Page 569 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 22 February 2012
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microclimate management and appropriate space for renewable energy generation. It will mean that at some point in the future most buildings will be designed to be carbon neutral. It may mean that new development will include more townhouses and other medium density housing rather than concentrating on high rise or single-storey detached dwellings.
What does it mean to be carbon neutral, because I have used that term? Carbon neutral, or zero emission, buildings are buildings which are either designed so that no greenhouse gasses are produced or, probably more realistically for many buildings in the ACT, so that the buildings can balance the greenhouse gas emissions they produce by using offsets. Carbon neutrality can either be for a building’s whole life cycle, which includes the manufacture and transport of building materials, or just for the operational use of the buildings.
In the ACT most greenhouse gas emissions from construction are generated outside the ACT. So for the purposes of our greenhouse gas reduction target, it is most appropriate to focus on operational use. However, I note from the point of view of the world as a whole we really need to look at both of those. Achieving carbon neutrality for the operational use of buildings requires a two-pronged approach: firstly, reducing the energy consumption; and, secondly, using 100 per cent renewable energy sources for remaining energy consumption.
Is it really possible to build carbon neutral buildings? The answer to that is a resounding yes. In the UK it is government policy that after 2016 all new buildings will be carbon neutral. They have a code for sustainable homes introduced in 2007 which provides a guide to target carbon performance levels and typical solutions that could meet desired level of performance.
In South Australia the government has established a model sustainable urban village for 100 houses at Lochiel Park in Campbelltown, eight kilometres from the Adelaide CBD. Each house must meet a minimum of 7.5 stars EER, but the urban design guidelines for the area assist in improving beyond that. The South Australian Land Management Corporation is currently running a zero carbon design challenge for a block on the site.
The Victorian government has a zero emissions neighbourhood project, which includes building zero energy emissions housing in conjunction with the CSIRO.
In Australia, of course, for many years there have been many off-grid houses which are essentially carbon neutral. And in Canberra, of course, there are already many houses which are carbon neutral by being energy efficient and then either buying green power or generating sufficient renewable energy themselves.
The Green Building Council of Australia has outlined the options for carbon neutral commercial buildings, as this is becoming more important to commercial tenants. Well-designed office buildings which require little or no mechanical heating and cooling are also more comfortable and healthier to work in. There has been a concern that it will cost more to build this way. In general, the answer is no. We are talking about good design, not expensive design. Designing a suburb to be more sustainable requires more design effort up front, but it should be basically the same cost to implement.
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