Sustainable Construction in New Zealand
The use of renewable energy in the construction industry in New Zealand is gaining momentum over the last years. Many people are trying to use eco-friendly and easily recycled materials in buildings, which is more so for homes and offices. The use of solar energy is becoming popular since the energy generated can be renewed, and metals used in the construction can be recycled. Taking the case study “concept one” that Helen developed, the homeowner used passive solar to light the home. The energy used here is trapped from the sun, and it can be recycled depending on the climatic conditions (Ghose et al., 2019). The house is designed in a way that energy trapped from the solar can be harnessed in the house without wastage. The materials used in the house’s construction prevent loss of heat once it has been harnessed. Glass is fitted in the house to help in trapping sunlight, and the walls are made of Zincalume® Corrugate which makes absorption of heat easy. Another material that can be used is cladded steel. These materials can be used in almost all constructions as they can be used in any part of the country. The extent to which these materials should be used is in all homes in the country as well as offices to help ensure there is environmental sustainability in the country.
The benefits of using solar energy in the construction of houses in New Zealand include the cost of using solar energy is reduced because the sun is free and readily available. With the sun’s availability, it becomes easy for the homeowners to have energy throughout the season, which is an essential aspect as it reduces the cost of paying energy bills on a monthly or annual basis. Solar energy is cheap and easy to maintain. Once it has been installed, it will take a long time before maintenance is undertaken, making it an appropriate source of energy at home. Another advantage is that solar energy is that there is efficiency in the use of energy (Esteves et al., 2017). The building in the case study ”concept one” one is made of natural resources, and the home design allows for efficient use of energy harnessed by solar. With the design of the house, energy is not easily wasted, and therefore solar panel serves as the best alternative for green energy. The building materials of the home owned by Helen are eco-friendly making infrastructure use efficient. With the energy used at home originating from solar systems, the house is assured of continued energy supply throughout the year because of the materials used in the construction help in preserving energy, which is supplied in the whole house and even neighboring homes.
Another advantage is that recycled materials have a long-lasting life span. The COLORSTEEL® Endura painting used in the construction of ”Now Homes” in New Zealand has the longest life span of 30 years before it is renewed or maintained. These materials make construction affordable, and the owners are not at risk of destroying their property any time soon. The steel is renewable and can be recycled, making construction efficient and cheap for the users (Simcock 2017). Steel cladding ensures that the metals used in construction are of high quality and can stay for a long time, and they can also be renewed to meet the needs of the people. The recycled steel will constitute of various materials which makes it strong and can last for a long time. Recycled materials also used in construction minimize waste and pollution in the environment. Most of the resources used in construction can easily be renewed and used to meet other needs; for instance, the Now Home case study under sink containers helps people recycle their wastes.
The limitations of using renewed energy, such as solar systems, include the houses needing an appropriate location where sunlight can easily be trapped. The location of the home may be a challenge since their position matters to their ability to harness energy from the sun. In areas with many houses, it becomes difficult for such homes to be established due to the difficulty of accessing direct sunlight that can be used in running the home’s operations. These buildings may also require large spaces for their construction to meet all the necessary conditions. For instance, the ”Now Home” from the case study lies on a space of 141.2m square, which may not be easily available in urban areas where individuals want to set up such buildings. The location of the building with all the conditions that a sustainable building requires is a challenge for many homeowners.
Another limitation is the availability of the materials needed for setting up buildings in some areas. New Zealand may not have all the materials that produce eco-friendly homes. To access such resources, the firm or landowner may be forced to ship the products from other areas, which might be expensive and time-consuming. Eco-friendly materials take some time to prepare, and also installation of such materials requires experts who may not be readily available in all areas. Getting an expert to develop a house that uses solar energy may require hiring somebody who may not be readily available all the time. Availability of experts limits the construction of such homes; for instance, Helen works in different parts of the world as an expert in construction; she will be needed to design such houses in different parts of the world; hence getting hold of them may be difficult.
Greywater is the wastewater that is produced from the daily activities that are undertaken at home like washing and bathing. This water has various benefits once it is recycled for use at home. The following are the benefits that are associated with recycling greywater. First is that the water can be used for irrigation purposes within the home. Watering flowers and other plants within the compound helps develop an environment that is conducive to human habitation. Trees provide shade to the house bringing about fresh air hence acting as air conditioners, which will reduce the cost of installing air conditioning apparatus in the home (Hyde et al., 2017). Greywater can irrigate flowers within the compound, creating an attractive environment within the compound. Watering plants that grow around the compound is beneficial as the plants bring a cooling effect to the house. Re-using greywater helps save the burden and cost of using water in the home. The water used in a day will be reduced, and homeowners will not incur additional costs of buying water used for irrigation. Greywater can be recycled and used in toilets, which help to minimize the cost of water that the household is using. For instance, in the case study of HomeSmart home, it had fixed a recycling machine for greywater, which was used in toilets despite the toilets being connected to the main water switches as a backup, greywater helped the home reduce water usage. Water usage in the household was reduced by 20% since the introduction of the recycling of greywater. Recycling greywater is also advantageous because it helps reduce the amount of water in the waste stream. For instance, the case study of HomeSmart home showed that the family reduced 115 liters of water per day that went to the waste stream. By doing this, the cost of constructing large waste streams is minimized in the family.
