Download this article here, or read the full article here in Floors and Walls & Roofs magazines.

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 Marloes, who is herself a Living Building Challenge Ambassador, says:

As we are not able to demolish the existing building and are obliged to work with the existing structure in order to avoid a lengthy rezoning process, we are busy assessing the possibilities of an ILFI CORE certification, which outlines the ten best practice achievements that a building must obtain to be considered a green or sustainable building, putting the connection to nature, equity and the need for a building to be loved on par with the typical water, energy and materials concerns.

Our brief to Activate is for flexible, open plan workspaces to accommodate 20 people. Formal and informal meeting spaces, shower and changing facilities, an outside seating area and vegetable garden, and a bicycle storage area are also included.

Key Health & Well Being requirements that are being addressed are:

• Air Quality, which is being addressed through openable windows, natural ventilation, and sensors for air quality control (CO, CO2 and VOC);
• Drinking Water promotion and filtration;
• Nourishment, through the availability of fruits and vegetables, food production in the garden, and mindful eating;
• Light quality, with sufficient daylight, views to nature and glare control;
• Movement, with the inclusion of ergonomic workstations, a good Walk Score for the area, and a multi-use space where yoga can be practiced;
• Thermal comfort and control, with comfort monitoring
• Sound mapping and good acoustics, which requires an acoustic plan that identifies and addresses internal and external noise sources;
• Mind, through access to nature; spaces exclusively for contemplation, relaxation and restoration; and sleep support.

Says Michael Magner of Activate:

The decision was made to reuse the existing structure as much as possible without compromising on the function of the new office space. The key idea is to accommodate as much open plan flexible office space as the original walls of house will allow, with a new facade, doors and windows to deal with the performance criteria that the client is setting. This includes a multifunctional space that spills out into the garden on the north side of the site

We are replacing the existing roof with a new concrete slab which will be used as the platform for a photovoltaic installation and can also become the floor slab for a second story should Solid Green need to expand in future. We are planning to reuse the existing timber trusses in the new build. There is also an existing pool on site that we want to repurpose as a stormwater retention system to supply grey water for toilet flushing and irrigation.

Michael adds that the architecture of the front façade will respond to the busy Parkhurst commercial street with a solid but interesting boundary that includes a living wall as well as a planter and bench as a gesture to the public edge, with two new indigenous trees shading the off-street parking.

As with all our activities, our staff have been included in the process from the outset. “We held a session asking people what they want in the new office, which informed the brief,” Marloes says.

We have also presented the new design to them. Our staff is responsible for the energy and comfort modelling, which is being used as an integrated tool in determining the design of the building envelope. And they are helping to research materials for flooring and other components.

She adds that simplicity in the project’s design will not only save on cost but also reduce the unnecessary use of materials. The choice of materials will centre around those with a very low embodied energy and the focus will be on healthy materials where toxins are eliminated as far as possible. Choices will be guided by the Living Building Challenge principles for the Materials Petal – Red List free materials where possible, local sourcing, responsible sourcing (for example, FSC or reclaimed timber), and the reuse of materials where possible.

Sustainable water and waste management principles are also being embraced, with the possibilities around water harvesting, water recycling and water reuse currently being scrutinised; together with waste minimisation during both the construction and operational phases of the project.

Our intention is to break ground in October this year, with occupation of our new space planned for April next year. We will be sharing the story of our new home as we progress, so keep watching this space!

The post Solid Green’s New Offices in Parkhurst! appeared first on Solid Green Consulting.

Chihuly Glass Garden

Hosted by the ILFI (International Living Future Institute) in their home city, the unConference 2019 took place from 30th April to 3rd May. My first event, on the Tuesday, was ‘Demystifying the Materials Petal: A workshop on Achieving Certification’. The Material Petal from the LBC (Living Building Challenge) standard is arguably the hardest credit to achieve as it asks so many questions that have never been asked before about the constituent elements of buildings. The LBC uses the precautionary principle that all materials must be proven safe BEFORE they can be used, which is in stark contrast to the way in which most products are used. The workshop dealt with the technicalities of the credit, what tools to use to make it easier, where to find resources, and gave us a few exercises to test out what we had learnt – a very valuable workshop indeed!

