PUBLIC SECTOR SUSTAINABILITY USING NATURE TO CREATE
Kenneth Freeman, International Technical Director, Ambius.
resources and fossil fuels, and the need to design and manage buildings to be as energy-efficient as possible becomes much more urgent. Most new buildings are already designed to be energy-efficient, but there are innumerable older buildings where large-scale, engineered ‘greening’ is either impracticable, or prohibitively expensive.
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This is where interior plants can play a valuable role in sustainable building management systems. By exploiting the physical properties of living plants, it is possible to reduce reliance on energy- consuming engineered and manufactured products. The multi-tasking abilities of plants can enhance indoor air quality, help regulate temperature and even reduce nuisance noise.
he cost of energy is likely to remain high for the foreseeable future. Add to that the threats to the environment resulting from the profligate use of natural
CAN PLANTS BE USED AS PART OF A GREEN BUILDING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM?
Green building rating schemes, such as BREEAM or LEED tend to have a bias towards engineered and manufactured solutions to green building issues. They are also heavily biased towards built-in systems, rather than anything added at fit- out or post-occupancy. This is neither unexpected, nor unreasonable: it is usually more cost-effective to build systems into the fabric of a building than to expend time, effort and resources in retro-fitting equipment. Plants seldom feature, often due to lack of knowledge about how they can be used. There aren’t many engineers that are professional horticulturalists too! Interior plants have a number of roles to play within a green building. Some planting effects are large and need a great deal of planning as they become an integral part of a building’s fabric. But benefits can also be obtained with the minimum of effort, although the effects may be on a smaller scale. Whether large scale or a more subtle planting scheme, one thing is certain – the building will be greener in more ways than one, benefiting indoor climate, air
quality and noise reduction. Let’s start with benefits that work best on large scale, relatively complex installations that require planning, project management and some construction considerations.
THERMAL REGULATION
At the extreme, interior plants can regulate the entire interior climate of a building: they are an integral part of the air handling systems and be used to manage cooling, humidity and air quality. Such systems can only be engineered into the building at the design concept stage and require a great deal interdisciplinary cooperation: HVAC, lighting, water and drainage specialists will work alongside horticulturalists to design a system that will work. Large indoor trees can cast shadows and shade windows much more cost-
Cooling
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PUBLIC SECTOR SUSTAINABILITY • VOLUME 1 ISSUE 3
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