Description:

BUILDING ECOLOGY: FIRST PRINCIPLES FOR A SUSTAINABLE BUILT ENVIRONMENT Peter Graham Lecturer – Architecture Faculty of the Built Environment University of New South Wales Sydney, Australia Blackwell Science © 2003 by Blackwell Science Ltd, a Blackwell Publishing company Editorial offices: Blackwell Science Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK Tel: +44 (0)1865 776868 Blackwell Publishing Inc., 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA Tel: +1 781 388 8250 Blackwell Science Asia Pty Ltd, 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia Tel: +61 (0)3 8359 1011 The right of the Author to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. Line drawings by Anita Lincolne-Lomax, Lincolne-Lomax Design, Melbourne, Australia First published 2003 by Blackwell Science Ltd Reprinted 2005 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available ISBN-10: 0-632-06413-7 ISBN-13: 978-0632-06413-7 A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library Set in 10.5 12.5pt Palatino by Sparks, Oxford – www.sparks.co.uk Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall The publisher’s policy is to use permanent paper from mills that operate a sustainable forestry policy, and which has been manufactured from pulp processed using acid-free and elementary chlorine-free practices. Furthermore, the publisher ensures that the text paper and cover board used have met acceptable environmental accreditation standards. For further information on Blackwell Publishing, visit our website: www.blackwellpublishing.com Dedicated to my Nan Phyllis Moulton CONTENTS Acknowledgements xi About this book xiii 1 Introduction 1 A hive of understanding 2 What do BEEs know? 5 What do BEEs do with what they know? 7 The need for BEEs 10 In the mind of the BEE 15 References 18 Part I Interdependency: How Building Affects Nature 21 Introduction 22 2 Life-Cycle Thinking: How BEEs Think About Interdependency Through Time 25 Introduction 25 Life-cycle assessment 26 References 33 3 Building Metabolism: How BEEs Understand Effects on the Whole System 34 Introduction 34 Stocks 35 Flows 54 References 75 4 Impacts: The Effects of Current Practice 82 Introduction 82 Impact categories 82 Impacts on global cycles 86 Impacts on ecosystems 104 References 118 5 Summary: What Do BEEs Know Now? Why interdependency is important to understand 124 The major issues 124 The major impacts 125 What is next? 127 More information 127 Part II Building Ecological Sustainability Introduction In the beginning… 134 6 Thermodynamics: Underlying Physical Laws 137 Introduction 137 Knowledge of conservation and efficiency 138 Knowledge of entropy 139 Problems with our designs 146 References 151 7 Change: Ecological Sustainability Through Time 154 Introduction 154 Intention 156 Surprise 166 Sustainable development 175 References 187 8 Summary: What Do BEEs Know Now? Thermodynamics 193 Change 194 What is next? 195 More information 196 References 199 Part III The Beehive Revealed Introduction Natural Laws and Principles of Ecological Sustainability 203 Laws of ecologically sustainable building 204 Principles for ecologically sustainable building 205 Strategies for ecologically sustainable building 215 References 228 10 Developing Ecological Sustainability in Built Environments How should we progress? 230 Glossaries Environmental management planning is a process for identifying the environmental impacts of an organisation, formulating goals, objectives and procedures, and implementing a plan to reduce those environmental impacts. Implementation is a process of continual improvement where the effectiveness of the plan is monitored and results feed back to management for both internal and external auditing. The development and operation of environmental management systems is subject to the ISO 14000 series standards. Exposure of resource supply and disposal pathways (Development phase: design) We normally hide water and gas mains, stormwater and sewerage pipes. Exposing parts of these services helps promote systems thinking. Habitat and species surveys (Development phase: feasibility) Processes for identifying areas inhabited by wildlife. These surveys are often carried out by government agencies charged with environmental protection. Particular concern is given to identifying rare habitat and endangered species so that their protection can be incorporated into building development plans. Life-cycle assessment (Development phase: design) A method for compilation evaluation of the inputs, outputs and the potential environmental impacts of a product system throughout its life cycle.19 Life-cycle cost planning (Development phase: feasibility and design) Also known as life-cost planning,20 is a method for evaluating both the capital and recurring costs of a project at the feasibility and design phase. Traditional cost planning focuses on all costs associated with a building project up to the stage of handover. Including calculation of recurring costs at the design phase allows the project team to factor in financial savings associated with providing higher environmental performance. When measures taken to improve the environmental performance of a building increase its capital cost, life-cost planning can show any associated financial savings and determine a ‘pay-back’ period. The pay-back period is the amount of time it takes for savings in building operating costs to equal any additional capital costs associated with environmental performance. Long-life loose fit design (Development phase: design) This lifecycle design philosophy requires designers to think beyond the client’s initial requirements and envisage not only the construction and economic life cycles of a building, but also consideration of possible future use, periodic maintenance, refurbishment, and eventual demolition. One key aspect of this strategy is designing to allow flexibility in use. Designing durable structures and flexible interiors can allow, for example, offices to become apartments, shop houses to become restaurants, or detached housing to become medical or commercial office space. This minimises resource consumption