From collaboration workshop

On Wednesday, Marloes and I toured the Bullitt Centre in the morning and then attended the International Summit in the afternoon. The summit was a small group of LBC Ambassadors from many countries around the world – including the UK, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Mexico and, of course, South Africa. Through meeting the other participants and discussing challenges in different markets, it was interesting to see how some things we find very hard are very easy for other countries, simply because of the way geography and historic development have taken place.

The Opening Reception was later that night and the main speaker was renowned environmentalist, author, and journalist Bill McKibben, followed by a ‘15 Minutes of Brilliance’ presentation featuring climate change activist Jamie Margolin. McKibben shared his views on the world today, where we are heading and what we can do about it. His new book, called ‘Falter. Has the human game begun to play itself out?’, is definitely on my reading list.

15 minutes of brilliance speakers

Margolin is a 17-year-old climate and social justice advocate from Seattle, and the founder of Zero Hour. She spoke about the need to include historically marginalised communities in the climate challenge to ensure that they are not left behind by progress and that they are not the ones to bear the brunt of the negative consequences of our ecological, societal and economic history.

Thursday started with group yoga, followed by a morning keynote by Amanda Sturgeon, CEO of the ILFI, and a ‘15 Minutes of Brilliance’ presentation featuring Sara Sanford. Sturgeon updated everyone on the progress of the ILFI, the industry and goals for the future. Sanford, the founder of GEN (Gender Equity Now), runs the GEN certification which rates how companies perform with regard to gender equity. She spoke about the challenges and successes she has seen and what work is being done to achieve more gender equity.

The first session of the day was ‘Collaborative Intelligence for Sustainability Project Teams’. The idea behind this session was to create more ideas, faster, and more creatively in design charrettes. We ran through the theory of different approaches and tried them out in practice. The approaches tried to deal with common group work problems; and the session was uncomfortable, fun and very useful.

‘Creating a Zero Carbon City: Putting Policy into Practice’ was a panel discussion that addressed the challenges of implementing new policies to address climate change and resource protection. ‘Lifting the Lid: Designing and Delivering an Effective LBC Tour’ was quite an informative session given by people that run building tours on a regular basis for LBC certified projects. As Public Education is a credit in the LBC, this is an important aspect that projects need to address.

The Friday morning keynote, again after yoga and breakfast, was given by Mary Robinson and the ‘15 Minutes of Brilliance’ featured Mark Chambers. Robinson is the former (and first female) president of The Republic of Ireland and has done a lot of work for environmental and social justice causes around the world. She is founder of the Mary Robinson Foundation, which focuses on climate justice, and has written a book called ‘Climate Justice’.

Chambers, the Chief Sustainability Officer for New York City, spoke about the two major challenges facing the city – climate change and social inequality. New York has been experiencing more frequent and damaging extreme weather events, and the people that are worst hit are those who are least equipped to deal with the consequences. NY has launched several projects to clean up its energy, make the city more efficient and support the people who need help by improving public infrastructure and access to resources.

‘A Celebration of the Senses’ covered the idea that we do not currently design our spaces using all of the available aspects of human experience – Geometric/Tectonic, Light, Thermal, Acoustic, Olfactory, Haptic, Personal, and Cultural aspects. These spaces should be designed so that people can move around to experience and be stimulated by variations in light, sound, texture and temperature.

‘Delivering the World’s most Sustainable Shopping Centre’ explored the Burwood Brickworks in Melbourne, a new shopping centre built on the site of an old brick yard. The vision was industry leadership in terms of sustainability and innovation; and the goal was to achieve an LBC rating while achieving the same financial returns as on other projects – with the intention that this way of developing will become the new normal.

‘If You Can Only Do One Thing: Using the COTE Toolkit to Elevate Every Project’ looked at the COTE Top Ten Toolkit, a new resource that documents design best practices along the broad spectrum of sustainability measures. The idea is to get the right information delivered to the right people at the right time, as an incredibly effective way to improve performance. The tool is designed to save professionals time and address the most important aspects of sustainable design.

Every evening of the unConference featured a networking party held at various locations across the city. Quite a nice surprise was that vegan options were provided at all breakfasts and lunches, via local food trucks in the hotel car park. A definite highlight was meeting Amanda Sturgeon, Jason McLennan and all the wonderful staff at the ILFI with whom we have been conversing via email for so long. Both the unConference and Seattle were inspiring – I will be back!

Local craft resturant

Old Stove Brewery – final night function

Mount Renier seen from the plane

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