Sustainability in Sydney, Australia - Day 3

Our sustainability journey continued in Sydney with a visit with Legacy Property.  A former Texan and native Australian formed this new company in May 2009.  Their business model was to focus on building up their consulting business for about 12-18 months in an effort to increase their client base and cash flow.  To date they have done work for 18 clients.

We were given an informative comparative analysis of the real estate differences between the US and Australia.  The biggest difference would be the fact that most of residential properties are sold at auction not by private treaty.  This process increases prices and extends the time taken to complete the deals.   

Regarding sustainable residential development in Australia, the government has mandated a set of general specifications called BASIX (www.basix.nsw.gov.au).  These guidelines provide regional solutions for reducing energy and water consumption.  This is definitely a step ahead of the US, where no such energy mandates exist currently.    

Our next stop was a discussion with Robin Mellon, Executive Director of Advocacy with the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA).   

The role of the GBCA is to rate, educate, and advocate sustainability building practices.  In developing the rating tools it was important to them to balance mandates and incentives.  They currently have 900 member organizations, which is the majority of the industry in Australia.  The GBCA has more rated buildings per capita than any other country. The rating categories include the following and can range from 1 to 6 stars:

·      Management

·      Indoor Environment Quality

·      Energy

·      Transport

·      Water

·      Materials

·      Land Use and Ecology

·      Emissions

·      Innovation

The future plans for the GBCA include:

·      Show government leadership and offer incentives

·      Make education and healthcare facilities greener

·      Concentrate on existing buildings

·      Widen the focus from buildings to communities

·      Embed green skills across the industry

Robin said they see a lot of buildings go for the design ratings in an effort to get the building sold, then later go for the as-build rating. Additionally, some green leases are put in place to ensure the builders go for the as-built to prove that they built what they said they would build.  He is starting to see buildings become producers instead of just consumers. 

The discussion ended with a tour of their office space.  They incorporated several sustainability features in their build out including:

·      Use 65% less energy than the other floors

·      No hot water

·      Greywater tank used to flush toilets

·      CO2 monitors to regulate fresh air flow (Copy room is on a separate unit)

·      Worm farming of green waste (food) used for plant food

Sustainability in Sydney, Australia - Day 2

I was looking forward to this day….after reading his book and learning about his innovative solutions for refitting his home to be completely of the grid…I knew it would be an exciting visit.  As we walked up to Michael Mobb’s Sustainable House, I wouldn't have believed we were in the right place if he wasn't standing in the doorway.  Mobb was previously employed as a lawyer and according to him, he has “rejoined the human race” with this new calling.  The house looked just like all the other houses on the street.   

He welcomed us in his home and provided an informal tour and overview to the key features of his retrofit.  The most prevalent feature was the rainwater collection and greywater recycling systems. The system starts off with covered rain gutters where the rain runs down a pipe with a leaf catcher.  The first inch of rain runs out of the system and takes with it all sediment and residue from the roof.  It then runs to his buried 10,000 liter concrete tank.  He uses the rainwater for all the faucets in the house or anywhere the water can be ingested. All water waste or “used” water is then recycled and utilized for toilet flushing, irrigation, and washing clothes.  Through trial and error he has created a wetland to handle the runoff and mosquitoes.  This trial and error has led to Mobb unselfishly opening his house up as an educational tool where many can learn from his mistakes.  Additionally, in keeping with outreach, Mobb and his neighbors have created a community garden along with compost bins which line the streets and are open to anyone who wishes to use them. 

Mobb has used his 14 year journey as the groundwork for his new job as a consultant.  He has assisted several developers and has provided information on how to go off the main water system. 

On our walk back from the tour and discussion with Micheal Mobb we walked past a new development called One Central Park (www.centralparksydney.com.au).  The showroom was impressive...all white doting a green wall of plants.  Each plant was tucked into a felt pocket.  Each of the showrooms were uniquely designed by very distinctly different architects.  This developer plans to implement several sustainability projects like the green facade, rainwater collection, energy efficient appliances, trigeneration plant, and solar panels with reflective mirrors to heat the pool.  They are striving to obtain the highest green star rating.  

