Australia is able to create a favorable environment for its citizens as well as for the growth of its economy by undertaking some changes in its residential development projects. By so doing, Australia will have sustainable residential projects that have no negative impacts on the environment. The elements to be discussed include; waste products, water recycling systems and the use of solar energy.
1.1 Waste Systems
This project digs into an integrative development approach that responds to fields that can improve sustainability of medium density residential developments in Australia. Constriction of waste systems is one of them. Considering waste requirements on a projects early design stage may save on money and minimize negative impacts to the environment (Guerrero, Maas, and Hogland, 2013). Therefore, it’s becoming extremely important to separate, minimize, and recycle waste in order to reduce the waste spilling to landfills, reduce pollution, protect scarce recourses, and reduce construction costs among others. Solid waste management is one important waste system that should be incorporated to improve sustainability. Solid wastes are wastes arising from human that are normally solid and are useless or unwanted. A good solid waste management system comprises of sweeping, collection, storage, and disposal of the solid waste. If these four areas are well managed, they help in control of insects, filth borne diseases and rodents. Non-Hazardous solid waste
They comprise of all solid waste. They include garbage, ashes, rubbish, and other wastes. Garbage is waste that results from growing, handling, preparation, cooking, and food serving. It may attract insects, rodents, and rapid decomposition produces unpleasant smell (Marshall, and Farahbakhsh, 2013.p, 992). Ashes are wastes from coal, wood, charcoal. Finally, there is rubbish that includes all non-putrescible refuse except ashes. These wastes need to be done away with, in such a manner they will not cause harm to the environment. In order to improve sustainability of medium density residential development projects in Australia, measures are supposed to be put in place to do away with such waste. The advantage with such systems is, waste will be delivered to the right place without interfering with environment. However, the systems are bound to blockage which may cause environmental degradation and diseases to people
1.2 Water recycling systems
Integrating a recycling system into a medium density residential development project in Australia requires some planning. Getting an assessment first done, then planning the suitable place for the system. The water recycling systems are essential in ensuring that no water spills to the ground and cause harm to the surroundings (Noles Jr., et al 2014). Water recycling systems have advantages since they save on water usage in homes, and also recycle used water to be reused. However, they have disadvantages, in that they may end up using up a lot of space during construction of the building.
Rain water; Water saving is essential aspect in buildings. In Australia for example, buildings are suited with rainwater tanks to save water in building. This also helps in reducing the demand for water in. They are important because, during dry periods, people in Australia will have enough water. The disadvantage though is, during rainy seasons water may overflow from the tanks and cause flooding.
1.3 Solar energy systems
Sustainable projects are essential in the society as they facilitate the realization of human development goals as well as the sustainability of the natural resources. Sustainable projects do not only preserve the environment but also leads to economic growth due to the reduction of the cost of living. Australia, for instance, has made tremendous efforts to reduce the cost of energy and its consumption by taking into consideration environmental and economic factors. Research indicating that the cost of energy is likely to increase rapidly in the country; measures have been taken to minimize those costs. Environmental and economic analysis has been done with the aim of achieving sustainable residential projects that will not impact the environment negatively. Solar energy should be incorporated into the plan to achieve sustainable residential projects in Australia. Solar energy is affordable and cheap as compared to other sources of energy and this will be of great importance to residents of Australia (Li, Cushing, Meng, Senty, Bristow, and Wu, 2015). Research has indicated that the solar energy can provide up to sixty percent of the energy needs of Australia. The plan to use solar energy in residential buildings will have the following impacts.
Solar energy is renewable which makes it be used for a long period. Australia can, therefore, strategize on this advantage by innovating solar panels that utilize energy from the sun. Consequently, solar energy requires minimal maintenance as the energy is generated naturally. The consumer will, therefore, experience a lower cost in maintaining solar energy. With the advancement of technology, solar energy is as well advancing. The effectiveness of solar energy has increased as heavy machines can operate using solar energy (Hussain, Arif, and Aslam, 2017). The number of customers using solar energy will therefore increased due to the technological innovations done in the solar energy industry. Solar energy related firms will as well spend less in providing the energy.
The environment should be conserved for a better economic and social setting. Solar energy will not only help customers in reducing their cost of energy but also help in conserving the environment. Solar energy has fewer impacts on the environment compared to other sources of energy. With the use of solar energy, there will be less emission of greenhouse gases to the environment which has been indicated to cause global warming. The use of solar energy will lower the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which helps in preventing global warming.
Solar energy has the following disadvantages which need to be addressed. The cost of purchasing the solar systems is relatively high. The costs of wiring, inverters, as well as installation, are a challenge to the citizens due to the high poverty levels in the country. Consequently, solar energy is weather dependent. Even though solar energy is collected in rainy seasons, its efficiency will drop. Failure to have appropriate technology during winter such as water heating technology or the thermodynamic panels might affect the efficiency of solar energy (Hussain, et al., 2017). Solar energy has also been linked with environmental pollution. Some of the materials used in manufacturing solar photovoltaic have harmful effects to the environment. Nevertheless, with innovation, solar energy can be effectively developed to meet sustainable residential developments that are environmentally friendly.
References
Dudley J. Perio, 2014. Water storage tank. U.S. Patent Application 13/584,883. for cities in developing countries. Waste management, 33(1), pp.220-232.
Guerrero, L.A., Maas, G. and Hogland, W., 2013. Solid waste management challenges
Hussain, A., Arif, S.M. and Aslam, M., 2017. Emerging renewable and sustainable energy technologies: State of the art. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 71, pp.12-28.
Li, J., Cushing, S.K., Meng, F., Senty, T.R., Bristow, A.D. and Wu, N., 2015. Plasmon-induced resonance energy transfer for solar energy conversion. Nature Photonics, 9(9), p.601.
Marshall, R.E. and Farahbakhsh, K., 2013. Systems approaches to integrated solid
Noles Jr, J.W., Perio Jr, D.J., Bruegman, C.P. and Butler, J.J., Jerry W. Noles, Jr. and waste management in developing countries. Waste Management, 33(4), pp.988-1003.
