Sustainable Buildings
Low Carbon Building Guide - A Guide to Renovating and Building Churches and Parsonages
Prepared for the Methodist Church of New Zealand by Betsan Martin, Coordinator of Methodist Public Issues Network, and Hedda Oosterhoff, Architectural Consultant, and contributors from Methodist ‘Green Church’. October 2015.
Embodied Carbon Assessments
Embodied carbon is a relatively new concept in Aotearoa. Embodied carbon assessments are a way of measuring and recording the embodied carbon of a new building or building work. Embodied carbon is the emissions associated with the use of materials in a building that occur across the life-cycle of the building. Understanding the emissions associated with building designs, products and materials can help building developers and owners make informed choices about lower-carbon options.
Find out more from MBIE’s Building for Climate Change programme including examples of embodies carbon assessments and the methodology used.
Deconstruction
Deconstruction is the selective disassembly of buildings and structures so materials can be recovered, repurposed, recycled, reused. The amount of material that can be salvaged for reuse or recycling is largely dependent on the type of building being deconstructed, time constraints and the local recycling market. Read more about deconstruction in the links below:
BRANZ - Planning for deconstruction
Auckland Council’s construction waste resources
Kāinga Ora’s first public housing deconstruction project
Zero Waste Network’s Construction and Deconstruction Resource Pack
All Hearts NZ - All Heart NZ will up-cycle and re-purpose items that cannot easily be re-used, like plastic, MDF, textiles and construction waste. This maximises waste diversion and fosters the development of employment and community enterprise.
Case studies of sustainable church buildings in New Zealand:
St Patrick’s Catholic Church, Christchurch
For further research and advice:
New Zealand Green Building Council
MBIE - Building for Climate Change
Te Tōpūtanga o te Whare Korou ki Aotearoa | Passive House Institute NZ (PHINZ) - High-Performance Construction Details Handbook
Free eco design advisors are available from a number of local councils. A list of councils with eco design advisors are available here.
Health Based Building - An organisation in Christchurch that specialises in manufacture and supply of building materials, building systems and specifications for construction of energy efficient, healthy, and sustainable built environments.
Resources from the Church of England:
Sustainable Building page - with first steps towards a sustainable building and how to take on a sustainable building project.
Is Your Project Sustainable page - with lots of case studies.
The practical path to net zero carbon for churches - with action points and checklist.
Case studies from the dioceses in the South West to inspire you with ideas.
If you’re interested in building with straw bales, check out Holy Trinity Church’s “We Can Build Our Church” website.
Relevant Eco Church stories