This find is just proof that cities like Sydney are green examples for the rest of us.

Sustainability in Sydney, Australia - Day 1

We arrived in Sydney on Sunday, January 9^th and visited the Powerhouse Museum – Ecologic Exhibit the following Monday.  The exhibit existed of a variety of educational displays including statistics on CO2 emissions, water pollution, footprint analysis, recycled materials, and building products just to name a few.   

You are able to learn why it is important to minimize the impact on our environment as well as resources we can utilize to do it.  There was a model of the Sustainable House that we plan to visit on Tuesday. The museum is a great resource for educational institutions, the community, and is a great template for our Fort Worth Resource Center.

Sustainability in Auckland, New Zealand

The visit with Gary Caulfield of Stanley Group on Monday, January 3^rd proved to be extremely informative and educational.   

 Stanley Group has been in business for 87 years and is divided into 4 divisions:

·    Stanley Construction: boasts of only producing 0.5% waste on projects due largely because of bulk purchasing procedures, good designs, and utilizing pre-cut timber

·    Stanley Eco-Build: cladding and green building elements, hasn’t really gathered too much momentum to date largely due to the economy, they are currently working on a Green Modular Classroom.

·    Stanley Joinery: manufactures kitchens, tables, and other case goods

·    Stanley Modular: develops innovative solutions utilizing off site fabricated, fully finished and furnished pods

Stanley conducted a carbon emissions study 2 years ago for approximately $20,000 solely because they felt it was the “right thing to do”.  Stanley is known for providing innovative solutions to unique development issues and projects. It is apparent that Stanley works diligently to minimize their waste and be aware of their impact on the environment by their 0.5% recorded waste statistic and their willingness to understand their footprint.  One obvious disadvantage for Stanley and other New Zealand contractors is the transportation issue.  To reduce emissions it would make the most sense to buy local whenever possible but some items are overpriced and the contractors can get the products a lot cheaper if they purchase overseas.  You just hope that by being proactive and diligent on the controlled sustainable features, it will neutralize this existing transportation anchor.  

Gary touched on one of the major problems with New Zealand’s existing structures: leaky buildings. New Zealand utilizes approximately 99% timber and 1% steel in their developments and the timber used between the years of 1983-2005 was untreated.  This plus the monolithic cladding and temperature extremes inhibited the buildings to move thus causing them to leak.  Gary estimated this to be a $12-20 billion problem just in the residential sector. This problem has resulted in several lawsuits as well as many more to come in the future.  The saddest fact really is that contractors can still purchase and use untreated lumber.

There appears to be some disconnects between the results intended and the actions taken from the New Zealand government regarding sustainable initiatives.  There is a huge deforestation process going on right now in order to provide open land for dairy production.  However, this initiative only allows for more CO2 emissions to be generated by the methane-producing animals.  Sort of robbing Peter to pay Paul type of scenario.

Lastly, Gary provided some excellent insight into New Zealand’s Green Council. The interim council began in 2004 followed by the full council in 2005.  The green rating tool was modeled after Australia’s system. There are 4 areas of focus: Design, As-Built, Existing, In-Use.  The tools for each of these systems cost approximately $100,000 to develop and were funded by industry.  Green Star buildings have not been sold at a premium however, Gary, has seen these building sell faster than other non-Green Star buildings. 

The walk from Stanley Group to Iron Bank took us through the museum, park, University, and the hospital, and finally to its home in the newly redeveloped area of the “red light district”.  This walk allowed us to see a large part of Auckland’s CBD.  To date this redevelopment only consists of approximately 3 of 4 restaurants and the Iron Bank development.  The actual Iron Bank, a $35 million project, is currently unoccupied or leased apart from one restaurant.  The most impressive feature would have to be the parking garage with the automatic car stacker.  We watched the car pull through the glass doors onto the automatic rail system where it ushers the car in to the elevator stacker.  The garage stores approximately 133 cars and cost $18 million to build.  

