Sustainable fitouts can be achieved in a variety of ways but have traditionally focused on reducing environmental impacts through the installation of energy and water efficient appliances and operating systems. Many of the energy and water efficiency measures are now standard practice and often legally required. The focus has now shifted to the use of sustainable materials, largely due to high churn rates associated with interior fit outs.
Targeting the consumption of resources through selection, use, reuse and efficient management practices of building and fitout materials is crucial for project managers working on green building developments. The various environmental and human health impacts arising from building materials are reduced when use of virgin materials is limited and special attention is given to the selection of ecologically and health-preferable materials. Product stewardship is also an emerging key concept in the closer examination of products for the built environment.
For manufacturers, this includes planning for, and if necessary, paying for the recycling or disposal of the product at the end of its useful life. This may be achieved, in part, by redesigning products to use fewer harmful substances, to be more durable, reuseable and recyclable, and to make products from recycled materials. Design for disassembly is a newer design concept that embodies these ideas. For retailers and consumers, this means taking an active role in ensuring the proper disposal or recycling of an end-of-life product.
With the release of the Green Building Council of Australia’s (GBCA) new Fitout Calculator, products that go inside a building, such as furniture and flooring, have never been more scrutinised. There is a growing demand for evidence of the consideration of the whole life cycle of a product such as the materials used to make it, how it is manufactured, and what happens to the product when it is no longer wanted. The key aim of the GBCA’s Fitout Calculator is to reduce the impact of churn rates on fit out items with a heavy emphasis on product stewardship. This is encouraged through the maximisation of Green Star points via reused products and certified products that have product stewardship policies.
A good case for the value of third-party certification of fitout products can be made when further reviewing the GBCA’s Fitout Calculator. If new products are being used in a Green Star Project fit out, they must be certified to be able to achieve 100% points. This was not the case with the old calculators, meaning that certification becomes more valuable as new, uncertified products cannot achieve this score.
Products that bear the Environmental Choice Australia (GECA) Ecolabel have been independently assessed as environmentally preferable. The GECA Ecolabel offers an accessible and convenient way for architects, designers, retail managers and stylists alike to choose certified products for use in fits outs, by providing instantly recognisable, trusted environmental credentials.
GECA’s Standards, against which products are certified, are developed in accordance with ISO 14024 and are based on global best practice, as are all of GECA’s 38 standards for products and services. The standards determine minimum environmental performance criteria across various aspects of a product or service’s life cycle, such as sourcing, manufacture, use and disposal.
GECA’s Furniture and Fittings Standard, for example, specifies that products should be designed for disassembly or reuse and repurposing, and requires product stewardship practices to be put in place. The GBCA, has actually recommended that product manufacturers review their current policies in relation to product stewardship, and make the necessary preparations to ensure products are able to comply with the criteria of the new Fitout Calculators.
Focus on fitout items is helping address the issues of sustainable production and consumption which in turn, can ultimately have significant impacts on everything in our natural world from raw materials to the issue of growing waste.
