High-performance responsive building envelopes are an integral part of a sustainable building. A well-designed envelope can ensure that occupants of buildings have productive and healthy internal environments that do not require large amounts of energy.
An introduction to objectives, characteristics and approaches used in designing building envelopes can be accessed here.
Clean water is becoming an increasingly scarce commodity. Sustainable buildings aim to develop systems to minimise the consumption and pollution of this resource. Careful design is used to develop rainwater harvesting, plumbing and ecological sanitation systems that enable buildings to be self-reliant for their water needs and avoid polluting water. This reduces the requirement for large-scale water and sanitation infrastructure that consumes energy and can be wasteful.
High-performance sustainable water systems in buildings are therefore becoming more important. An introduction to objectives, characteristics and calculations used to design these systems can be accessed here.
The relationship between food, the built environment and sustainability has not been widely researched. However, food consumption patterns can have a significantly negative impact on the environment, as well as beneficial impacts on human health and well-being. For instance, locally grown food has much lower carbon emissions associated with it compared to imported, highly processed, foods. Similarly, a balanced and nutritious diet ensures health and wellbeing while a poor diet leads to increased susceptibility to ill-health and disease. Achieving sustainability, therefore requires food that both promotes health and has low negative environmental impacts (sustainable foods). This can be enhanced or hindered by built environments.
A paper on built environment criteria that can be used to assess sustainable food environments can be accessed here.
South African is a water scarce country and studies indicate that 98% of available water supplies are already exploited. In addition, a number of South African cities, such as Johannesburg, are vulnerable to water shortages if a severe drought occurs (Department of Environmental Affairs, 2011).
Therefore, it is important to understand how water can be used as efficiently as possible and to explore alternatives to municipal piped water supplies. Rainwater harvesting provides a simple way of capturing and storing water which can be used to supplement, or replace municipal water supplies. It can be used to reduce the pressure on municipal systems and provides a valuable buffer for households and businesses against drought and local water shortages.
This chapter describes how rainwater harvesting can play a valuable role in increasing the resilience and sustainability of water supply. The different types of rainwater harvesting systems are described and advantages and disadvantages of the technology listed. Some of the key design and operational principles are presented to enable the practicality and applicability of systems to be understood. Finally, conclusions are drawn and policy, and other, recommendations are made to support the increased adoption of rainwater harvesting systems in South Africa.
Full article can be accessed here
Karen Eicker, from Earthworks magazine, reviews the DEA building, one year after completion. The review suggests sustainability targets are being met and the occupants are happy with the building. Performance so far has been:
Full article available here.
SBAT Residential Design 1.03 is out. The Sustainable Building Assessment Tool (SBAT) Residential 1.03 is an Excel-based assessment tool and manual. It includes social, economic and environmental criteria for the assessment of houses and apartments and their neighbourhoods.
Sitting too long can be bad for your health. Recent work in the UK, captured in the ‘Get Britain Standing’ website suggests that sitting over 4 hours a day leads to:
A web-based calculator is provided where you can calculate the time you spend sitting and your risk level. However in addressing health risk associated with sedentary lifestyles, guidance on the site suggests that there is a tendency to overdo exercise and go from a ‘Reverse’ gear, or very sedentary activity levels to á ‘Third’ or ‘Fourth’ gear involving running or other strenuous activity.
This leads to stalling as the activity cannot be maintained and sedentary habits are re-established. Instead, the guidance suggests a slow, gear-by-gear, increase in activity such as more standing and walking before leading to activities like running, once there is better fitness. A snapshot of the R, and 1, 2, 3 and 4th gear levels of activity is shown below.
There are obvious implications for the design and management of work environments and a range of interesting measures to reduce sitting could be explored:
Characteristics of healthy workspaces will be included in the Sustainable Building Assessment Tool (SBAT) Working tool, which is being developed for work environments. A paper on sedentary offices can be accessed in downloads.
The design guidelines were developed to support the development of energy efficient buildings in
Johannesburg and provide practical guidance on ways of designing buildings that reduce energy
consumption and carbon emissions. The guide has a focus on design for energy efficiency and a strong emphasis on passive environmental control, day lighting and the use of renewable energy such as solar power.
Access the guidelines here.