John was challenged to use nature as the ultimate measuring stick for the built environment in a workshop series at the Living Building Challenge last year.

The workshop was intended for anyone interested in creating a truly sustainable built environment and provided industry professionals with an understanding of how they could adopt the restorative principles of the program into their practices.

‘The Fifth Estate’, 8 February 2012 

In the world of climate change and inefficient buildings everyone is clamouring for more efficient air conditioning systems and improved lighting to reduce energy loads and carbon.

Air conditioning uses a large proportion of energy in buildings. The rule of thumb in trying to drop air temperature down from something quite hot – say 38 degrees Celsius external temperature to a default comfort level of around 22 degrees – is that air conditioning uses around 40 per cent of the energy in a building.

If we stand back and take an objective look at building design and what inhabitant thermal comfort is really about we may be able to significantly reduce that air conditioning energy use by adjusting our notions of comfort.

We would need to consider natural ventilation as either the main option for ventilative cooling and providing fresh air or at least have it working in conjunction with air conditioning.

In an air conditioned building with comfort levels controlled through the commonly used temperature set points, there will always be 10-15 per cent of occupants dissatisfied.

The empirical research undertaken worldwide across a range of climates and buildings indicates a naturally ventilated facility will have around the same levels of user dissatisfaction.

We also need to remember that occupant comfort isn’t just based around temperature related conditions it is also based around air quality. Air quality in naturally ventilated buildings is higher than in air conditioned buildings.

If we utilise the hybrid technology of natural ventilation and air conditioning then we can significantly reduce the amount of energy used and carbon created to make a building comfortable.

Combine that initiative with the proven concept of adaptive comfort and how valuable that is in improving user comfort and reducing energy use in naturally ventilated buildings then natural ventilation should be considered as a major option across most of the Australian climate range.

The National Institute of Science and Technology, USA has some preliminary analysis software that indicates that with an adaptive comfort range of 20-27 natural ventilation cooling for around 78 per cent of the year in Sydney.

In Melbourne that figure becomes 93 per cent of the year because of climate conditions which are even more conducive to natural ventilation. This is using an internal heat load of 100 watts a square metre which is very high and would be considered the worst case scenario for internal heat loads in a commercial building. That is a lot of energy saving and reduced carbon. That is not to mention the major improvements in indoor climate that are often credited with increased user satisfaction, higher retail sales, productivity and improved learning outcomes.

Natural or passive ventilation has not been readily embraced in Australia for the past 50 years but in Europe and the hot dry humid climates of the Middle East and Asia it is traditionally very popular.

What these countries have learned is that natural ventilation must have the appropriate control strategies to work effectively in modern building types. Simply opening or closing a window manually has been shown to not be effective.

Users will open or close too early or too late. With a smart control system designed specifically for the nuances and broad range of criteria needed to control natural ventilation that still offer user control and override, natural ventilation will maximise comfort and energy efficiency.

There are many ways to assist the efficacy of natural ventilation through the building based on the use of pressure differences across the façade and inside the building. Click here for more

Brodie recently visited Vim Sustainability’s Oxygen Farm in Northern NSW which contains roughly 300 acres of forest. Analysis based on the CSIRO show that the trees provide oxygen for approximately 5500 people.

Brodie also comments on the impact of smoking on our environment that is rarely spoken about and is likely to raise a few eyebrows. If we look at the number of smokers around the world and multiply the amount of smoke that those cigarettes emit, it’s an extraordinary amount of smoke. Not to mention the embodied energy used in the manufacture of the cigarettes.

Landscaping is another area in which we need to put more focus on, in the way we design buildings and communities. Landscaping has major impacts on views and it is about providing a community with high quality of air, in and around buildings. These ideas were raised to Brodie in the lecture series he attended in Hong Kong.

Other ideas brought to the fore include landscaping as a means of providing cooling and encouraging air flow. The ‘living machine’ concept was also talked about, which was designed by Dr. John Todd in the 70’s and its amazing ability to use landscaping for sewerage has proven popular worldwide.

Shade cloths in a light colour are one solution. Shade cloths are great for the hot Australasian climate where they can reduce heat loads in your house by 3-4%.

But, sustainability is made up of all little bits and pieces, there is no one silver bullet.

