Understorey: Clear Call for Sustainable Design
Any builder in Western Australia must contend with building codes which have been slow to promote sustainability. The rating code we have does not consider nor value sustainable materials, embodied energy, choice of hot water systems and lighting, electricity sources, collection of rainwater, the presence of cooling vegetation or even more contextual questions about walkability, bike rideability, and access to public transport. We still have housing estates built without consideration of their orientation for best use of and protection from the sun, nor which consider the end use of building materials. The ‘first home owner grants’ ignore the disadvantages to young families and other first time builders about the environmental costs of things like living too far from the city centres. There are no opportunities for house owners or renters to borrow money from WA’s local or state governments to place energy and waste saving measures in their homes, loans which would end up paying back to everyone. Instead we are being offered little or big boxes, air-conditioners throughout, less suited to the environmental conditions that they could be. Add to that the fact that Western Australia has one of the highest waste levels per capita in the country. More than half the waste is from construction and demolition projects so it’s more than WA’s municipal and commercial waste streams combined.construction and demolition waste, about three quarters ends up in landfill. As we build more houses and apartments and offices, and knocking others down, most of the rubble goes into the more than 30 landfills in the Perth region – and we’re rapidly running out of places to put this construction and demolition waste.
But good news is at hand, if we search for it there are some who are thinking about these questions and acting on the solutions. Roy Lewisson is encountering the practicalities of how WA owner builders can build houses mindful of the environment. He’s creating a small building project in the Fremantle suburb of White Gum Valley using sustainable energy design. Understorey gleans some of his best insights, which if adapted more widely, could bring our city into the second decade of the 21st century.
If you’re looking for a good calculator to measure your carbon footprint, check out https://carbonpositiveaustralia.org.au.
Photo: E. PO’
