing realisation that they also possess uniquestrengths, and may even provide examples ofeconomic, environmental and socially sustainableurban development.

In times of growing economic uncertainty, slumcommunities may be best equipped to face these

challenges due to their inherent resilience, durabilityand adaptability. There is a strong enterprisingspirit within these places, both in the multitude ofbusiness enterprises and the continual upgrading

and expansion of dwellings. Communities tend to betight-knit, where people know their neighbours andregularly meet, interact and play on the streets. Slums

are walkable, high-density and mixed-use. Buildingsare mostly constructed from re-used materials thatwould otherwise end up in landlls.

Although the idea of replicating slums in our workmay seem bizarre, there are perhaps some lessons tobe learnt from the more promising elements.

Source: Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow. 1 March 2009.Learning From Slums. www.boston.com

o u r f u t u r eh e a l t h i n a

c h a n g i n gc l i m a t e

In their Climate Change 2007:Synthesis Report the UnitedNations Intergovernmental

Panel on Climate Change(IPCC) has looked into thenature of the future impacts

of climate change across awide range of sectors.

In regards to health, they

project that the impacts willbe both negative:

...increases in malnutrition;

increased deaths, diseasesand injury due to extreme

weather events; increasedburden of diarrhoeal diseases;increased frequency of cardio-respiratory diseases...

And positive:

...fewer deaths from coldexposure [in temperate areas],

and some mixed effects suchas changes in range andtransmission potential of

malaria in Africa.

However:

Overall it is expected thatbenets will be outweighed

by the negative health effectsof rising temperatures,

especially in developingcountries.

Source: IPCC. Nov 2007. ClimateChange 2007: Synthesis Report.

www.ipcc.ch


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image:jubileebushnearclaudelands

b o p p v 1 o f f i c e b u i l d i n g

Environmentally sustainable design (ESD) has always been a leading consideration for the teamworking on the V1 Ofce Building at the Bay Of Plenty Polytechnic. All aspects of obtaining a Green

Star rating are being observed and recorded with a view for the building to be retrospectivelyassessed with other buildings on the campus in the future. It is anticipated that the building willdenitely acheive a 4 Star rating and possibly 5 Stars.

The qualities that will contribute towards the Green Star rating are the appointment of a GreenStar accredited professional (Connell Wagner), waste management, development of a buildingusers guide, commissioning (building tuning), high frequency ballasts, electric lighting levels,

iternal noise levels, volatile organic compounds, formaldehyde minimisation, CO2 emmissions,landscape irrigation water efciency, water meters, thermal insulation and topsoil and ll removalfrom site.

Contact Tony Gray for more information.

c l a u d e l a n d s

Although no formal rating or accreditation tool currently exists for the Claudelands arenabuildings, the intent is for all buildings to contribute to an equivalent 4 Star rating as denedby the New Zealand Green Building Council. Principle features are associated with managing

systems, achieving a healthy indoor environment, minimising the use of energy and production of

carbon dioxide, effective utilisation of water resources, sustainable material choices and controlof emissions.

In addition to these environmentally sustainable goals, the project endeavours to maximise thesocial benets to the community, and culturally, the design draws on the historical context of thesite and enriches the value of Claudelands as a focal activity space for the people of Hamilton.

Contact Stuart Mackie for more information.

h o p u h o p u w a i k a t o t a i n u ia d m i n i s t r a t i o n b u i l d i n g

In their 50 year plan for building the capacity of their iwi, hapu and marae, the Waikato Tainui havestated their mission is Kia tupu, kia hua, kia puaawai - to grow, prosper and sustain. They aim todevelop a secure sense of identity and cultural integrity; generate opportunities and choices; andengender different ways of being, knowing and doing with each generation.

In regards to the new Hopu Hopu administration building, the building and landscape haveunique cultural drivers, it is designed to blend the relationship that the Waikato Tainui peoplehave with The Land, Their History and The River Waikato. The architecture will forge these

inter-relationships in its form, and in addition, will embrace sustainability with a 4 Star ratingfrom the New Zealand Green Building Council. Elements such as management, indoor air quality,energy, transport, water, materials, land use and ecology, emissions and innovation were given

consideration in the design of the building.

Contact Brooke Cholmondeley-Smith for more information.


