Burbank’s Zero Waste Home in Melton South, Victoria, has demonstrated that with smart design, intelligent management of logistics and ordering, and cooperation from trades and suppliers, it is possible to reduce waste sent to landfill as the result of a domestic build by 99 per cent – without compromising on quality or aesthetics.
The Tierra 2300 home at Lend Lease’s Atherstone Estate has also set a precedent now being applied as a pilot across all Burbank’s northern region residential projects, and will also form the basis of an industry education program.
The initial project was undertaken in conjunction with partners RMIT University and the Housing Industry Association as part of a feasibility study funded through the Victorian Government’s Beyond Waste Fund. The company’s health, safety and environment manager, Frank Perconte, said the company’s goal now was to spread the message and expand the practises.
“Almost every aspect of the company’s business was a part of the [Zero Waste Home] project,” Mr Perconte said. “Now we are connecting with industry. The key is to share what we have learned with the entire domestic housing industry and encourage people to take it on.”
Burbank is working closely with Sustainability Victoria, and is also planning industry presentations in conjunction with HIA Victoria.
Waste the next sustainability frontier
Mr Perconte said Burbank had always focused on sustainability in design to achieve energy-efficient and water-efficient homes. This project allowed the company to explore the next level of sustainability – minimising waste – while also integrating leaner and more cost-effective opportunities in construction methods and materials.
The project team closely analysed what happens on as building site, identifying stages and methodologies in terms of the potential waste minimisation. Mr Perconte said he believes this could be taken a step further, to look at what the construction supply chain does and find opportunities for improved sustainability throughout the entire supply chain.
Some of the specific measures implemented at South Melton include the choice of a metal roof, which was fabricated to specified lengths offsite, so all waste was collected at the fabricator’s workshop in a metal recycling waste stream.
As a fundamental practice, Burbank prefabricate all the walls for their homes offsite and have them trucked to sites, which makes for more efficient materials selection and usage, and reduces onsite waste streams.
“Because it is a bulk recycling process in a factory, it is more efficient and viable,” Mr Perconte said. “The more you can do offsite, the greater the savings on waste.”
Factory-based fabrication is also computer navigated cutting driven, which works from the CAD drawings to ensure highly accurate and resource-efficient components, with pre-cut service penetrations and precise tolerances.
In the early planning stages, the project team considered a range of design and methodology options, including the “meccano style” home. Mr Perconte said Burbank recognised this was not the type of home customers or the industry is ready for.
“To get short to medium term [sustainability] gains, you have got to look at what the market wants. We decided if we want real change and to make an impact within the next 12 months to five years, we should work with the techniques most people are building now [which is brick veneer]. We wanted to keep the project real, and provide information and learning to the industry and community.
“With design, we aim to make it really appealing. There is no trying to reduce the focus on quality [in prioritising sustainability], as ultimately you have to have a product people love and want to own.
“The good thing about the project is it is a home you can walk into and see and feel. [It shows that] from really good choices we make as a consumer, we can have a good impact on the environment.”
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