Construction can result in excess and wasted building materials. Some of these materials are made of harmful substances that end up in landfills. Taking steps towards reducing wasted building materials, and ensuring that the materials that are used are not (or less) harmful, will ultimately result in a healthier space and lessen your co-operative's ecological footprint. Encourage the use of materials that are biodegradable, easily repairable, and certified.
Considerations
Use materials that are easily reused or recycled once they have reached their limit of use.
Use materials that are sourced locally (e.g. grown/harvested and manufactured in town or province).
Use good quality materials that are designed to last.
Use furniture, products, and materials that are designed using the principles of biomimicry and cradle-to-cradle design (a framework in which a product is turned into something else at the end of its life so waste and environmental impacts are limited).
Use life-cycle assessments to ascertain the environmental impact of products and services throughout their lifespan.
Consider the embodied energy of each product and service you use. Similar to life-cycle assessment, embodied energy accounts for the energy used in creating a product or service starting with raw material extraction and tallying the energy used for transportation, manufacturing, assembly, installation, capital and other costs to produce a service or product. Embodied energy also accounts for energy used in a product's disassembly, deconstruction and/or decomposition.
Reduce the amount of materials used-go for simplicity. Materials that have not been harvested, manufactured, transported, installed, or will not be disposed of, are the most environmentally sustainable choice.
Develop a green housekeeping policy and strategy. Promote the absence of harmful chemicals for workers by using green cleaning products at all times. See for example, Royal Roads University, which has adopted a chemical-free cleaning system.
Green cleaning products can be sourced from the following four certification agencies.
Consult with cleaning staff in the design and construction of buildings to ensure that selected finishing materials are durable and efficient to clean.
Offer a comprehensive ecological cleaning program for all janitorial and housekeeping staff. Provide a seminar that covers the following areas:
o Cleaning for health first and appearance second;
o Minimizing human exposure to contaminants and cleaning products;
o Recognizing cleaning as an environmental health benefit;
o Committing to occupational development of cleaning personnel;
o Communicating the value of healthy buildings;
o Minimizing chemical, particle, and moisture residue when cleaning;
o Ensuring worker and occupant safety;
o Disposing of cleaning products in environmentally safe ways; and
o Establishing and documenting routine maintenance schedules.
Ensure that documentation of the program's housekeeping policies and environmental cleaning solution specifications are kept, including a list of approved and prohibited chemicals. This will help to ensure successful implementation of the green cleaning program over the years to come.
Ensure that cleaning staff is provided with all the relevant safety equipment including earplugs, overalls, non-disposable rubber gloves, respiratory protection, etc. Seek to minimize cleaner residue following cleaning activities.
Review cleaning activities annually and consider the ecological and social impacts of the year's activities.
Landscaping
Select landscape materials leading into the building that will not be tracked into the building and that drain quickly and are easy to clean off, such as gravel. Trees and shrubs planted near entryways should be species that do not shed fruit or result in significant pollen production.
For high-traffic entries in main buildings, specify an entryway track-off system at least 30 feet (10 m) in total length that gets progressively softer towards the building.
Corridors
Select a hard-surface, poured floor, such as tile, stone, adobe, terrazzo, or decorative poured concrete for easy cleaning. Avoid flooring materials that require regular stripping and re-waxing, such as wood.
Restrooms
Make restroom floors as open as possible to provide accessibility for mopping.
Though the sink and faucet design will affect this, install a splash plate that extends up the wall to reduce splashing on the mirror and reduce cleaning needs.
Specify where possible, materials with easy-to-clean, non-staining surfaces. Despite its name, stainless steel does stain. Preferable are materials such as tile, polished granite, and stone.
Compared with paper towels, electric hand dryers dramatically reduce paper consumption and waste, significantly reduce janitorial costs, and use considerably less energy when one factors in the embodied energy of paper towels. Specify one of the fast-drying, energy-efficient hand-drying models, such as Excel Dryer's XLerator or World Dryer's AirMax dryer. Cloth towels may be an option for restrooms with limited usage.
