National BIM Guide Released

The future of design and documentation for all but the simplest projects is the “Integrative Design Process” or IDP as described in the Building Green Training Program delivered this year by BEDI in partnership with ecospecifier. IDP involves a design and documentation team made up of people who have synergy, education, enthusiasm, expertise, experience and who are risk managers rather than risk avoiders.

Another key component of IDP is the use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) with an integrated platform for information sharing between design and construction stakeholders for the project.

NATSPEC has announced that the NATSPEC National BIM Guide has been released for the building and construction industry and is freely available from www.natspec.com.au. (Once in the site click on the NATSPEC BiM logo.) This project has been the result of industry-wide collaboration and the support of the Built Environment Industry Innovation Council.

BIM (Building Information Modelling) has the potential to provide a platform for integrated project delivery; improve sustainability outcomes through modelling; increase productivity through decreasing variations during construction; and provide a tool for facilities and asset management.

The objective of the NATSPEC National BIM Guide, used in conjunction with a Project BIM Brief, is to clarify what is meant when BIM is required on a project.  Too often a Client has talked about wanting BIM on a project without clarifying their requirements in a consistent manner.  The Guide will reduce confusion and wasted effort.  The Guide can also be used as a planning tool by consultants to clarify the services they propose to provide when preparing bids for projects.

NATSPEC is a not-for-profit organisation with the objective to improve the quality of construction in Australia.  NATSPEC believes that digital information, including 3D Modelling and Building Information Modelling will provide improved methods of design, construction and communication. 

Consultation begins for cost recovery under national environment law

The federal environment department is calling for public comment on potential cost recovery mechanisms under national environment law.

Federal environment minister Tony Burke recently announced major reforms of national environment law, and noted that cost recovery options would be further investigated.

The department has now released a consultation paper outlining options for recovering the costs of regulatory activities and reform under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

“All submissions received will be considered, to help the government make a fully informed choice on cost recovery options to resource the activities delivered by the legislation,” federal environment spokeswoman Vicki Middleton said.

The cost recovery consultation paper will be open for public comment for six weeks until 31 October 2011.

The paper is available at: www.environment.gov.au/epbc/reform, by emailing epbc.costrecovery@environment.gov.au or by calling 1800 423 135.

WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Winners of the inaugural Sustainable Building Designer Awards - Australia have been announced at the BDAQ gala awards dinner in Brisbane. Two hundred and thirty guests enjoyed a sumptuous dinner, great entertainment and celebrated with the winners of a variety of awards.

The sustainable building designer winners were:

Winner Sustainable New House
Travis Quennell,  QUBD for Ecovillage256


Runner-up for Sustainable New House
Brett Grimley, Ecolibrium Designs for Currumbin Ecovillage

Winner Sustainable Public Building
Ray Brown, Regency Design Centre for Community Centre Castle Hill

Winner Sustainable Small Commercial Buildings
Ian Darnell, nspire Planning and Design for Condimine Veterinary Clinic

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL WINNERS AND ENTRANTS

Sustainability gets side-tracked by Climate Change

Tony Blair once said; “We can debate this or that aspect of climate change, but the reality is that most people now accept our climate is indeed subject to change”.

It really is sad that any movement towards a more sustainable world has been totally side-tracked by the argument about man-made climate change. The answer to the question, of course, is that it doesn’t matter if man made climate change is real.

What really matters is that we cannot sustain the world as we know it without changing the way we operate in a number of ways, including;

·         stoping the depletion of the earth’s resources at a greater rate than nature is able to renew,

·         stoping polluting our natural environment whether it be the air that we breath, the oceans that are so necessary to sustain life on earth or the land from which so much of our sustenance comes,

·         stopping the destruction of ecosystems which maintain the fine balance of flora and fauna,

·         begin to rebuild the biodiversity on which our whole existence depends.

It is all very simple really and should not be lost in a dumb debate about the science and the reality of climate change. It really doesn’t matter why or how the problem occurred or who is to blame.