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magesource:PrawnCrisps.CH2building.www.

ickr.com

l i n c o l n e s c o t t

Tabe Voight from Lincolne Scott Ltd recently shared with the Auckland ofce team theirexperience across a range of design projects. Lincolne Scott, who offer a range of ESD services

including full building modeling and analysis, have been involved in Australias rst 6 Star GreenStar building, CH2 in Melbourne (pictured); Australias rst 5 Star Green Star As Built building,The Bond (also in Melbourne); and Hawaiis rst LEED Platinum building. Maurice has visited

the rst two of these buildings, and found that the results have been extremely impressive.

For more information visit www.lincolnescott.co.nz

i n n e r s c a p e

Innerscape is a New Zealand owned consultancy located in Cambridge specialising in environmentally

sustainable building services design. Two of the directors, Ken McKenzie and Werner Maritz, are NewZealand Green Building Council Green Star Accredited Professionals and Werner has also recentlycompleted the Australian Green Star training and exam. Innerscapes goal is to deliver fully integrated,optimised, cost effective, energy efcient, aesthetically designed, people friendly systems, positively

contributing to the total building environment.

The team in the Tauranga ofce have been working with Innerscape recently in relation to a major

refurbishment of H Block at the BOPP and they made a joint presentation to the Council on GreenStar, which lead to them joining a Council sub-committee to look at ways to encourage developers toadopt Green Star principles.

For more information visit www.innerscape.co.nz


6/8

mage:studentsfromN

ewmarketPrimarySchool

c o m m u n i t y d a y w a s a p i c n i c

For their Chow:Hill Community Day in February, the Taurangaofce wanted to nd something that they could all do together and

complete in one day. They approached the Tauranga City Councilfor ideas, and settled on the construction of picnic tables forMcLaren Falls Park.

After arriving at the rangers workshop, the team promptly put theirheads together and modied the design of the picnic tables. Theiraim was to construct four tables, and they managed to complete

ve. They had a great day, showing off their carpentry skills, doingphysical work, working as a team and making a contribution to thecommunity.

t e r a u p u r i r i c o m m u n i t y d a y

A team of 10 people from the Auckland ofce headed to one of theregions newest parks, Te Rau Puriri, for their Chow:Hill Community

Day on the 4th of November last year. The 247 hectare park is atthe South Head of the Kaipara Harbour and was purchased by theAuckland Regional Council and Rodney District Council in 2006.Key features of the park include one of the best beaches on the

Kaipara Harbour and the best freshwater lake in the Aucklandregion (Lake Ototoa).

The team dug out ragwort weeds from an area of new native

planting in the morning, followed by picking up rubbish from thebeach and a BBQ put on by the Auckland Regional Council ParkRangers. Highlights of the day included a fawn running / bouncing

along the beach, dead stingrays and some buried tyres that keptthem occupied for quite some time.

n e w m a r k e t p r i m a r y s c h o o lw o r l d a r c h i t e c t u r e d a y

In celebration of World Architecture Day, Christina, Febianca,Vatra and Francis from the Auckland ofce decided to share theirpassion for design and sustainability with the wider community.

They have been working with Newmarket Primary School todevelop a new friendship place. The children observed thatif they have a play area that encourages friendships, thisbecomes the catalyst for working together and achieving other

improvements to the school environment.

m


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imagesource:GaryKnight.www.

ickr.com

' W e w i l l e l i m i n a t e t h e n e e d f o r r a w

m a t e r i a l a n d b a n i s h a l l w a s t e . 'source: Bruce Mau . (2003). Massive Change. Insitute Without Boundaries.

t a k e a w a l k o n t h e w i l d s i d e . . .

...or if you cant manage that, at least walk as far as the rubbish bin inthe kitchen. In the Auckland ofce alone we potentially use over 3,500

plastic liners in the waste baskets under our desks each year. If we wereto share one basket between two wed half the number of bags, if weshared between four wed quarter get the idea?

So, collect up those surplus bins, benet from the increased legroomunder your desk, get in that essential micropause as you walk to yourshared bin in the corner of the ofce and enjoy the feel-good factor of

reducing plastic bag use.

(Also check out: www.connectedmedia.org.nz for their The Outlook forSomeday sustainability lm challenge for young people one of last

years winners took up this theme.)

r e c y c l i n g s a v i n g s

A study in Australia showed that by recycling an average of 3.6kgs a

week that would otherwise have left the house as rubbish to a landll, ahousehold saved each week:

Over three kilograms of green-house gases such as carbon dioxideand methane, that would otherwise have contributed to globalwarming.

