Why Build Sustainable?

Western societies have evolved with an attitude that resource usage is directly related to financial affordability. Now it is time for our society to re-evaluate and decide it's approach toward building and household infrastructure.

It is time to remember that the cost of providing services to a household is greater than the financial cost to the occupier. It includes the cost of limited primary resources and emissions created during production. If the environment is to remain sustainable, individuals within the society need to work with the environment rather than from it.

The ideal of sustainable building will challenge that attitude. Home owners need to consider the the resources they consume: -

- is the product sustainable, - is there a sustainable alternative, - and how will the product be disposed of at the end of it's life?

The worldwide wake up call on the urgency of sustainability has been the depletion of the ozone layer from greenhouse emissions. It has forced an international review of the usage of limited resources and the management/disposal of waste.

The UN Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio in 1992 adopted Agenda 21 as a policy plan outlining the actions to be taken by governments nationally as well as internationally to achieve sustainable development. The next Earth Summit, Rio +10, will be held in Johannesburg in 2002.


In 1997 the Australian Government signed the Kyoto Protocol, committing to reduce the amount of greenhouse emissions produced by 2010 - 2012. It was calculated that by 2010, with business as usual, the greenhouse emissions would have increased to 145% of the 1990 level. The Australian government agreed to reduce greenhouse emissions to 108% of the 1990 level (Australian Greenhouse Office, 1999).

In 2000 the emissions are 116% of the 1990 level (ReNew, 2000). We are behind target. This is very significant to the building industry and consumer as 50% of power consumption in Australia is used in construction and running of residential homes.

Links:
http://prorev.com/ecology6.htm
http://www.earthcharter.org
http://www.dar.csiro.au/information/climatechange.html
http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/pubs/gwci/howdohouse.html
http://www.seda.nsw.gov.au/