The first step of the estimated $1.4billion Dunedin Hospital rebuild could fall well short of the best-practice guidelines for recycling demolition debris.
The project will incorporate ‘‘green star standards’’ into its design, the Ministry of Health says.
But the waste created in the Cadbury building demolition appears set to be far too great to secure the project points in the New Zealand Green Building Council’s voluntary sustainability rating system for a building’s overall environmental impact.
Dunedin simply lacked the established recycling streams available in a main centre, like Auckland, the Green Building Council’s director of market transformation Sam Archer said.
‘‘If a project comes to us and wants to get a green rating, then typically we would be looking to divert more than 70% [of the debris],’’ Mr Archer said. ‘‘That’s the minimum to get any points.
‘‘That’s achievable, but it’s much, much more achievable in Auckland where there are all those supply chains set up to take all those streams — the waste timber, the waste concrete ...’’
Without regular channels for construction and demolition waste, recycling in the regions could be ‘‘very time-consuming and very labour intensive’’.
A ministry spokeswoman yesterday confirmed, of the 55,000 tonnes of debris created when the Cadbury building was cleared to make way for the new hospital, contractor Ceres estimated there would be about 4000 tonnes of scrap metal which could be recycled.
Native timber from some of the buildings would also be salvaged.
‘‘Depending on the demand for recycled crushed concrete, Ceres may also recycle concrete debris,’’ she said.
The Otago Daily Times reported last month the majority of the debris was to be dumped at the Burnside landfill.
Mr Archer said the rebuild could still attain a high green star rating as the points system used for certification did not necessarily require high levels of recycling.
‘‘We build up points on a different category, you could put more of your effort into reducing the carbon emissions from the building.’’
While the project design would be incorporating green star standards into the new hospital concept, the ministry had yet to confirm the level of sustainability the building’s designers would aim for.
A 2019 ministry guide on sustainability and the health sector notes ‘‘sustainability should be a consideration at every stage of the building process’’.
‘‘Evidence suggests that environmentally friendly buildings improve the health and productivity of the people using them, reduce staff illness and improve staff performance,’’ the guide says. ‘‘In hospitals, the improved indoor environment can additionally help patients recover more quickly.’’
A 2018 report by the New Zealand Green Building Council and the Green Building Council of Australia said research from green hospitals in operation showed patients in sunlit rooms had 40% shorter stays than those in dull rooms. Medical errors were reduced by a third, plus pain medication was reduced.
