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Sustainable Housing in Australia PDF

   

Added on  2021-06-14

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An Evaluation of the Slow Uptake of Sustainable Housing in AustraliaAN EVALUATION OF THE SLOW UPTAKE OF SUSTAINABLE HOUSING INAUSTRALIANameInstitutionCourseTutorCity/StateDate1

An Evaluation of the Slow Uptake of Sustainable Housing in AustraliaAbstractIn recent days in Australia there has been a surge in the demand for sustainable, energy efficient houses. Jones Lang LaSalle and CoreNet Global conducted a survey of occupiers of commercial property houses in September of 2008. According to the study 4 in every 10 chief executives willpay 10% more to occupy an energy efficient building despite the financial implications of the same. Jones LaSalle also carried out a study to determine the sentiments of investors on sustainable energy efficient housing in November 2008. The study shows that 18% of investors would pay more for energy efficient buildings. In terms of achieving green ratings (specified by GreenStar and NABERs), the survey indicates that the compliance has risen from 64% in 2006 to74% in 2008. Despite these otherwise impressive figures, there is still a slow uptake of sustainable housing in Australia. IntroductionBuildings in Australia contribute 23% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. This is according to the Chief Executive Officer of the Green Building Council of Australia. The councilholds that the fastest way of ensuring a reduction in greenhouse gas emission is by enhancing theenergy efficiency of buildings. This paper seeks to interrogate the causal factors for the slow uptake and recommend mechanisms that can be used to increase the same. The paper will seek the perspectives of industry players in the construction sector including contractors, engineers, 2

An Evaluation of the Slow Uptake of Sustainable Housing in Australiaproperty developers and investors to shed light on the inertia towards sustainable housing. The paper will also interrogate what the government of Australia has done to promote sustainable housing in the country and what it could still do to further the same.Opening StatementIn 2007 at United Nations Climate Change Conference, the then Prime Minister for Australia submitted that the 23% of greenhouse gas emissions are attributed to the building industry. Greenhouse gas emissions account for about 40% of the total energy consumption in Australia. According to Green Building Council report of 2007, poor indoor environmental quality in Australia costs the economy an estimated 12 billion US dollars every year. Australia’s net greenhouse gas emissions from all the sectors in the economy totaled to a sum of 559.1 Mt. of carbon dioxide in the year 2005 according to the National Green House Gas Inventory. Experts project that by 2010, the residential building industry in the country will yield between 56.7 and 58.1 Mt. of carbon dioxide. Experts also anticipate that the commercial building sector is headed to double its greenhouse gas emission levels to 63 Mt. of carbon dioxide. Commercial buildings in Australia are estimated to be responsible for about 8.8% of the national greenhouse gas emissions. More than half of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions are attributable to the use of electrical appliances by persons considered as outsiders to the sector majorly residents (Shearer et al. 2016 p. 818.). Water heaters accounts for nearly one quarter, space heating and cooling contribute an estimated 15% (from natural gas sources and wood). As for the commercial building sector, an 3

An Evaluation of the Slow Uptake of Sustainable Housing in Australiaoverwhelming 89% of greenhouse gas emissions are attributed to electricity. A look at specific energy utilization; cooling yields 28%, air handling brings forth 22% of greenhouse gases while lighting and heating takes 21% and 13% respectively. Going by building type hospital and office buildings altogether yields about 40% of the total greenhouse emitted by the commercial sector. Research Significance and ScopeSignificance of the Study ExplainedThis section provides the reader with information on how the study will benefit them. It also identifies who will benefit from the outcomes of the study. The significance of a research paper outlines how the research results will contribute to the improvement of certain aspects of life. It answers to the question: why should the study be conducted? Is it worth the researcher’s time? This section of the research paper provides justification for carrying out the research. It is also called Justification of the Study.Greenhouse gases remain one of the largest contributors to global warming and climate change. Buildings contribute a significant share to the global greenhouse gas emissions 40%. Buildings also account for about 30% of the total energy consumption according to the United Nations Environmental Program. These figures support the proposition that the development of energy efficient and sustainable buildings will greatly reduce the amount of green-house gas emissions. This study will add its voice to the list of authorities who have already spoken and written about the need for strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as a way of combating climate change. As such this study will contribute information that is critical to understanding the issues 4

An Evaluation of the Slow Uptake of Sustainable Housing in Australiaaround climate change and global warming and in addition make recommendations to how remedies to the current global warming situation. The researcher observes with concern that there is not sufficient academic research that has been done on the role that energy efficient and sustainable building methods could have in reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions. The research therefore responds to the need for more scholarly work on the necessity of adopting green building technologies and this paper is responding to that need. In the same vein the research seeks to fill the gap in scholarly work targeting green building technologies (GBT). Green building technologies are defined as the practice of building structures by employing methods that are environmentally friendly and efficient on resources throughout the life span of the building (Ding 2013 p. 242). It follows that construction of buildings according to the green building technology would significantly cut on the consumption of energy, minimize negative impacts on the environment and optimize resource utilization. This is what is lacking in Australia’s building sector and the paper hopes to bring this up as a pertinent issue. The outcomes of this research will inform state and national authorities of Australia in coming up with policies on the promotion of sustainable buildings. These are very necessary if the current data available on greenhouse gas emissions according to the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory and the Green Building Council of Australia. Such policies are critical in creating a framework for regulating industry players in order to ensure compliance with green building requirements. The results of this research will contribute to the legislative process regarding the building sector. It will aid the legislative arm of government on drafting legislations to regulate the sector 5

An Evaluation of the Slow Uptake of Sustainable Housing in Australiaof building and construction. The researcher also intends to publish the outcomes of the study in order to contribute to the existing pool of knowledge on energy efficient sustainable housing in Australia and the world. Such legislations will then become the basis for policy formulation by statutory bodies charged with regulating the building and construction industry. In 2003 the government of Australia through the Department of Environment and Heritage undertook a survey to unpick and assess the degree of environmental impacts arising from the building fabric. The study employed the life cycle analysis to predict the options for cutting on the impacts of these materials to the environment. Additionally the research looked into ways and means of enhancing sustainability of building materials in the supply chain of construction inorder to address environmental concerns. The study sought to know whether it was necessary to include sustainability requirements into the Building Code of Australia. In the year that followed the Australian Building Code Board took up some of the recommendations of the study and placed them alongside the already existing ones (safety, health and amenity). The outcomes of the study showed that the residential sector yielded the highest amount. Sustainable HousingSustainable housing obtains its magnitude from two distinct traditions. First is the notion of a green or natural house. This kind of house is considered to be healthy because it minimizes the use of manufactured products most of which are associated with side effects pollution and leakages. This approach also advocates for a reversion to the indigenous structural designs and the use of traditional building materials which would have less intrusive impacts on the local ecosystem (Yates 2013 p. 123). In line with this first concern of natural houses is the need for energy efficiency. This is coupled with the drifting attention towards architectural designs that 6

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