by avoiding demolition, saves energy by not having to reconstruct the structure, and in many cases helps preserve culturally significant buildings. Life-cycle design can also be applied to housing design in order to respond to changing family needs. Houses can be designed to allow cost-effective alteration or expansion to cater for first home buyers, growing or extended families, and the elderly, without the need to build a different house for each situation. Operating and maintenance instructions for the building as a system (Development phase: operation) Instructions for how the building should be operated as a system in order to maximise environmental benefits. Instructions should cover the use of building systems like ventilation, cooling and heating systems, as well as how to use the structure of the building and the properties of the materials that it contains. Instructions might include how to operate passive ventilation systems by opening and closing windows or vents in different areas to enhance natural ventilation. Passive solar design (Development phase: design) See bio-climatic design. Refurbish rather than build new (Development phase: feasibility) Modifying existing buildings for reuse, rather than assuming a client’s needs can only be met through the construction of a new building. Waste minimisation planning (Development phase: construction, operation and disposal) Waste minimisation planning is a systematic approach to ensuring that a building produces minimal waste. The planning process involves identifying possible causes of waste and waste streams by conducting an audit; choosing appropriate design, procurement and management responses to minimise waste; setting challenging and achievable goals for employees to encourage waste minimising behaviour; monitoring performance; providing feedback; and recognising good performance. The best results for the environment and financially are achieved when waste is avoided. The waste minimisation approach is therefore to avoid (or refuse) waste, then reduce, reuse and recycle. Other glossaries International Energy Agency Annex 31 http://annex31.wiwi.uni-karlsruhe.de/ANNEX_XXXI_glossary.htm Provides a comprehensive glossary of terms for environmental performance assessment of buildings. It was developed by an international team of researchers representing fourteen countries. The glossary is downloadable and is written in most European languages and Japanese. BDP Environment Design Guide (Australia) http://www.raia.com.au A useful guide for architects and building designers. References 1 Harding, R. (ed.) (1998) Environmental Decision-Making: the roles of scientists, engineers and the public. The Federation Press, Leichhardt, Australia. p.110. 2 Cunningham, P. & Saigo, B. (1997) Environmental Science: a global concern. Fourth Edition. McGraw Hill, New York. p.612. 3 Australian Greenhouse Office (1999) Scoping study of minimum energy performance requirements for incorporation into the building code of Australia. Australian Greenhouse Office, Canberra, Australia. p.75. 4 Strauss, B.H. (1996)_ Ключевые слова: embodied, increase, interdependency, material, decision, solar chimney, principle, ecological literacy, crude oil, diversity, black box, declining health, press, law, built environment, ecology, source, consultative committee, recycling, ecosystem, macmillan press, site, edition, time, melbourne, monograph institute, nitrous oxide, bar heater, emission, water, beehive revealed, cib, irian jaya, global, aquatic environment, environmental impact, ecological footprint, life, create, reuse, resource, largest consumer, common thread, sustainable, environment, earth, global cycle, ha, rooftop pavement, structure, evaluate, pollution, kibert, hill, crushed concrete, solar radiation, toilet ushing, building, cement, impact, transport, specie, usa, production, intergovernmental panel, australian bureau, knowledge, fossil fuel, school, required, initiate, economic, order, timber, report, james hardie, pulau semakau, biodiversity, international ecocity, van oss, functional aspiration, life cycle, process, development wced, ecologically systems, toledo spain, greenhouse gas, development, ecosystems, renewable, form, detached housing, ecological sustainability, technology, change, basic infrastructure, major, lovins, algal bloom, sanitary infrastructure, classical denition, canada, york, ecological emergence, environmental literacy, symonds group, relationship, housing subdivision, industrial revolution, civil engineering, tropical forest, sustainable building, national academy, people, thermal mass, life-cycle perspective, london, environmental science, solar, community, feedback, earths crust, waste, blackwell science, australian, functional adaptability, social, odum, quality, study, bees, noise dust, doubling wealth, food, environmental management, groundwater shock, matter, ecological, sustainability, old-growth forest, environmental toxicology, environmental, heat, international council, sustainable construction, ecologically, ecologically robust, sophisticated modelling, fuel, built, environmental performance, chapter, environmental prole, area, achievable goal, thermodynamics, provide, project, ecologically literate, ozone depletion, led, evans brothers, minerals, activity, industry, work, solar collector, international standard, local farmer, phase, urban run-off, greener sheets, issue, watch marchapril, human, rainwater collection, ecologically sustainable, life-cycle, argus cowl, life-cycle implication, design, paper, case, performance, consumption, natural, institute, surrounding hinterland, biogeochemical cycle, october, future, strategy, construction, hong kong, ventilation cooling, building material, sustainable practices, condition, urban, plant, sulphur cycle, nature, buffer zone, product, solar income, city, assessment, carnoules declaration, goal setting, energy, industry sector, atmospheric concentration, imprint sykes, understanding, planning, interior nishes, surface run-off, life-cycle assessment, kuala lumpur, cycle, international union, watch, australia, cyprus perspective, carrying capacity