Everything you do has an impact on the environment …at some level

1. Greening the Market:Ecospecifier and Its ImpactsDavid Baggs FRAIANatural Integrated LivingTEFMA ConferenceJuly 04

2. Everything you do has an impact on the environment …at some level Implementing Sustainability is a way of ensuring a better, safer and more stable future…

3. Sustainability needs to deliver outcomes in: • Social • Environmental • Economic • Political (Policies @ Local, State & National) & • Education spheres

4. Ecological Footprint • Australia’s Ecological Footprint is similar to the US

5. US raw material consumption, 1900-1995 (Matos & Wagner)

6. Building activity consumes about 40% of the planet’s material resources ~Approximately 3 billion tonnes of raw minerals/year

7. Australian Commodities Moved, 2000-01. Total 1.17 billion tonnes (ABS 9220.0 p.27) – approx 60 tonnes per person

8. Contributions of inputs from Australian life to economy, employment, greenhouse gas emissions(ABS, ABARE data aggregated by A. Pears)

9. Victorian Wastes, 2000-01 (EcoRecycle 2002). 91% of recycled metal is steel

10. Resource Recovery

11. Material Ecological Rucksacks • The production of most common materials is inherently wasteful

12. What is an Eco-material? • Materials that are environmentally preferred… • Are salvaged, or contain recycled materials; • Extraction processes are not harmful; • Manufacturing causes no harm; • Requires minimal maintenance in use; • Doesn’t cause illness; • Reusable or recyclable with minimal additional energy or processing; • Are durable

13. Renewable or Non-Renewable? • Renewable resources can be used inunsustainable ways – No materials are innocent.

14. What is a Sustainable Material? • Even environmentally friendly materials can be used in unsustainable ways! • Ecological sustainability is an emergent quality of a designed system – sustainability is a property of design, not of a material. • ‘Built’ systems • ‘Construction’ systems • ‘Procurement’ systems • ‘Supply’ systems

15. Natural Systems: • Emulating Natural Systems is more sustainable- they… • Use new things least • Turn “waste into food”- ie, no waste • Use all available energy quality • Become resilient by developing diversity • Are cyclic not linear

16. Materials cycles planning • Fast-cycling materials and systems need to be able to be replaced without damaging slow-cycling materials

17. Environmental performance rating

18. Understanding Barriers • Greenwash

19. Understanding Barriers • Disparate data-sets

20. What are the detail issues?

21. What are the detail issues?

22. What are the detail issues?

23. Identifying Priorities • Priority setting: ‘Global Environmental Priorities’ Source: Ecology and Welfare Subcommittee of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Science Advisory Board 1990.

24. Global & Australian EnvironmentalPriorities: • Biodiversity/Habitat destruction • Climate Change (energy, methane) • Toxics emissions to air, land and water • Resource use- water, land • Biological oxygen demand (nutrients) & turbidity (fine particles) in rivers and sea

25. Global & Australian Social & Economic Priorities : • Human Health • Thermal Comfort • Security • Equitable access • Economically affordable

26. Global & Australian Sustainability Priorities: • Biodiversity/Habitat destruction • Climate Change (energy, methane) • Human Health, Toxics emissions to air, land and water • Resource use- water, land • Biological oxygen demand & turbidity • Equitable access • Economically affordable

27. Identify Project Priorities • Setting targets, benchmarks, minimums • Does the client have particular requirements? What are these? • Is the project being assessed against a market assessment tool e.g. Greenstar? ABGRT? BERS? BASIX? • Does the project have to meet unwritten rules e.g. local products?

28. Work with What’s Possible • Select the best in class • Identify the low-hanging fruit • Differences within a class of product can be staggering • Take a systems approach first, and then looking for the best performers that address the eco-priorities goes a long way.

