The Importance of Sustainability in Building and Developing
Sustainability is essential in developing and building to ensure we can meet our current needs without compromising the ability for future generations to meet their own needs. It’s about creating a harmony between environment, economy and social community. The idea of sustainable economic growth is not new. However, it always remains vitally important.
Sustainable development has continued to evolve as we increase our focus on protecting resources and maintaining quality of life in our communities. This is reflected in policy at all levels of government as well as through certification by sustainability ratings organisations like UDIA EnviroDevelopment and active practices in the building and development industry.
What Does Sustainable Development Involve?
Sustainable development involves using guidelines for environmentally responsible and energy saving practices when creating new development projects and maintaining and retrofitting older projects. This can range from using recycled and green materials in a new construction to designing projects that can harvest their own energy to reduce load on a power grid or that incorporate green space to counterbalance the green space removed to create the development.
Sustainable development is not just about the environment, however. It’s just as much about catering to the diverse needs of people in different communities and social cohesion. It’s about finding better ways of doing things without impacting quality of our life. There is a big emphasis on making sure that what is built can be maintained and repaired in a way that minimises the degradation of the development so its lifespan is longer than usual.
EnviroDevelopment Certification
UDIA EnviroDevelopment is a national rating tool which provides independent verification of a project’s sustainability performance. It recognises developments that achieve exceptional sustainability outcomes and provides a point of difference in a highly competitive market.
The certification process is rigorous and designed to assess project initiatives across six areas:
- Ecosystems – Whether the project protects and enhances native ecosystems and ecological function and rehabilitates degraded sites.
- Waste – Whether projects implement waste management procedures and practices to reduce the amount of waste to landfill.
- Energy – Whether the project implements measure to reduce energy use across the project beyond regulatory requirements.
- Materials – Whether the project uses environmentally friendly materials and construction methods to reduce the environmental impact of the project.
- Water – Whether the project implements measures to reduce potable water use across the project beyond regulatory requirements.
- Community – Whether project encourages a healthy and active lifestyle, community spirit, local facilities, alternative transport modes and accessible and flexible design that welcomes a diversity of people and adapts to their changing needs.
UDIA EnviroDevelopment is a powerful selling tool for new developments that can be used to promote reduced costs of living and operating expenses. EnviroDevelopment is an initiative of the Urban Development Institute of Australia (Queensland) and was established to drive the delivery of more sustainable communities and spaces.
Contact Arnolds for Sustainable Development Services
At Arnold Development Consultants, we are certified EnviroDevelopment professionals with a wealth of experience in providing surveying and strategic planning services for sustainable developments. If you’d like aerial surveying services or any other services related to land surveying or town planning, please contact your local Arnolds regional office in Brisbane, Townsville, Rockhampton, or the Gold Coast.