The whole urban design equation is full of competing demands. One of the key factors is transport modes. A lot of work is going on in regards to urban planning and climatology etc.

Skylights are another good solution but they need to be properly designed and specified so they do not let great heat loads inside during summer.

Solar hot water systems are also a no-brainer. They have a lot of uses to heat houses, heat water that can be run into dishwaters, driers, washing machines etc. This means that the heating function doesn’t have to come from electricity- it is energy and carbon free.

Brodie also touches upon the Green Garage Concept- which is an exciting development in hybrid cars and power grid generation which will be a lot more efficient than a power station.

The percentage of fresh air in air conditioners is quite minimal causing your nose and mouth to dry out. This is caused from breathing in the same air all night. While air conditioning is great to take you from 40 to 20°C, it can result in many respiratory illnesses or dry eyes to name just a few symptoms.

There are different types of air conditioning units. Now buildings are looking at minimizing or changing the types of systems being used. Green star ratings in commercial buildings encourage significant amounts of outside air that minimizes the amount of air conditioning being used. In addition, things like using hot water from the sun or storing water underground uses less energy.

We need air conditioning because we don’t build buildings right. Who is getting it right is the Rocky Mountains Institute located in Colorado, USA. They are a leading think tank on sustainability and they use no artificial heating whatsoever to heat/ cool their building!

Sustainability is also about efficiency- in the way we design and operate buildings. If you’re not being efficient, you’re not making money and you won’t survive.

Things to think about:

1)      Local climate analysis- what climate can bring to the building- can it add energy?

2)      Shape and materials used in buildings to minimize gadgets.

3)      Level of comfort people will accept in building. Is it a living environment?

Calder Flower are the appointed architects and Vim Sustainability has worked closely with them on a range of aged care projects over the last few years, including Uniting Care Aged Care (UCA) Elanora at Shellharbour, NSW.

Vim’s experience in Aged Care sustainability and especially with providers such as UCA gives us a clear understanding of how we can make your facility more sustainable.

The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) is committed to a whole new concept of sustainable schools. They designed and built a relocatable classroom to be completely sustainable with all natural materials, daylight and ventilation. It is the exemplar project for a whole new way of doing schools.

Unique Danish Technology was used in this project. Denmark is leading the world in renewable energy technology primarily in Wind Turbines and Indoor Climate Quality.

Brodie will be attending a conference at Hong Kong University on urban sustainability in tropical climates, urban heat island effects and the designing of buildings for tropical climates. Leading professors will provide research and analysis on topics that are right at the cutting edge of sustainability.

Shade sails are an extraordinarily cheap way of providing an enormous amount of shade while still allowing some sun and shade to come through.

Appropriately designed shade sails can be a great advantage if they are part of an integrated concept. We have to remember that we do not always live in a hot climate. Ideally, shade sails will keep out the hot sun in summer and allow the sun to come in, in winter.

Utilizing planting around or near shade sails, that can be kept moist, will provide moisture through which the breeze can pass and create cooling for the house.

Micro-climate landscape planting is a smart way of reducing heat loads on buildings.

Other forms of passive cooling and heating include the direction of the building; whether it is facing towards the sun or sheltering from cool winds in winter, the roof colours, shading, and the shape of the  windows, as these will determine the amount of daylight that comes in and projects into the room.

Hydronic heating and cooling from water is also mentioned, as well as thermal load, heat climates and urban heat islands.

We live on the driest continent on the planet and we are really bad at managing water. We need to capture rain water and reduce the amount of water we waste.  Some people have taken the initiative of installing rain water tanks in their houses which is a great idea with the ever increasing cost of water.  But infrastructure is where we are really falling down now. We need to move away from centralized power stations and move towards energy consumption that is laid out, to improve efficiency.

The McKinsey Report highlights the cost of our damage to the environment which is in the trillions of dollars and is unquantifiable. The Carbon Tax is trying to remedy this by penalizing those who are the highest emitters of carbon. Ultimately, the financial side of things will not exist if we do not have an environment.

We all insure our car or house if something were to go wrong, we’ve done something about that and now it is time with the Carbon Tax for us to do something about our damage on the environment.

Improvements in the built environment can be made by passive and low-tech solutions, such as insulation in walls and roof, and double glaze windows which increase comfort levels and reduce energy use.