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

© ecospecifier 2004

Greening the Market: Ecospecifier and Its Impacts

David Baggs FRAIA

Natural Integrated Living

TEFMA ConferenceJuly 04


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…


Sustainability needs to deliver outcomes in:

•Social•Environmental•Economic

•Political (Policies @ Local, State & National) &

•Education spheres


Ecological Footprint

– Australia’s Ecological Footprint is similar to the US


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


Building activity consumes about 40% of the planet’s material resources ~

Approximately 3 billion tonnes of raw minerals/year

Construction MateialsOther


Australian Commodities Moved, 2000-01. Total 1.17

billion tonnes (ABS 9220.0 p.27) – approx 60 tonnes per person

Grain5%

Food, bevs, animals

10%

Crude materials

6%

Wood, cork3%

Coal, gas & petroleum

27%

General freight7%Manuf goods

7%

Chemicals2%

Metal ores, iron & steel

24%Stone sand,

gravel & cement

9%


Contributions of inputs from Australian life to economy, employment, greenhouse gas emissions

(ABS, ABARE data aggregated by A. Pears)

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Food prod'n, processing

Materials

Goods

Services

Transport

Shelter

Energy, water supply

% GDP %Employment %Greenhouse


Victorian Wastes, 2000-01 (EcoRecycle 2002).

0200400600800

100012001400160018002000

Clean fi

ll

Food &

Gre

enwas

te

Concr

ete/b

ricks

Timber

Paper

/card

bd

Oth

er

Meta

ls

Plastic

Glas

s

Oth

er or

ganics

Landfill RecycledKilotonnes pa

91% of recycled

metal is steel


Resource Recovery


Material Ecological Rucksacks

– The production of most common materials is inherently wasteful


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


Renewable resources can be used in

unsustainable ways

– No materials are innocent.

Renewable or Non-Renewable?


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


Natural Systems:

Emulating Natural Systems is more sustainable- they…

Use new things leastTurn “waste into food”- ie, no wasteUse all available energy qualityBecome resilient by developing diversityAre cyclic not linear


Materials cycles planning

– Fast-cycling materials and systems need to be able to be replaced without damaging slow-cycling materials


Environmental performance rating


Understanding BarriersGreenwash


Understanding Barriers

Disparate data-sets


What are the detail issues?

Life Cycle Stage

Life cycle issue

Upstream Habitat and Land Degradation

Transport (of raw materials and finished product)

Rare and non-renewable materials

Embodied Energy

GHG emissions including Transport

Resource efficiency (of raw material extraction and waste during manufacture)

Toxicity to Air Land and Water

Rapidly Renewable Material

Recycled materials content

Vital signs


Life Cycle Stage

Life cycle issue

In use/Operation

Energy Efficiency in Use (GHG Emissions)

Resource Efficiency (water and waste in use)

Human health (toxics/reactive organics/carcinogens, EMR)

Maintenance requirements

Durability

Cost



Life Cycle Stage

Life cycle issue

Downstream End of use: re-use/recycling

Toxicity to Air Land and Water



Identifying Priorities

Priority setting: ‘Global Environmental Priorities’

Relatively High-Risk Problems

Relatively Medium-Risk Problems

Relatively Low-Risk Problems

Habitat Alteration and Destruction Species Extinction and Overall Loss of Biodiversity Stratospheric Ozone Depletion Global Climate Change

Herbicides/Pesticides Toxics, Nutrients, Biochemical Oxygen Demand, and Turbidity in Surface Waters Acid Deposition Airborne Toxics

Oil Spills Groundwater Pollution Radionuclides Acid Runoff to Surface Waters Thermal Pollution

Source: Ecology and Welfare Subcommittee of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Science Advisory Board 1990.


Global & Australian Environmental Priorities:

• 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


Global & Australian Social & Economic Priorities :

• Human Health• Thermal Comfort• Security• Equitable access • Economically affordable


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


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?


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.


Looking at Priorities

Embodied energy of base building: 50,000m2 office

Source: http://buildlca.rmit.edu.au/menu9.html


Have the Information Available

Concrete Steel

Conventional Product

High Recycled Content

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


Right Questions in Right OrderEmbodied vs. operational energy

Source: Treloar et al. 1997


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


Identifying the low hanging fruit

Based on Embodied Energy and Resource

Consumption the major fitout issues in priority are:

1. Furniture;

2. Floor Finishes;

3. Wall finishes;

4. Internal Walls


Decision Making

Project Specific Checklist for materials

1. Appropriate use: is it necessary?

2. Fate: start with the end in mind

3. Energy: assess net energy over life

4. Biodiversity: protect and preserve

5. Toxicity: acute, persistent and/or accumulative?

6. Resources: scarce or non-renewable?

7. Social: socially sustainable?

8. Systems thinking: does it create design synergies?


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


EcoSpecifier delivers both knowledge and product data


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’ PolicySE QLD’s Sustainable Residential CodeThe 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


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


ecospecifier: project partners

.

• 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

ecospecifier is a not-for-profit collaboration between:


ecospecifier: building an industry service

ecospecifier is a totally independent subscription–based service

130 products available in the public domain


ecospecifier features:

and a subscriber database of over 1000 eco-preferable products independently vetted against 30 common industry categories and 130 sub categories



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



monthly updates

regular feature products

local and international case studies

monthly newsletter


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


ecospecifier: product assessment5 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



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


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


ecospecifier: a flyover


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’


Check eco-priorities first!


Clicking on ‘Eco-Priorities’ links through to the data-sheets on priority setting for applications and categories

Priority areas to look for in search results


Further guidance is given in the balance of the datasheet:

‘For & Against’ issues for common paint products


Click on the assessment Criteria to find out more about them

Product name and link to product data-sheet

Supplier and state availability links

Product advantage areas, which also link to the product data-sheet

:

So, returning to the product search a subscriber search returns 27 products – a non-subscriber search returns 4.


To refine the outcome a Boolean search can be launched by using a further ‘keyword’ search – when a suitable product is found, click to the product

data

Indicative cost information

Assessment Criteria met and additional detail


Different levels of product data is available depending on the information available from manufacturers


The product data-sheet provides extensive information about the product and its benefits. At the bottom of the page is a link through to the supplier data:

All email and web hotlinks

are live


In summary…

ecospecifier provides compelling, high-quality knowledge about innovative products that represent high value over their total life in the context of the people, buildings and systems they serve; and

finally makes specifying eco-preferable products economic and achievable in the context of realistic project budgets


High use levels…- Averaging 500-600 sessions per day - Over 4,000,000 hits since inception- Manufacturers have approached with

nearly 200 new materials- Some manufacturers using

questionnaires to structure new product development

- Defence, BCC and other councils, Greening the Supply chain


Can you afford not to be an ecospecifier?

join us @

www.ecospecifier.orgnext generation innovation

Documents

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