Why build green
Buildings consume around 40% of the world's energy and virgin resources and produce around 40% of the world's CO2 and waste so when we needed larger premises our choice was to minimise our environmental impacts by rehabilitating an existing building.
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Our experience proves sustainable building need not be restricted to projects with large budgets. With helpful resources, guidance and smart choices green building is within reach for any organisation wanting to reducing their environmental impacts through the buildings they occupy.
Our office now meets our spatial requirements, with room for expansion, is comfortable to work in with 21st Century fittings and services. Importantly the project was cost effective and significantly reduced overhead costs. Future enhancements, including rainwater harvesting, solar water heating and photovoltaic panels, can add to the significant environmental gains we have already captured. |
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How to build green
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Follow our quicklinks to read more about the range of issues we had to respond to.
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Site
Space
Our building needed to provide an open-plan office with reception, a meeting room, workshop spaces, and field equipment store plus a kitchen and bathroom. Rear vehicle access was also important.
Location
Our preferred location was somewhere close to where key personnel lived, allowing counter-flow commuting, was close to motorways and well serviced by public transport.
Building
The building had to be spacious, but in need of renovation, and after an extensive search we found a vacant reinforced concrete building of 110 sq.m. Being in Hillsborough it met our location criteria, especially with the south-western motorway giving easy access to the west and south, and its condition meant there was no value in the existing fit-out.
The range of issues the renovation needed to address included:
Space
Our building needed to provide an open-plan office with reception, a meeting room, workshop spaces, and field equipment store plus a kitchen and bathroom. Rear vehicle access was also important.
Location
Our preferred location was somewhere close to where key personnel lived, allowing counter-flow commuting, was close to motorways and well serviced by public transport.
Building
The building had to be spacious, but in need of renovation, and after an extensive search we found a vacant reinforced concrete building of 110 sq.m. Being in Hillsborough it met our location criteria, especially with the south-western motorway giving easy access to the west and south, and its condition meant there was no value in the existing fit-out.
The range of issues the renovation needed to address included:
- no insulation
- no stormwater disposal that flooded downstairs
- water entering downstairs through below ground walls
- water damaged ceilings and wall linings
- decaying stairs and framing in downstairs partition walls
- steel windows that were rusted open
- electrical wiring that was substandard and presented a fire risk
- no hot water and no easy way to install it
- leaking toilet connections
Materials
NZ made
After initial repairs, the Ministry for the Environment's Guide to Sustainable Office Fit-outs, and input from other practitioners produced an optimal floor plan and fit-out design for the shape of the building. We used New Zealand made products wherever possible, to reduce transport emissions and support local business, including:
Recycling
We used recycling both as a source and a sink of building materials, especially those with high embodied energy including:
We reused small existing components such as shelving units, storage drawers and towel rails. Demolition material was also recycled including:
Waste
A knowledgeable builder who accepts the importance of construction waste minimisation is key. We used standard material sizes and economic cuts to reduce waste, and re-used offcuts. Labelled recycling and waste bins make it easy to separate operating waste and to recycle paper, cardboard, plastic, glass and metal through the Auckland Council kerbside recycling scheme.
NZ made
After initial repairs, the Ministry for the Environment's Guide to Sustainable Office Fit-outs, and input from other practitioners produced an optimal floor plan and fit-out design for the shape of the building. We used New Zealand made products wherever possible, to reduce transport emissions and support local business, including:
- MDF from sustainable wood for wall & ceiling linings, cabinetry & shelving
- Plywood & triboard from renewable plantation forests for benching & linings
- Kitset kitchen cabinetry
- Aluminium windows and glazing
- Dulux 'Environmental Choice' paint
- Greenstuf polyester insulation
- Buteline plumbing pipe and fittings
- Marley drainage pipe and spouting
- Olex electrical cable
Recycling
We used recycling both as a source and a sink of building materials, especially those with high embodied energy including:
- Safety glass for glazed internal partitions
- Three phase main power supply cable
- Flights of stairs
- Kitchen benchtops
- Plywood workshop lining
- Fibre cement water resistant bathroom linings
- Large MDF offcuts for storage cabinetry
- Light fittings, electrical switches and sockets
- Electrical appliances including freezer, fridge, microwave and waste disposer
- Tapware and bathroom fittings including toilet suite, basin, and shower
- Continuous flow water heaters
- Digital door locks
We reused small existing components such as shelving units, storage drawers and towel rails. Demolition material was also recycled including:
- Copper plumbing pipes
- Copper electrical cable
- Tapware and sinks
- Aluminium louvre window frames
Waste
A knowledgeable builder who accepts the importance of construction waste minimisation is key. We used standard material sizes and economic cuts to reduce waste, and re-used offcuts. Labelled recycling and waste bins make it easy to separate operating waste and to recycle paper, cardboard, plastic, glass and metal through the Auckland Council kerbside recycling scheme.