It only matters that we all work towards a sustainable future.

Everything else is just a distraction from the main game or is political point scoring which is only working to polarise the population, create unhelpful animosity and doing plenty to discourage people from actually acting sustainably. Unfortunately, the language so often used by the proponents of climate change indicates that they hope to bully the rest of the population into submission. This won’t work.

Buildings and how we use them are crucial to sustainability and this puts building designers at the frontline in efforts to secure the future.

Over the past month BEDI has been equipping Endorsed Sustainable Building Designers to effectively address the four imperatives mentioned above. These designers will be able to design buildings which meet the sustainability requirements of the Building Code of Australia and the Queensland Development Code.

More than this they will be able to research materials and technologies to design buildings that don’t deplete the earth’s resources, don’t contribute to the pollution of the environment and don’t destroy our ecosystems. They will actually work towards restorative sustainability by attempting to assist nature to repair some of the damage of the past and will advise their clients on how to occupy the buildings in a more sustainable way.

It’s time for all the talk, all the bravado and all the bully tactics to end and be replaced by real action and we know that Endorsed Sustainable Building Designers are ready to stand up and lead the way.

Russell Brandon

We are creating a mountain of waste!

Waste reforms, guided by the Queensland’s Waste Reduction and Recycling Strategy 2010-2020, are progressing full steam ahead. To keep up to date with the news and read about the programs available to assist business visit the reThink business waste pages on the Department of Environment and Resource Management website. Click here to subscribe to the waste reform upcoming newsletter updates.

Design for Deconstruction

Apologies to those who also follow the BDAQ Blog. I feel that this post applies to both groups.

Design for Deconstruction

The web site http://www.lifecyclebuilding.org/ advises that the factors influencing deconstruction are:

•The local cost of landfill tipping fees

•The local cost of labour and equipment

•The ease of disassembly which affects labour cost

•The value of the materials recovered

•Having adequate time available for deconstruction

Source: http://www.lifecyclebuilding.org/files/DFD.pdf

The buildings we are designing right now are expected to have a life span of around 50 years. Think of that in terms of the factors influencing the practice of deconstruction.

The rate at which we have been using up landfill sites over the last 50 years means that the sites themselves will become a rare commodity within the next 50 years. "The local cost of landfill tipping fees" in 2061 will make the practice of putting a wrecking ball through your building at the end of its life and carting it away to landfill a very expensive exercise.

We are also now using up building materials faster that the planet can reproduce them. This means that the materials we are using now will be quite rare in 2061. Rare material is of high value.

So by the end of the expected life of the buildings you are designing right now two of the five factors influencing the practice of deconstruction will be in play. The rest is up to you.

The cost of labour and materials and the available time is out of our hands so that only leaves "the ease of disassembly".

Your role as a building designer is to consider the materials you use, think about the connections and fixings you use and make it as easy as possible for the principle of reduce, re-use, re-cycle to be applied at the end of your building's life.

To find out more just "google" "design for deconstruction". You may be surprised at how many results you get.

Russell Brandon

Responsible use of materials

“The business community does not have enough respect for designers. They are currently at the bottom of the management food chain. Marketing tells them what to do. That doesn't make any sense.

Designers hold a key to the future, but designers need to understand their role differently and learn to have more self-esteem, ambition and responsibility.”

Dr. Michael Braungart

There are a myriad of resources available to help designers better understand how to be innovative in seeking to design buildings which reduce their own impact on the environment. I was recently alerted to this blog; www.core77.com/blog/articles

and checked out this article where Dr Braungart discusses “Material Shortages and Designing a New Material World”.

Dr. Michael Braungart is a chemist and co-founder of Cradle to Cradle® Design and MBDC McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry in Charlottesville, Virginia. His research in materials sciences has pioneered a new paradigm that focuses on redesigning eco-effective products and systems to support a positive ecological footprint in the next industrial revolution.