The manufacturing, refurbishing, and finishing of furniture is an extensive process that can use many chemicals, toxins, and other unsustainable resources. Most furniture is made far away, often from unsustainable, tropical wood and materials, and requires long trips to get here. Supplies that are less expensive up-front may be of lower quality and could lead to higher costs for repair, maintenance, and disposal.
Look for products certified by an accredited third party-organizations, such as those listed below.
Whether you need chairs, sofas, coffee tables, desks, or office furniture, select those that:
o Have low or no volatile organic compounds (VOCs);
o Are recycled, reused, or refurbished using environmentally responsible processes and materials;
o Are locally made;
o Are made of environmentally sustainable local materials (e.g. Forest Stewardship Council-certified wood);
o Are salvaged, used, or refurbished;
o Can be fully disassembled and moved; or
Use hard materials as much as possible as these are more durable, are less likely to off-gas, and will not pick up and hold contaminants such as dust, mould and other contributors to poor air quality.
Encourage recycling, composting, and waste reduction at your co-operative.
Considerations
General
Critically rethink whether or not you need to purchase the material in the first place.
Use reusable dishes instead of disposables. Ensure that vending machines can accommodate reusable cups and mugs.
Use minimally packaged, sustainably produced, recycled products.
Use durable, high-quality supplies, and order in bulk where appropriate.
Use scrap paper (e.g. photocopier mistakes, obsolete file copies) and the blank side of used paper for draft printouts, internal correspondence, fax transmission sheets, notes, and messages.
Save paper by thinking before you print: review print jobs using print preview; double side print jobs and copies; use the 'print to fit' option; and print company cards rather than individualized business cards.
Use products that come in refillable containers (e.g. cleaning solutions) that can either be returned to the manufacturer or refilled by the purchaser.
Avoid aerosol containers.
Avoid purchasing materials that cannot be reused or recycled at the end of their useful life.
Ensure that caterers and other service providers operate within your space the same way you do-with environmental responsibility in mind.
Repair broken appliances, furniture, and other materials instead of replacing them.
Return to the supplier appliances that are no longer of use, or donate them to an appliance refurbishment organization. Leasing appliances often ensures they are well maintained and ultimately returnable to the provider.
Reducing Waste
Whenever possible, ensure that all relevant contracts issued to suppliers stipulate that packaging accompanying products and products at the end of their lives will be the responsibility of the seller.
Reusing Waste
Create a central warehouse/storefront to sort reusable materials and provide them to the local community for free or at a reasonable rate.
Recycling Waste
Establish a multi-level educational strategy that includes marketing materials, on site signage, and educational seminars.
Make receptacles easily accessible in every public space.
Develop a composting facility or a composting program.
Monitoring
Conduct a waste audit several times each year to understand how well the program is working and to identify the composition of waste and recyclables. This information can inform new initiatives and allow annual targets to be set. The results from this audit can be communicated in the annual environmental assessment. An important component of the audit is to consult those who are involved in recycling systems in order to gain their perspective on what is working and what is not.
Zero Waste Goal
Adopt a zero waste goal. On a practical level, zero waste is a system that:
o Redesigns the current, one-way industrial system into a circular system modeled on nature's successful strategies;
o Helps communities achieve a sustainable local economy that operates efficiently, sustains good jobs, and provides a measure of self-sufficiency; and
o Aims to eliminate rather than manage waste.
Maximize efforts using the hierarchy of first rethinking purchasing and the use of products prior to purchase. Reducing the waste at the source is the next most efficient step. Third, reusing materials is designed to reduce overall waste. Recycling materials is the last priority.
Waste Reduction Incentive
Ban the distribution of free plastic bags or replace plastic bags with biodegradable bags.
Recycling/Waste Receptacles
Make recycling and waste receptacles easily accessible in all public and private areas.
Ensure garbage receptacles are smaller than the recycling bins to clearly demonstrate their relevant importance.
Education
Ensure that all promotional materials highlight the commitment to zero waste and the measures your co-operative is taking.
Create signage that clearly indicates the reduction, reuse, and recycling system.
Offer seminars on composting.
Actively engage your municipality on the issues of waste reduction and management.
4.1 Building Materials
