Getting Easier Being Green
[ The University of Melbourne Voice Vol. 3, No. 10
8 December - 12 January 2009 ]
Want to do the right thing by the environment and the economy at the same time? It is possible, according to Dr Robert Crawford. DAVID SCOTT reports.
Sustainable building technologies may be largely more expensive than traditional building materials and techniques, but economies of scale are set to make green products such as solar cells more widely affordable, according to University of Melbourne renewable energy systems expert Dr Robert Crawford.
Dr Crawford sees it being only a matter of time before home owners and the construction industry recognise that they can’t afford not to spend on green technology.
He points to financial bonuses from government as an immediate aid to first home builders and buyers – those buying a newly-constructed home receiving $26 000, increasing to $29 000 in regional Victoria (subject to certain requirements).
“The problem at the moment is that measuring the energy efficiency of new houses is based around minimum performance – there’s no incentive to maximise their energy efficiency,” he says.
“The minimum standard in Victoria is a five star energy efficiency rating, but it costs an extra $10 000 to improve that to six stars, or an extra $13 000 for seven stars. For a lot of people, that’s an extra room or their new furniture.
“We have the tools to rate a house as 10 stars for energy efficiency (zero consumption), but why would you bother if you can get away with five stars?”
Dr Crawford says those who do consider the extra investment can expect to actually reduce their energy costs across the life of their residences.
Before joining the Melbourne School of Design this year, Dr Crawford worked on a program called the Sustainable Innovation Feasibility Tool for Melbourne architects, Williams Boag.
The aim was to have a way of showing clients how they could recoup their initial capital investment in a sustainable building, considering elements such as its size and location. The resulting assessment would give clients an idea of the potential for completing a financially feasible and fully sustainable building.
Dr Crawford says that in a perfect world the aim would be for buildings that are producers rather than consumers of energy.
“You would need to look at the resources and energy required to construct a building in the first place and ensure that any energy the building generates offsets what is used to build it.
“The general rule is that the energy required to manufacture the building – the embodied energy – is equal to the amount of energy required to operate the building over its life of 50 years or more. That’s a significant amount of energy to account for.
“Similarly for water efficiency, if you shut all the doors and windows in a building, and fill it with water, you’d have to do it about 10 times to equal the embodied water required to manufacture all the materials.
“It’s really important that we assess the whole life cycle of systems, so we’re not just saving energy during the building’s use – we’re looking at the energy required to make the materials and components as well,” says Dr Crawford.
Dr Robert Crawford is a Future Generation Fellow in the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning.
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