Project: Advice on Sustainable Housing / Sustainable Design

[nhg]

Hey all,

So I've been racking my brain for a new 'value' project to work on. Not something to make money on but of value to the community.

I'm looking for information/tips/guidance on sustainable design and housing relevant to the Australian environment.

More the redesign of buildings as opposed to building monstrosities and putting solar panels on the roof. I heard there are a few buildings in Sydney that would fit the criteria.

My aim is to work with universities and have industry leaders run seminars for architects and engineers. Is anybody on this forum involved in such things or may they point me in the right direction?

I watched a DVD on the psychology of construction and the poor design on a Carly Crutchfield pack years ago and it really stuck with me. Would love to make something practical out of it.

Regards
NHG

 

[Ideo]

I'm doing a few interesting single dwelling houses at the moment.

1 x straw bale house (in a bushfire prone area!) with solar + greywater recycling

1 x eco house in a coastal location - we are still working out building materials for this one.

Also did some work on a few larger projects around the place that had a green focus - eco-villages, eco-tourism resorts and the like.

The Green Building Council of Australia is a good starting point http://www.gbca.org.au/

 

[Beanie Girl]

The leading tertiary institutions in Melbourne for this would be the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning in the University of Melbourne and the School of Architecture and Design in Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT).

Have a squiz at their webpages and the profile of their academics and who is involved in this type of sustainable design and research. They may be able to provide the leads/connections or may even be the industry leads in sustainable re-design and building.

This is an interesting article about ANZ's greener-than-green new $750m headquarters in Docklands. It is supposed to be a model of sustainability rated 6 Star "Green Star" rated building.

Richard Reed, a professor in the faculty of business and law at Deakin University, said while ANZ had achieved its basic sustainability goal, "the real test will be in the future, when there is increasing pressure to increase the level of sustainability in buildings".

http://sydneyarchitecture.com/?p=432

 

[Beanie Girl]

From Wikipedia, list of sustainable buildings in Australia

Two of the most prominent examples of green commercial buildings in Australia are located in Melbourne; The 60L Green Building in Carlton and Council House 2 (also known as CH2), in Melbourne's CBD, the latter was the first to receive Australia's "6 Star Green Star" Office Design rating.

Other examples include:

Box Hill Hospital redevelopment
The Green Skills Centre of Excellence Training Centre at NMIT's Epping campus
Several buildings at Swinburne University's Hawthorn campus

Andrew Gemell, the Building Manager at 60L Green Building in Carlton is easy to talk to. He has ran tours of the building in the past, his wife invited me to one a few years ago but I couldn't go. His contact details including his mobile are on this web link:

http://www.greenlivingpedia.org/60L_green_building

The 60L Green Building is the the premier green commercial building in Australia, unique in its approach to energy and water consumption, and the use of recycled and re-used materials during construction. 60L shows how we can achieve a commercially viable, healthy, low energy, resource-efficient workplace with minimal impact on the environment.

Location : 60 Leicester Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053

Take a 60L building tour

The Australian Conservation Foundation has taken responsibility for organising tours of the 60L Building. Tours are available weekdays from 4pm led by a trained volunteer tour guide. There is a limit of 10 people per tour and a maximum of two tours can operate on the same day. The meeting point for tours is the ACF office on Level 1.

Website: http://www.acfonline.org.au/about-us/green-building