According to Dr Braungart, “designers must learn to expand their interests and responsibility beyond just aesthetics. I see it slowly happening. For example, in Japan, the designer truly understands the link between total quality and total beauty. It's not beautiful if it is connected to child labour. It's not beautiful if it poisons the oceans. It's not beautiful if it perpetuates conflicts over precious resources. It's not about only the right materials. There is also a social component. Clearly, there is an opportunity for designers to become pivotal players in the industrial transformation, adding immense strategic value.”

While he is not talking specifically about building designers, I think there certainly is a lesson for us all here.

You can check out the entire article and more at the blog address above. There are some great insights into materials and how we, as designers, can accept our social and environmental responsibilities by considering the source, use and disposal of materials.

Russell Brandon

Discount deadline for ESBD Course ENDS TODAY

You can save dollars by registering TODAY for the Endorsed Sustainable Building Designer courses in either Ipswich or Cairns. There are still plenty of subsidised places available but you need to complete your registration NOW.

The courses will cover Environmentally Sustainable Design Compliance and Solutions on day 1; Building Rating, Materials, Issues and Solutions (day 2); Green Building and Materials Procurement (day 3); Life Cycle Assessment in Practice (day 4).

Our ESBD trainers are undergoing intensive training under the tutalage of David Baggs from EcoSpecifier who is a world renowned expert on building sustainability and co-author of the materials.

The new BEDI web site with an exciting innovation - Building Consumer Advice Bureau - will be launched on 16 April 2011 and will deliver unprecedented promotion to Endorsed Sustainable Building Designers.

This is your opportunity to be part of that promotion. If you are not near Ipswich and Cairns and would like to suggest a course in your area, please contact us at russell@bedi.com.au or just add a comment to this post.

If you need a registration form or more information please contact us at russell@bedi.com.au or phone 07 38899119.

New free-to-air ecospecifier.com.au website launched

New free-to-air ecospecifier.com.au website launched at Green Cities

ecospecifier has launched a brand new website that is totally FREE TO AIR to display its new GreenTag™ GreenRate GBCA recognised product certification and rebranded Verified Product listings (formerly ‘Enhanced’ listings). The new site is suitable for green building professionals, DIY renovators and homeowners alike, in fact anyone looking to simplify their green building   product research using a one stop source.

Australia’s premier source of online data and knowledge about eco and health preferred building materials, products, technologies and design strategies was re-launched at the Green Building Council’s Green Cities Conference yesterday in Melbourne and is now:

·         much easier to navigate; has

·         more graphics driven with fewer words;

·         provides image galleries of products;

·         has new and more powerful search functions with Green Star® tool and credit icons with rollover text to explain the credits and points; and

·         new product summaries and news and events features; with

·         manufacturer profiles; and a

·         new tab driven product listing layouts; as well as

·         a large amount of new knowledgebase information; and a whole new section of easy to read articles (such as the newly recognised health impacts of Propylene Glycol, a common constituent of water based paints and the health impacts and trade-offs of mercury in fluorescent lighting).

The site also includes new ecospecifier Verified Product Program product listings that ensure the product has been third party verified as an eco-preferred, healthy product and been subjected to the same highly detailed and robust health and eco-toxicity screen as GreenTag™ certified products with technical advice as to products’ relevance to green building rating tools such as Green Star®, NABERS and BASIX..

Products certified under the new world first  ecospecifier global Green Tag™ LCARate Certification system, and underpinned by rigorous, audited Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) processes such as Polyflor, Laminex, Dunlop Underlays and Tontine Insulation are also included on the site together with the GreenRate certifications. GreenRate Certification provides GBCA recognised points in Materials Calculators, Volatile organic compounds and formaldehyde credits for items like, flooring, paint, kitchens, joinery, furniture, mattresses, walls, partitions, ceilings, adhesives and sealants, building boards and composite wood like laminated beams and plywood.

ecospecifier  has been Australia’s leading source of verified green product information since 2003 and now has over 6000 eco-preferred products on the site. It has been able to realize its founders’ (David Baggs and Mary-Lou Kelly’s) original intention of delivering robust, third party verified green building product information, ‘greenwash’ and cost free into the public domain. According to CEO Baggs, “The GreenTag™ program is only 9 months old and already has nearly 40 products certified and a further 200 products under certification, its success has given us the confidence to take the site free to air so that everyone can access information at whatever level of detail they need, from product summaries and GreenTag™ Rating Scorecards, to Green Star® Certification and highly detailed  ISO 14005 compliant Environmental Product Declarations’.

