D13/25125
Materials Selection at the Planning Stage
The environmental impact of building materials
Materials selection is a key aspect to building
design, currently consuming between 30 and 50%
of raw materials worldwide. Construction and
demolition waste represents 42% of all generated
waste in Victoria (DEH 2006). Environmental
impacts of materials accrue through:
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Harvesting of raw materials
A material’s high embodied energy
On-going operation and maintenance
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Inability of materials to be recycled or reused
For more information
Online
Visit our website:
www.moreland.vic.gov.au/building-andplanning/environmental-sustainable-design
Telephone
Speak to Council’s ESD Unit
9240 1138 (8:30am – 5:00pm, Monday to Friday)
Make an appointment and come in to discuss your
application.
Without a discussion at the planning stage
therefore, poor materials selection practices are
often reinforced and practices improve only slowly.
These decisions are compounded by poor market
understanding of concepts such as embodied
energy; despite it being important in terms of
environmental impact, the market does not
consistently value it. However, there are some
simple steps that can be considered at the planning
stage to reduce the environmental impacts of
materials.
Demolition and disposal of the material
Encouraging sustainable materials selection at
the planning stage
Many of the decisions on material types are
perceived to be made at the detailed design stage,
however increasingly planning processes, industry
project management practices and commitments to
other sustainability targets and features require
consideration of some material elements up front. It
has been shown that it’s possible to incorporate
sustainable materials without much additional cost if
it’s considered early in the design process.
On this basis Council has a key role in encouraging
sustainable materials selection and providing
information to applicants which will help them to
make better informed decisions.
The building permit process looks at safety and
structural elements of construction materials,
ensuring structural integrity of a development, but
falls short of assessing considerations such as
embodied energy, toxicity and sustainable sourcing
of materials.
Council’s role in consideration of building
materials
Council’s interest in material selection specifically
focuses on those decisions that are generally made
early on in the design process as outlined below:

Reuse of existing building – The embodied
energy of a new build can be minimised when
parts of the previous building fabric are reused or
recycled. Consideration of the reuse of existing
buildings must be made early on, as a demolition
permit is considered at the same time as a
planning permit for development and would
obviously need to be factored into town planning
drawings.
A
pre-application
discussion
supplemented with appropriate communication
such as the Building Materials fact sheet may
D13/25125
prompt an applicant to consider an element of
building re-use or on-site recycling of materials.

Efficient Design – Early design stage provides an
opportunity to consider how the material use can
be reduced through efficient design. Material use
could be reduced by designing for: smaller unit
sizes; less bathrooms; residences that do not
require heating and cooling and ventilation
systems and ductwork; designs that do not require
finishes, e.g. exposed concrete, materials that
form a dual function, e.g. roof top garden substrate
or photovoltaic shingles serving as cladding.

Construction method – The concept design
stage represents an opportunity to consider
modular construction or other alternative
construction methods, which can reduce the
embodied energy of a building. This could extend
to pre-fabricated kitchens and bathrooms to entire
pre-fabricated buildings.
The pre-feasibility stage of a project will usually
determine what type of construction method will be
used for the project and therefore providing
information and encouragement for developers to
investigate more sustainable construction methods
at the pre-application stage may help encourage
deployment of these alternatives to traditional
construction.

Construction type – Some components of
construction type are decided early in the design
process as this helps with project planning and
determining
feasibility.
This
extends
to
commitments to such decisions as the use of a
high percentage of recycled material in concrete
(as recycled material such as flyash can affect
curing times) or minimising waste and materials
use by limiting the fitout of commercial tenancies
to common areas only.

External materials selection – In order to
properly assess the merits of a development in
terms of neighbourhood character and urban
design issues, the external materials of the
development are locked in through the approval of
a materials palette and elevations as part of a
planning submission. This provides an opportunity
for Council to consider not only urban design
considerations, but also recommend that
applicants consider that more sustainable
materials may be appropriate for the building
exterior, for example FSC certified products in
place of cement sheeting or highly refined metals.

Nexus with other assessment criteria areas –
Materials selection greatly impacts other
assessment
areas
within
Council’s
Environmentally
Efficient
Design
policy.
Additionally, some commitments in other
assessment areas rely on making quite specific
commitments for materials selection. This may
create the opportunity to discuss improvements
and encourage more sustainable selection of
some building elements. For example:
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An ability to make good on a commitment to
high thermal efficiency may rely on specific
materials being used in the exterior or interior
building fabric
A commitment to good daylight to habitable
areas may depend on light from a light court
using reflective paints to refract light in lower
levels
Material selection may impact greatly on the
ability to reach construction waste targets
Materials decisions are best made at the earliest
stages in the design process. For more information
refer to Council’s website and the Building
Materials fact sheet.