Another advantage of using greywater in new homes is that it reduces the cost of using energy to transport clean water for various uses. This cuts on the cost and expenditure of homeowners. Also, using greywater helps eliminate the cost involved in constructing extensive waste treatment facilities at home. The owners can decide to treat greywater to help them in meeting other needs at home. Greywater is beneficial in new homes as it can be used in rearing fish that can serve as a source of food for the homeowners, and some can be sold to earn income for the family. Greywater ensures a stable supply of water, which makes undertaking domestic activities easy and affordable (GhaffarianHoseini et al., 2017). Another benefit of using greywater is that it leads to the protection of the environment where dirty water from bathrooms is not allowed to flow everywhere within the area where people live. Recycling greywater ensures that the environment around the house is clean and conducive for human habitation. By reducing greywater, the accumulation of carbon waste is greatly reduced. This creates a clean and conducive environment for people living within and around the place. Greywater recycling is important for the family since it economizes on the use of various resources by the family; this will enable the homeowners to invest their money in other productive areas.
The limitations of using recycled greywater include the possibility that humans will come into contact with greywater due to cross-connection with a portable system. This might have devastating health effects on humans. Some connections may not have been tested in new homes, and if there is any leakage, it might lead to the contamination of clean water by greywater. Greywater, therefore, poses a great danger to the life of the people using such recycling facilities in their homes (Hogg et al., 2020). Another limitation is that constructing a greywater treatment facility may be expensive for the homeowner leading to heavy losses. Some systems are expensive to install, and the owner may end up with losses, which might occur for a long time. Sewage treatment facilities require expertise to come and install them, which might be costly for the homeowner. In case of a leakage in the sewage system, before it is recognized, it might have caused a lot of damage for the family. Another limitation is that the chemicals used in the treatment of greywater may have harmful effects on plants. Chemicals used in recycling water can pollute the environment more if the water is used for other purposes after recycling, including irrigation. The irrigated plants may be damaged by the chemicals found in water.
Greywater cannot be used for consumption purposes once it has been recycled. Due to this factor, the primary purposes and use of water like for drinking and cooking cannot be achieved. Therefore, greywater is not as important as the normal clean water used for various purposes (Winik et al., 2017). Another limitation is that some local authorities may not allow the use of greywater at home. It is therefore important that before using such water, one has to consult the authorities. This is a time and resource-consuming procedure that might take long before it is approved. Using greywater without permission from the authority at times may cause legal problems. Also, it might be costly to undertake site evaluation before the greywater recycling system is constructed. The firm will incur a heavy amount of money to hire individuals who will come and evaluate the area and ensure that it meets all the standards that have been established regarding the construction of a greywater recycling system.
In conclusion, the processes discussed in this paper both aim at ensuring that there is sustainability in the use of water and materials for construction in New Zealand. Green energy is highly advocated for people to adopt to ensure that environment is protected. As the world is moving towards green energy and the use of materials that can be recycled, New Zealand is working on ensuring that all its sectors utilize the available resources by using renewable sources of energy and materials for construction.
References
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Ghose, A., Pizzol, M., McLaren, S. J., Vignes, M., & Dowdell, D. (2019). Refurbishment of office buildings in New Zealand: identifying priorities for reducing environmental impacts. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 24(8), 1480-1495.
GhaffarianHoseini, A., Doan, D. T., Naismith, N., Tookey, J., & GhaffarianHoseini, A. (2017). Amplifying the practicality of contemporary building information modeling (BIM) implementations for New Zealand green building certification (Green Star). Engineering, Construction, and Architectural Management.
Simcock, R. (2017). Water Sensitive Design in Auckland, New Zealand. Sustainable Surface Water Management: A Handbook for SUDS, 380-392.
Hogg, S. J., Elliott, D. A., Maley, T., Broglio, S., Holden, T., & Giorgini, S. (2020). Case Studies on the Practical Application of Resilient Building Technologies Applied in New Zealand. Structural Engineering International, 30(2), 232-241.
Oh, K. S., Leong, J. Y. C., Poh, P. E., Chong, M. N., & Von Lau, E. (2018). A review of greywater recycling related issues: Challenges and prospects in Malaysia. Journal of Cleaner Production, 171, 17-29.
Winik, J., Chit, P., Dassen, J., Wilson, L., Rothman, J., & Lewis, M. (2017). Greywater Implementation in Montgomery County.
Hyde, K., Smith, M. J., & Adeyeye, K. (2017). Developments in the quality of treated greywater supplies for buildings, and associated user perception and acceptance. International Journal of Low-Carbon Technologies, 12(2), 136-140.
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