Now picture yourself in 20 years in the future. It may be vastly different from today, however what really remains the same is the definition of ‘sustainability’. Whether it is ‘green and sustainable’ or simply those ‘typical buildings’ that only suffice basic needs, the ever-changing scene of the built environment is definitely a topic of debate. Moreover, the increasing awareness has caused the questioning of ‘are we really doing enough to maintain a balance of sustainability’?
Today’s lecture particularly reminded me of this question. In this week’s lecture ‘IT two ways’ Susan Feltaous and Carolyn Trickett, which of whom represented Jones lang Lasalle, spoke about the criteria of sustainability in the built environment. Susan started off by simply comparing a typical building and a high performance building. She mentioned the major differences in productivity that high performance buildings have over standard buildings and some of these features include lighting sensors and material selection.
Now what exactly makes a building ‘High Performing’, I hear you say? Just think of it as a healthy building, one that operates efficiently and productively. It must also be resilient in the context that buildings must be able to stand over time and sustainable along with driving requirements. Susan then went on to discuss NABERS, green star, and CBD which were all rating systems that measure the performance of a building. Now we’re back where we started with all those acronyms. Much to my confusion as to how we can actually ‘rate’ a building, I have to admit after the lecture i did whip up the good old Google search on ‘NABERS’. How it works, is that it provides a star rating system to your ‘building or tenancy that represents its actual operational performance’ according to NABERS NSW Office of Environment and Heritage website. The CBD and Green Star, generally follow the same idea as NABERs rating system.
To give us a better idea of what makes a High Performing Building, we looked at a case study of a building that has achieved a 6 Star Green Star and 5 Star NABERS energy rating, 161 Castlereagh St Sydney (pictured below). To me, it didn’t seem all that great at first, but I guess this is a perfect example of why we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.
Finally, it was Carolyn’s turn to give us a brief run down on BMS (Building Management Systems) and what it generally involves. She began the presentation with a question, why do we build or buy property? Money. She described that in order to make a profit, we must look at ideas on how to reduce the maintenance and operation of buildings. This flow chart Carolyn used during the presentation, better describes how we can maximise project margins by integrating sustainable measures.
All in all, this presentation sparked my imagination of sustainability and society’s future. It really does make you question ‘where do we go from here?’.
So let me ask you, where DO we go from here? Comment on some of your thoughts down below.
A Digital Discovery 