Indoor Environment
Moisture
Volatile organic compounds
Daylighting
Noise
Safety
Moisture
- Moisture makes heating inefficient and lowers comfort levels. Re-building the exterior subsoil drainage combined with a new concrete floor downstairs, moisture barrier coatings and a specialist paint system stopped moisture intrusion. New spouting and downpipes direct stormwater away from the building and underfloor insulation stops moisture penetrating the wooden floors to the upper level.
Volatile organic compounds
- Our choice of wall linings required a tradeoff. Plasterboard is inert, but produced from quarried gypsum. MDF uses solvent based glues but is produced from sustainable plantation forests timber waste. MDF made construction faster and cleaner and removed the need for gibstopping. It was sealed and painted with low VOC 'Environmental Choice' paint and retaining and cleaning the existing carpets prevented new carpet being a significant source of VOC emissions that lower indoor air quality.
Daylighting
- We included large windows in all internal walls as internal partitions can restrict natural light. Glazed internal doors and a planned double glazed skylight will further increase natural light and a light internal colour scheme helps natural light transmission throughout the office.
Noise
- Being adjacent to busy Richardson Rd, noise was a problem so we glazed external windows with 'NoiseStop' glass. This reduces noise transmission by 50% and insulation in internal partitions further reduces noise transmission between spaces inside the office.
Safety
- To improve safety, all re-wired electrical circuits were fitted with permanent residual current devices and surge protectors and new cabling was fitted in conduits where it was close to wall linings. External doors were rebuilt to swing outwards for rapid evacuation, and our digital door latches are secure from the outside, but 'always open' from the inside.
Energy Efficiency
Insulation
Hot water
Heating
Lighting
Appliances
Ventilation
Insulation
- Internal faces of the concrete block exterior walls allowed little space for retrofitting insulation. To maximise the available space we strapped the walls with 20mm timber battens and fitted polystyrene panels between them before fixing the wall linings. This wall insulation is moisture resistant, has low flammability and is very stable.
- Ceilings and partition walls were insulated with the highest R-value polyester wool pads that would fit the space. These pads are moisture resistant, maintain their loft and are manufactured from recycled plastics rather than harmful chemicals.
- Underfloor insulation fitted to the main office and meeting room is a high R-value combined foil and air cell material. This is both insulation and a moisture vapour barrier as it forms a still air layer below the floor. It covers the floor joists to eliminate these as cold spots.
Hot water
- Our hot water demand is low, so instantaneous continuous flow water heaters eliminate the energy costs of stored hot water.
- An LPG gas califont heats water for sinks and basins and a separate electric califont heats water for the bathroom shower to prevent the shower overloading the gas califont. This only required the shower to have cold water plumbing.
- To minimise heat loss all hot water plumbing pipes were insulated
Heating
- The internal partition walls upstairs mean only occupied areas need heating. Electric convection heaters provide rapid heating through efficient heat distribution. The use of heater timers avoids them remaining on after hours when they are not required.
Lighting
- All office lights are either low wattage T5 fluorescent tubes or LED lamps.
- Lighting is zoned into 12 areas each with separate switching so the lighting load can easily be matched to occupied areas. In walk-through zones, lighting is double switched for control at both ends of the zone.
- Task lighting is also separately switched to ambient lighting.
Appliances
- Our appliances have been selected for their low energy use and are sized appropriately. In its class, our kitchen fridge is one of the most efficient models in Australasia.
- Our 'turn off' policy minimises energy use.
Ventilation
- To remove the need for air conditioning, our replacement windows have opening frames for fresh air ventilation.
- Door seals reduce cold air intrusion during winter.
Water Conservation
- The existing plumbing system was derelict so we re-plumbed the building using modern fittings.
- A low volume dual flush toilet suite was installed and the new bathroom shower has a low flow 6.2 l/min shower head.
- We don't currently recycle water, however the option of using rainwater for toilet flushing has been pre-plumbed.
- Our water meter also allows us to monitor water usage.
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We are capturing the future to empower
Earth's Wildkeepars to restore living nature Synovus Technology is a division of Aranovus Limited
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