Sustainable Products and Materials (S1-04)

Armstrong Creek Town Centre Precinct Sustainable Management Plan

Use of sustainable products and materials will reduce Armstrong Creek town centre’s environmental impact embodied in its construction.

Vision

Use of sustainable products and materials will reduce Armstrong Creek town centre’s environmental impact embodied in its construction. Residents and business will also be encouraged to consume goods sustainably ranging from household products to food.

Practical steps to make products and materials more sustainable include sustainable sourcing and encouragement of local food sources.

Sustainable products and materials image

Sustainable products and materials mean less embodied energy and material waste…

Benefits

The developer	Community / Residents / Commercial tenant	Environment
Smoother approvals process by ensuring that the application addresses the objectives and guidelines of the Precinct Structure Plan A development that meets best practice standards and community expectations More efficient construction processes and reduced long-term maintenance Long-term sustainability of material supplies	Local jobs and industry growth Increased resilience of infrastructure and products with lower ongoing maintenance Long-term sustainability of materials supplies Enhanced sense of community and local identity Healthy local food	Reduced embodied emissions in the development Reduced waste Reduced transportation Ongoing sustainable consumption through green leases and community engagement.

Guidelines

All development in Armstrong Creek Town Centre should:

S1-04.G1 Utilise construction materials and products that incorporate low-embodied energy are robust and weather resilient and are low maintenance to maximise their life-cycle

S1-04.G2 Incorporate materials re-use and those from sustainable resources with low embodied energyfor example: Forest Stewardship Council certified timbers fly-ash component in concrete

S1-04.G3 Encourage development that aligns with ‘Design for Sustainability’ principles including green procurement

S1-04.G4 Encourage alternative construction techniques that reduce waste and disposal

S1-04.G5 Encourage provision for on-site waste treatment

Case Study – Surf Coast Shire Civic Building

The Surf Coast Shire Civic Building in Torquay Victoria utilised materials with a reduced environmental impact in their manufacture to minimise the building’s embodied energy.

Recycled cementitious materials were used in the concrete mix to reduce the quantity of Portland cement used in the building’s structure by more than a third. In addition the majority of steel used in the building had a post-consumer recycled content of greater than 50%.

These initiatives utilised recovered recycled materials in order to reduce the project’s raw materials consumption and environmental impact due to its construction. The Civic Building Image: Surf Coast Shire / Irwin consult achieved a certified 5 Star Green Star Office v3 Design rating.

What do the ‘sustainable products and materials’ guidelines mean in practice?

	Residential	Commercial
Construction and materials By reducing total materials for example through exposed finishes capital costs can be reduced while reducing embodied energy	Demonstrate process for material selection evaluating various sustainability considerations Demonstrate that the project has considered sustainability principles across its full life cycle and evaluated and incorporated design and material opportunities to improve outcomes a tall project stages Demonstrate use of tools and resources such as Life Cycle Assessment Green Star and Ecospecifier in decision making Use of prefabricated or modular construction approaches	Instruct designers to consider use of standard material lengths and to dematerialise where possible Demonstrate process for material selection evaluating various sustainability considerations Demonstrate that the project has considered sustainability principles across its full life cycle and evaluated and incorporated design and material opportunities to improve outcomes a tall project stages Demonstrate use of tools and resources such as Life Cycle Assessment Green Star and Ecospecifier in decision making
Sustainable consumption Food consumption contributes 28% of Victoria’s ecological footprint which can be reduced through on-site food production to minimise transport and packaging	Developing a Building Users Guide which covers all aspects of sustainable building operation and sustainable living and has a focus on sustainable consumption. This includes shoppinglocally use of shared resources (e.g.tool library) and maximising reuseand ‘upcycling’ Implement and encourage on-site food growing or installed community gardens	Green Leases which provide an agreement between the lessor and lessee regarding how the tenancy will maximise the sustainability of its operations can provide a tool to encourage sustainable consumption principles to be built into the operations of businesses in the activity centre Businesses that focus on sourcing local produce products and services could also use sustainable consumption principles to market the benefits to the Armstrong Creek community

The table above summarises some of the practical initiatives that can significantly improve the sustainability of different development types and an indication of the costs and benefits. Further guidance on how to respond to all the guidelines is provided in the Reference Matrix.