Sustainable Building Starts with Specifying Responsibly
Photography Cieran Murphy
The construction of residential and commercial buildings and other infrastructure has a significant impact on people and the environment. At ForestOne, we support architects and designers to make a responsible choice with a range of high-quality products, making a lesser impact on the environment.
The built environment requires the use of land, materials and energy, which in turn leads to greenhouse gas emis- sions and the production of other waste. In fact, emissions from the building sector hit their highest-ever level in 2019 1 . Beyond that, there is also the human impact. Build- ings themselves may be harmful to human health through poor design or the use of toxic building materials. It is our obligation to make responsible choices and contribute to the sustainability of our ecosystem. As there is no universal definition of “sustainability”, it is generally discussed in a specific way. Sustainability refers to processes and actions through which humankind avoids the depletion of natural resources to maintain an ecological balance. This concept also has a social and economic dimension, which includes respecting and pro- tecting social and economic equity, human and labour rights and human health and safety. Applying this idea to building and construction, a sustainable building is an outcome of a design philosophy that focuses on increasing
the efficiency of resource use, while also reducing build- ing impacts on human health and the environment during the building’s lifecycle 2 . Therefore, it is industry’s access to ethically sourced building materials that enables responsible specification in architecture, leading to more sustainable building outcomes. While we often focus on aesthetics, performance and cost when designing and constructing buildings, beautiful designs do not need to come at a cost to the earth. Specifying Responsibly means architects, design- ers and project specifiers can reduce the environmental impact of building through careful material selection. They can also make informed decisions that contribute to the health and wellbeing of all stakeholders in the supply chain. As ForestOne is the largest independent distribu- tor of plywood, timber and decorative surface products in Australia, we have a strong focus on providing products to allow architects and designers to Specify Responsibly.
[1] UN Environment Programme. [2] The Global Development Research Centre Green Construction fact sheet.
EGGER’s Tobacco Pacific Walnut imparts warmth and sophistication in the Riverside Centre by Outline Design Office.
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