Asked about the accreditation of ecospecifier’s new GreenTag™ Ecolabel program he replied’ GreenTag™ is Australia’s most third party certified product certification system with audits undertaken not only of our Quality System but also of our assessments and compliance to no less than 5 International and Australian Standards”.

ecospecifier global

Address:        PO Box 311 Cannon Hill, QLD 4170

tel.                   1300 669 997

fax.                  1300 304 690

web:                http://www.ecospecifier.com.au/

Ask Nature

It has been said that everything we need to know about how to design sustainable buildings already exists in nature. Designers like Frank Lloyd Wright relied heavily on observation of nature to design buildings that worked well both sustainably and structurally.

With the magic of internet, we have an immense and growing resource of ideas and observations from nature. The Biomimicry Institute is a not-for-profit orginisation based in USA. They have developed a wonderful web-site that can assist designers capture the best ideas nature can offer. Check it out at http://www.asknature.org/.

Housing an Aging Population project

Greg Pershouse has agreed to assemble and coordinate a team to undertake the R & D project “housing for the aged”.

Greg is seeking expressions of interest from building designers and qualified / interested people from the aged care sector to develop guidelines and formulate a strategy for the accelerating growth in this important demographic of our community.

If you wish to be involved or can recommend someone with in the aged care sector please contact Greg at greg@designgp.com.au.

Research Topics Announced

Built Environment Design Institute Ltd has announced its research topics and coordinators for 2011. We are now seeking member input, comment and people keen to become involved in the work. If you have any information or would like to help, please leave a comment here or contact the BDAQ office on 07 38899119 or email to admin@bdaq.com.au.

DESIGNING A BETTER WALL SYSTEM

Coordinator:  Steve Claridge

DEVELOPING INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Coordinator:  Peter Nelson

HOUSING AN AGING POPULATION

Coordinator:  Greg Pershouse

SOLUTIONS FOR TIMBER FLOOR FAILURES IN HOT HUMID CLIMATES

Coordinator:  Glen Place

Sustainability Commitment Statement Approved

At meetings on Friday 11 February, the BEDI Ltd Board of Directors and the BDAQ Management Committee made a joint formal commitment to support the policy underpinning the partnership. The policy requires the partners to maintain sustainable practices within their operation, to promote sustainable practices in the design of built environments and to equip practitioners to advance the design of sustainable built environments in Queensland and throughout Australia.

The commitment is based on five key principles:

1. Sustainable management and office practices.
2. Waste minimisation in communications.
3. Sustainable meeting and travel options.
4. Advancement of sustainability through training, information and promotion.
5. Inclusion of triple bottom line principles in the development of visions, goals and procedures.

If you want to read the full statement, it will be available soon via the "pages" box in the right hand column.

Russell Brandon

Sustainable Design and Severe Weather

I have been asked to present a talk on the design of lightweight houses in cyclone and flood-prone areas. I want to talk about strength and durability issues and how good design can also incorporate sustainable design principles. I will keep this blog up to date with the progress of my presentation but if anyone has any ideas or suggestions, your comments will be welcome.

Russell Brandon

Sustainability Program Overview

1. Sustainability Committee

The Sustainability Committee has been established to advise the BEDI Ltd Board and BDAQ Management Committee on all matters impacting on the sustainability of the built environment and to advise on and oversee all aspects of the program.