29. Looking at Priorities • Embodied energy of base building: 50,000m2 office Source: http://buildlca.rmit.edu.au/menu9.html

30. Have the Information Available Conventional vs. high-recycled content products Cost penalty: $0 Source: CFD simapro modelling on 55% slag extender and 100% recycled steel from electric arc furnace

31. Right Questions in Right Order • Embodied vs. operational energy Source: Treloar et al. 1997

32. Have a Robust Methodology • Initial vs. ‘in-use’ impacts • Reality can be counter intuitive Int Jnl LCA 4 (6) 1999 “Including the Use Phase in LCA of Floor Coverings” p.326

33. Identifying the low hanging fruit • Based on Embodied Energy and Resource Consumption the major fitout issues in priority are: • Furniture; • Floor Finishes; • Wall finishes; • Internal Walls

34. Decision Making • Project Specific Checklist for materials • Appropriate use: is it necessary? • Fate: start with the end in mind • Energy: assess net energy over life • Biodiversity: protect and preserve • Toxicity: acute, persistent and/or accumulative? • Resources: scarce or non-renewable? • Social: socially sustainable? • Systems thinking: does it create design synergies?

36. What is ecospecifier?ecospecifier is a guide to innovative eco-preferable products and materials for the construction industry, specifically tailored to the needs of decision makers and specifiers

37. EcoSpecifier delivers both knowledge and product data

38. ecospecifier: why now? • A range of new standards, including: • the Aust. Green Building Council’s ‘GreenStars’ rating tools, • Building Code of Australia Energy changes, • The mandatory NSW Enviro’ rating tool ‘BASIX’ • The ACT ‘High Quality Building Design’ Policy • SE QLD’s Sustainable Residential Code • The Aust. Building Greenhouse Rating Tool and • ‘NABERS’ the National Building Environment Rating Scheme • of the Aust. Dept Environment and Heritage Are just some of the policies driving the need for material and product assessment in the market place

39. ecospecifier: why now? • As well as the increasing awareness of up and downstream implications of design & materials decisions in economic, social/legal/OH&S and ecological contexts

40. ecospecifier: project partners ecospecifieris a not-for-profit collaborationbetween: • . • RMIT University’s Centre for Design, leaders in eco-design and life-cycle assessment, and • Natural Integrated Living, the award-winning NSW & QLD based ESD consultancy led by David Baggs and Mary-Lou Kelly

41. ecospecifier: building an industry service • ecospecifier is a totally independent subscription–based service • 130 products available in the public domain

42. ecospecifier features: • and a subscriber database of over 1000eco-preferable products independently vetted against 30 common industry categories and 130 sub categories

43. ecospecifier features: • technical guides for in-depth information on complex issues such as plastics, paints and adhesives, carpets, timber specification, life-cycle, etc. • extensive links • further resources

44. ecospecifier features: • monthly updates • regular feature products • local and international case studies • monthly newsletter

45. ecospecifier: product assessment • ecospecifier is not about product certification but: • providing information for improving decision making • improving the quality and transparency of information on the sustainability of products in the marketplace

46. ecospecifier: product assessment • 5 levels of data quality identified • Ecolabels (Australian and International) • Life-cycle assessed • Independent verification • Manufacturer declaration (ecospecifier questionnaire certified by director of company under trade practices act) • Expert assessment • …and combination of above

47. ecospecifier features: • may be queried by Product Categories (selector.com) and sub-categories (e.g. floors> carpet), by Eco-Outcomes (e.g. ‘water efficient’, ‘low VOC’) and user Keyword

48. ecospecifier: building knowledge • recognising that there is no replacement for face-to-face learning and peer-to-peer education ecospecifier produces in-depth seminars • these can be general or organisation specific

49. ecospecifier: a flyover

50. product search This search is for interior grade paint products • Select the ‘Product Search’ Screen • Use the ‘Product Category’ pull-down’s to find the category ‘Paints and Surface Treatments’ with the sub-category ‘Paints and Stains’ • BUT before doing the search check • the ‘Category Eco-priorities’