Enough electricity to run a 20 watt low-energy uorescent light-bulb

for 144 hours.

Air pollution saved equivalent to emissions from a net 4.5km of cartravel (thats after taking into account the fuel burned to transport the

recovered materials).

Over ninety litres of water, enough to wash ve sinks-full of dishes.

Reduced public costs of managing landlls, and helped to support

employment in the materials recovery industries.

Source: Ecorecycle Victoria, Melbourne. www.ecorecycle.vic.gov.au

r e d u c er e u s e

r e c y c l eSome tips for reducing, reusing

and recycling:

Discourage junk mail delivery.

Buy fresh and local producerather than canned, frozen orprocessed food to save on

packaging material.

Start a compost heap or wormfarm with kitchen scraps,

garden clippings and non-glossy paper.

Reuse plastic bags or use

fabric shopping bags.

Recycle as much as you can ofitems that can not be reused.

Have a garage sale or list onTradeMe for items that you nolonger need, but may be of use

to others.

Start baking to reducepackaging waste. It will taste

better too!

Buy recycled paper products.

Source: www.sustainablehouseholds.co.nz


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techn

ology ecology

culture

T o i n p u t , c o m m e n t o r d e b a t e p l e a s e c o n t a c t t h e

e d i t o r i a l t e a m . . . B r i d g i t ,M a u r i c e , S u s a n .

p r o d u c t s

Chow:Hill have specied carpet for theSouthern Cross Hospital that has passed

one of the highest-rated environmentalassessments - Environmental Choice NewZealand. The Kiwi eco-label has been classedas one of the worlds most robust.

The carpet for the Southern Cross Hospitalwas Irvine Internationals Nexterra Carpet

Tiles. The synthetic bre is extrudedon the manufacturers premises andcontains a minimum of 25% post-industrialrecycled content (waste produced during

manufacturing) and the tiles contain 85%post-consumer recycled content (waste thathas been rescued from reaching landll).

For more information visit www.irvine international.com

w e b s i t e s

New Zealand Green Building Councilwww.nzgbc.org.nz

The Susatainable Sites Initiativewww.sustainablesites.org

Canadian Architectwww.canadianarchitect.com

t e c h t a l k

Cradle-to-cradleA phrase that refers to a

products environmentalfootprint from the point ofextraction of raw materials

(cradle), through processing,manufacturing, and use.Ideally, sustainable productswould be designed so that

reuse and recycling could takeplace at each stage, resulting inzero waste going to landlls.

Cradle-to-gateA phrase that refers to aproducts environmental

footprint from raw materialacquisition (the cradle)through nal manufacturing

(the factory gate).

Carbon footprintThe total amount of carbon

dioxide and other greenhousegases emitted over the life cycleof a product or service, throughvehicle emissions, electricity

use, and fuel consumption.The bigger the footprint, thegreater the contribution to

climate change.

Embodied energyThe total energy that a product

may be said to contain,including all energy usedin growing, extracting, and

manufacturing the productand the energy used totransport it to the point of use.The embodied energy of a

structure or system includesthe embodied energy of itscomponents plus the energy

used in construction.

Source: www.sustainablesites.org

b o o k s

Anne Whiston Spirn. (1984). TheGranite Garden: Urban Nature andHuman Design. New York. Basic

Books.This is a book about nature in cities andwhat the city could be like if designed

in concert with natural processes,rather than in ignorance of them or in

outright opposition.

Fred A. Stitt. (1999). The EcologicalDesign Handbook: Strategies forArchitecture, Landscape Architecture,Interior Design and Planning. McGraw-Hill Professional.A one-of-a-kind collection of greenwritings - from seminal gures such as

Paolo Soleri and Buckminster Fuller,to unsung pioneers of alternativematerials and experimental methods,

to experts around the world. A grandoverview of ecological design inarchitecure and planning.

Barbara Kingsolver, with Steven L.Hopp and Camille Kingsolver. (2007).Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year ofFood Life. Harper Collins.

The authors journey away from theindustrial-food pipeline to a rural life inwhich they vow to buy only food raised

in their own neighborhood, grow itthemselves, or learn to live without it.

march 2009 chow hill sustainablity quaterly

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