Members of the committee have been drawn from building design practices with a proven record in sustainable building design and from building product manufacturers and Queensland’s peak timber industry body. Representatives from Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) are invited to be guests at all Sustainability Committee meetings.

Committee meeting dates for 2011 are:

·         Friday 11 February

·         Friday 15 April

·         Friday 17 June

·         Thursday 18 August

·         Friday 30 September

·         Friday 18 November

2. Sustainability Commitment Statement

Both Built Environment Design Institute Ltd and Building Designers Association of Queensland Inc. are committed to maintaining sustainable practices within their operation, to promoting sustainable practices in the design of built environments and to equipping practitioners to advance the design of sustainable built environments in Queensland and throughout Australia.

The sustainability committee will, at its first meeting in 2011, develop a partnership Sustainability Commitment Policy Statement to be recommended for adoption by the Board and Management Committee.

The statement will encapsulate the elements of the commitment as stated above.

As part of the partnership program, Sustainable building design and the Sustainability Commitment Statement will be promoted to members and the industry through:

·    An e-launch of the Sustainability Commitment Statement to all members following adoption,

·    A launch to industry representatives at the BDAQ Technical Committee meeting on 11 February,

·    Dedicated sustainability pages in each issue of the BDAQ magazine The Building Designer,

·    Minuted discussion of sustainability issues at all management committee meetings,

·    Forwarding the Sustainability Commitment Statement with explanation to all regional  branches in Queensland for launch at branch members meetings during February and March

·    Publishing the Commitment Statement on the BDAQ and BEDI web sites and including links to sustainability relevant sites.

3. Sustainability Best Practice Case Studies

Best practice Case Studies will be used to assist in the training of practitioners and to promote sustainable built environment design.

Members have been invited to submit examples of best practice sustainable building design and submissions will be completed by the end of March. Case studies will be reviewed and reports prepared by 15 April. Three selected studies will be submitted to DERM for departmental use. They will also be incorporated into the BDAQ State Conference program, will feature in The Building Designer magazine and be used in the 2011 PD Road Show program.

4. Building Consumer Advice Bureau

A new web site is being developed to provide up to date information and accurate advice about sustainable building design, how to find designers who are committed to sustainability and building products and services which work well in sustainable building design.

It is envisaged that this site will play a significant role in promoting and advancing the design of sustainable built environments in Queensland and Australia.   We will be seeking suitable “Frequently Asked Questions” and answers to have a permanent place on the site as well as blog discussion topics, promotional links to designers and manufacturers with sustainable credentials. An important service available will be the on-line chat page which will make ESBD endorsed designers available to interact live with the public.

The site will be trialled during February and March and it is planned to launch it publicly by 15 April 2011. 

5. Endorsed Sustainable Building Designer Program

Plans are underway to deliver Endorsed Sustainable Building Designer training in Ipswich and Cairns during May and June 2011. Negotiations are well advanced with Ecospecifier to use the Building Green training materials developed by Ecospecifier for the program. Each training program will be four days delivered on Friday and Saturday over two consecutive weeks. 

7. BEDI Research and Development

BEDI R & D will seek BDAQ members to undertake suitable research and develop new innovative solutions to sustainable design issues.  Research topics being considered are:

·    Designing a better wall system,

·    Developing alternative solutions for sustainable and energy efficient housing,

·    Designing affordable housing,

·    Housing an ageing population.

The sustainability committee will discuss these topics and other ideas to arrive at the first research projects to be pursued.

8. Australian Sustainable Building Design Awards

It is planned for the Australian Sustainable Building Design Awards to be held in conjunction with the Queensland Building Design awards in 2011. The details proposed are:

Award categories

·      Most sustainable NEW HOME

·      Most sustainable RENOVATION

·      Most sustainable MULTI-RESIDENTIAL BUILDING

·      Most sustainable COMMERCIAL BUILDING

·      Most sustainable INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT

·      Most sustainable PUBLIC/OTHER BUILDING

Russell Brandon

Executive Director BDAQ Inc.

CEO BEDI Ltd.