GreenTips

Stormwater systems transfer rainwater run-off from car parks and roofs directly into New Zealand’s waterways and estuaries taking with it any pollutants and rubbish. The growth of impervious hard surfaces in our expanding towns has resulted in increasing problems of flooding, erosion and damage to fragile ecosystems. A comprehensive source of information on the subject can be found at the ARC website.

Drainage and stormwater systems can be designed to reduce this risk through the use of filters and detention systems. A number of proprietary filtration and detention systems are available to reduce the impact of stormwater. CIRIA in the UK provides an easy to use resource on the subject.

Rainwater harvesting has the twofold benefit of reducing stormwater run off while at the same time reducing demands on potable water supplies.

PVC is considered by many environmental organisations to be a material which should be avoided, though this has been debated by some in recent years. There are a number of alternatives to PVC pipe work systems readily available in New Zealand.

Domestic sewage treatment systems have improved dramatically in recent years and the new triple chamber aerated systems should always be used.

Composting toilet systems www.compostingtoilet.org probably have the lowest environmental impact of all the proprietary domestic sewage treatment systems currently available. In recent years new developments have resulted in the design of systems which have the capacity to be used in small scale commercial applications as well. An offbeat source of information on the subject can be found at the Humanure website.

Greenbuild Technical Information Search

Searches major New Zealand building industry information sites.