Sustainability
Case study - Brod Street's house
Case study - Goods Shed North, Docklands
Heritage and sustainability
"The retention and conservation of heritage places has an important part to play in our actions to protect the environment, creating vibrant communities and sustaining local economies."
[from the Heritage Council of Victoria's policy note on Heritage and Sustainability, 2008.]
Climate change has serious implications for our future. Can the heritage sector develop innovative solutions to reducing environmental impacts, and how quickly do we need to respond to the issues at hand?
- Owners of heritage buildings
- Architects
- Builders
- Government asset managers
- Renovators
- Heritage professionals
Our response
We believe the conservation of heritage places makes an important contribution to environmental, social and economic sustainability.
By retaining heritage places through conservation and maintenance, we can benefit by substantially reducing building, demolition and new construction waste, and conserving the embodied energy of existing buildings.
Heritage buildings have adapted to disabled access and safety requirements, incorporating ramps, sprinklers, smoke detectors.
Innovative thinking by the heritage sector can find ways for heritage buildings to include sustainable adaptations such as solar panels, water tanks and wind generators.
We have produced technical notes on heritage and sustainability:
- Heritage Buildings and Energy Efficiency Regulations Feb 2009 (PDF 275Kb)
- Heritage Buildings and Sustainability Feb 2009 (PDF 259Kb)
We held a workshop for local governments about heritage and sustainability. Here are some of the presentations for download.
Heritage Victoria presentation (621kb)
Third Ecology presentation (333kb)
Brod Street's presentation part 1 (3076kb)
Brod Street's presentation part 2 (2080kb)
Current projects
Heritage and sustainability – domestic project
The objectives of this national project auspiced by the Environment Protection and Heritage Council (EPHC) and the Heritage Chairs and Officials of Australia and New Zealand (HCOANZ) are to:
- Increase public and industry understanding of the energy embodied in heritage and other existing domestic and small scale institutional buildings; and
- Assess the sustainability value, costs and benefits of common interventions to improve the overall environmental performance (including energy and water use) of these buildings.
RMIT Centre for Design has been commissioned to undertake the project, and due to be complete in April 2010. This project is assessing 14 typical domestic and institutional building case studies and is jointly funded by Heritage Council, Heritage Victoria, Building Commission, Office of the Victorian Government Architect, DPCD Building Policy, Department of Sustainability and Environment, and HCOANZ.
Heritage and sustainability – commercial project
The objectives of this national project auspiced by the EPHC and HCOANZ are to:
- Provide empirical research evidence on life cycle energy, greenhouse gas, water and other environmental impacts of range of existing commercial buildings that are heritage-listed from across Australia, and comparison with contemporary examples; and
- Model the impact of common interventions to improve environmental performance of existing commercial buildings.
RMIT Centre for Design has been commissioned to undertake the project, and due to be complete in July 2010. This project is assessing 5 typical commercial office building case studies across Australia and is funded by the Commonwealth Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts with support from Heritage Victoria and HCOANZ.
For more information on these projects, please contact Paula Judson, Project Manager at paula.judson@dpcd.vic.gov.au.
Resources
These resources are useful for those who own or maintain heritage buildings.
Most of this information comes from Australian and international organisations who provide advice about ways to save energy consumption, use renewable energy supplies and utilise embodied energy.
http://heritage.vic.gov.au/Sustainability/Resources.aspx
Case study - Brod Street's house
Brod Street's house is an inspiration to those who want to a renovate a heritage home and be environmentally sustainable.
Consider energy efficiency when renovating, but at the same time, being responsive to the heritage of the building and the surrounding neighbourhood.
This case study of renovating a heritage house in Victoria, Australia covers:
- Recycling of original bricks
- Roof top vegetable garden
- Cooling & ventilation
- Heat reflective paint
- Photovoltaic panels
- Solar heating - water
- Rainwater tanks
- Greywater
Discover the benefits:
- Health & wellbeing
- Affordability
- Energy efficiency
- Water efficiency
- Small eco footprint
Read the ull story:
http://museumvictoria.com.au/watersmarthome/story.aspx?st=2&th=2
Case study - Goods Shed North, Docklands
The No.2 Goods Shed, formerly known as No.3 or 'A' Goods Shed, is the largest and most architecturally elaborate nineteenth century railway goods building in Victoria.
One of the few heritage buildings left in Docklands, the Goods Shed was derelict for over 30 years and became redundant in the 1980’s, later being bisected by the Collins Street extension which created the North and South side.
The refurbishment of the Goods Shed North presented an incredible opportunity to renew an integral part of Melbourne’s history.
It is a 5 Star Green Star (for office design) heritage listed building with several sustainable features, including;
- Underfloor displacement
- Heating & cooling
- Water efficiency
- Recyclable materials
- Dedicated bike storage, lockers and showers
It is home to the Building Commission and the Plumbing Industry Commission.
The Goods Shed - A New Beginning (PDF 3598kb)
Drumcondra House
Case Study - Drumcondra House
An energy and water efficient extension to a 1921 Californian bungalow-style house. View the case study here: Drumcondra House