We met with Sarah Ballantyne with Cooper and Company, the developer and owner of Britomart, as well as Terry Buchanan with Hawkins Construction who is building out the project.  The Britomart East Project development will consist of retail space on the first floor and was originally designed for high-end residential space on the top three floors.  There would have been 14 apartments costing approximately $3 million each.  However, due to the economic climate Cooper and Company decided to adjust the designs for commercial office space.  These designs provide the owner with the flexibility to move back to residential if the market opens up.  The construction costs for the East Project are about $210 million NZ and is about 40,000 square meters (roughly 400,000 sq ft).  

Cooper and Company has fully leased the building to 3 companies: West Pak, Ernst & Young, and Southern Cross.  Southern Cross occupies about 20% and will be the first to occupy by the first of March.  The building received a Green Star 5 rating for design – high-energy efficiency.  Some of the sustainable features incorporated in the design are:

·    High performance glazing to provide excellent insulation

·    High frequency lighting ballasts

·    Low VOC products

·    Utility energy metering

·    Close proximity to public transport, no car parking facilities on site

·    Construction waster recycling and minimization

·    Integrated finish out with tenants

·    Grey water retention, storage and reuse facility – collect rainwater for toilet  flushing

Although not originally intended as a mix use building, this like many development projects we have seen thus far, seem to benefit by the advantage of catering to residential and business customers. With the US housing market’s recent downward trend it would be interesting to determine if the success of recent projects such as Addison Circle (Near Dallas, Texas) has encountered success compared to single use buildings built during the same time period.

Sustainability in Hamilton, New Zealand

We hit to road bright and early at 7:30am for Hamilton for the International Sustainability Conference where Dr. Forgey was presenting a paper on sustainability program development.  While in Hamilton, we stopped by the impressive Hamilton Gardens.   

The Gardens are owned by the City and managed by the City Council.  The Gardens are divided into 5 different collections:

·      Paradise Garden Collection – a look at gardens around the world

·      Productive Garden Collection – gardens used for purpose and education

·      Fantasy Garden Collection – perfume

·      Cultivator Garden Collection

·      Landscape Garden Collection

The most relevant garden to us was the Sustainable Backyard Garden in the Productive Garden Collection.  This garden featured re-purposed household items as outdoor furniture, innovative composting techniques, liquid manure production display, worm 

Sustainability in Rotorua, New Zealand

Picked up the vans early on Wednesday, January 5^th and started off on our 3 ½  hour drive to Rotorua. First off, I think it is important to mention that Rotorua is rich in Maori culture and one of the “deep-rooted concepts” of this culture is the idea of manaakitanga.  This concept implies guardianship over the land, the people, and its visitors.  Rotorua has developed a Sustainable Tourism Charter (www.rotoruaNZ.com) and encourages all visitors to support Charter members. Additionally, the city encourages recycling, reduction – waste and transportation, and preservation – water and land.

Once in Rotorua, we visited the Aquatic Center to learn about their Enviro-Gold rating and sustainability initiatives within their business practices.  Some of the initiatives include:

·      Geothermal heating systems for pools

·      Extensive recycling program for all visitors and staff

·      Sought out and corrected water leaks

·      Automatic chemical regulators – minimizes the unnecessary draining and refilling of the pools

·      Organic vegetable garden for staff

The Aquatic Center, proved to be a fascinating point of interest. However, the success of such businesses seems to be greatly impacted by the support of the city and it’s like minded community. A public center such as this is allowed to thrive because the demand has been created by outside sources.

New Zealand SHAC 2009 Projects

The Sustainable Habitat Challenge (SHAC) consisted of nine teams: Canterbury, Central Otago, Housewise, Whareuku, Waikato, The Plant Room, Dunedin, Ecocrib, and BACH101.  Each of these teams took on the challenge of incorporating sustainable features on either new residential construction projects or by retrofitting existing residences.  The overall goal of all the projects was to allow theory to become practice by providing educators, students, and industry professionals with the opportunity to put their ideas into action.  This provides future builders valuable insights into sustainable best practices: what worked and what didn't. 

These projects were all achieved by the help and support of their community.  For example the Whareuku team designed low-income single family housing and educated the local community on the construction process.  Establishing these low cost solutions not only benefits New Zealand residents but has the potential of impacting many other populations in need.  Ideally, the diversity of these nine projects will provide vital solutions for a variety of sustainable development projects.