To maintain the ‘Triple Bottom Line’ the El Moore development team approached multiple areas within the bottom line categories of environment, economic and community to set specific goals. These goals are area specific and purposefully try to positively affect the building’s sustainability through certain actions. The areas being approached for development are Energy, Waste, Water, Toxicity and Habitat.
The goals for the area of energy:
– Only use 25% of the average demand for energy per person.
– Ensure at least 25% of the energy actually used is renewable
– Have personal accountability for the energy used, by not including water and gas bills within the rent.
The goals for the area of waste:
– Only produce 50% of the average waste for a build of this size
– Use 25% reclaimed materials in the building process
– Keep the buildings operating cost at only 10% of the average for a building of this size
The goals for the area of water:
– Operate with only 1/3 of the average water use
– Use No city water
– Water drainage system capable of handling more than the 25-year storm average.
The goals for the area of toxicity:
– Maintain healthy air quality
– Maintain healthy water quality
– Use environmentally friendly materials
The goals for the area of Habitat:
– Have 25 different plant and tree species in the garden
– Ensure 50% of these species are native
– Improve Soils
– Help Insects and Birds
– Have less than 10% of the garden space be lawn
The following posts will be aimed at exploring each of these goals and the ways in which they are achieved. It will be these actions that will make the El Moore an environmentally friendly building from the beginning of construction through to occupancy.