Sustainable building design encapsulates the entirety of the building design process and the construction of the house or renovation. It affects what materials you use in construction and what fixtures are installed for ongoing use within the home.
Sustainable design starts at the very beginning of the design process with site selection, it is all about taking advantage and utilising specific aspects and traits of a site and incorporating them into the design of the house, renovation or addition.
It also takes into consideration the embodied energy of materials and the greenhouse gas emissions of the transportation of the materials used for the construction of the project.
There is a need for a change in the way people approach their building projects. With the average Australian household emitting around 14 tonnes of greenhouse gases each year there is great room for improvement. With people making an active choice to pursue sustainable design it not only helps the environment but also helps the home owners back pocket with regards to the ongoing running expense of their home and makes you, as the home owner, less vulnerable to price increases from the utility companies.
The government have in recent years legislated for specific items to be included in new homes and major renovations which is a great move towards a sustainable society. These legislative requirements among other topics will be discussed in future posts in the series.
