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The 2022 Sustainability Awards has seen the introduction of a number of new categories, with Interior Design arguably the most intriguing.
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The interior of a space is crucial to ensuring a building is fit for purpose. There are many considerations that must be made when devising an interior, in terms of how occupants of the space will utilise it, as well as aesthetic and brand, when it comes to commercial developments.
With climate optimism underpinning the important shifts taking place on the political stage in Australia, there is a growing sense of enthusiasm around stronger and more collaborative nation-wide climate action.
Today, future-forward architecture, design and construction organisations place people and communities at the heart of their agenda. BlueScope, as Australia’s largest steel manufacturer, has long understood the responsibility entailed with being a major community employer and partner.
It’s been more than a year since the Siniat brand entered the Australian plasterboard market. Siniat is one of the flagship commercial brands of the Belgium based Etex Group, which purchased the Knauf Australia business early in 2021.
While Autex Acoustics has earnt global recognition for their superb acoustic solutions, the company has also rightfully gained prominence as an industry leader in the sustainability space. Founded in the late 1960s in Auckland, New Zealand, Autex Acoustics started as a producer of underfelt for the flooring industry but has since undergone a comprehensive business transformation and this year has achieved carbon neutrality.
Growing awareness surrounding the climate crisis is galvanising the architecture and design industry more than ever before. Manufacturers, suppliers and distributors have been developing much more comprehensive sustainability agendas, while architects, designers and specifiers have been paying even more attention to the products and services they select, determined to prioritise low carbon options. It’s becoming increasingly clear that in order to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, decarbonising Australia’s building industry is paramount.
Timber has long been appreciated for its natural beauty, environmental profile and undeniable biophilic properties. However, when it comes to sound absorption, long-term stability or even fire rating – all rightfully considered to be some of the key components of sustainable spaces – real wood isn’t always suitable, forcing designers and specifiers to compromise when selecting some of the most important fit out elements.
One often hears of the three P’s of sustainability – the so-called triple bottom line of People, Planet and Profit. The implication of the three P’s is that businesses should take all three elements into consideration when making decisions for a sustainable future.
All architects, designers, and specifiers are familiar with the National Construction Code, or NCC. Updated at regularity, the NCC is a performance-based code of construction practices and requirements, to ensure buildings safely and sustainably perform exactly as intended to best serve both their current and also future communities.
It’s fair to say that many architects and designers view themselves as the creators of humanity’s future, driven by a sense of great responsibility to those living now and also the legacy their creations leave. This responsibility is shared by the construction industry as a whole - including product designers and manufacturers who work tirelessly to innovate and improve their processes to play a key role in delivering projects that contribute to a sustainable future.
With sustainability high on the agenda across the construction industry, it’s an unfortunate reality that greenwashing is prevalent. Businesses’ use of half-true sustainability claims and carefully curated marketing mean that for many, the first question when told a product is sustainable is, “yes… but is it really?”.
