Some of the materials and activities performed on a building site can negatively impact the environment. Here we outline some easy things to look out for and address on your building site.
The basics
While obvious things, such as handling of hazardous chemicals and substances on site, are often covered by legislative and Health and Safety requirements, there are many other environmental effects to consider when working sustainably.
Run-off
Run-off is when heavy rain or wash-water moves across the surface of the ground, instead of soaking in, carrying pollutants like debris, chemicals, bacteria, and eroded soil with it. This contaminated water often ends up in streams, rivers, lakes, or wetlands - ultimately harming the environment.
In urban areas, hard surfaces, like pavement and roofs, prevent rain from naturally absorbing into the ground. This leads to rapid water flow into storm drains and ditches, which can cause flooding, erosion, muddiness, and even damage to stormwater systems and infrastructure.
Dust
Dust is a standard by-product on building sites, but it also harms the atmosphere, people and the wider environment. While larger dust particles are generally responsible for nuisance effects, because they are more obvious as deposits on clean surfaces, smaller particles are known to cause adverse health effects.
Spills
Spills are an inevitable event in any workplace – but the toxicity of many building products make them particularly troublesome on building sites. Being prepared for spills is a vital part of your planning to protect the environment.
Rainwater
Water is a precious, and limited, resource and rainwater collection can be an effective tool to reduce environmental impacts for both you and your clients. Having a rainwater collection system gives you:
- Improved drought resilience
- Alternative water supply during restrictions
- Cost-savings associated with lower water bills
- Lower environmental footprint
- Added value to your property
- Increased self-sufficiency
- Enhanced building resilience
Paint
The New Zealand paint market is dominated by water-based formula paint, however organic solvent-based paint is still available. Paint is sometimes disposed onto soil, down residential drains, into landfill, and littering. All these end-of-life destinations can cause serious harm to human and animal life as well as the environment.
Putting it into practice
Prevent run-off
By managing stormwater effectively, you can reduce run-off, reducing pollution, and preventing damage to our communities.
There are a number of stormwater protection products we stock, including pipe-socks, drain inserts, and gravel bags which all work to filter out sediment before it enters the stormwater system.
- UltraTech Gravel Bags Gravel Bags 1.2m, 5 Pack
- UltraTech Pipe Sock Dewatering Sock
- Ultra Tech Drain Insert
Paint
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are the components of paint which cause the most harm. Solvent-borne paints are usually very high in VOCs, while waterborne paints are much lower. Within the waterborne paint category, VOCs can be reduced even further as the paint chemists formulate the product.
Lowering the VOCs improves air quality while the paint is being applied and curing. We have a range of low and zero VOC paints available, to reduce the toxic load on your building projects.
Only Mitre 10 Pahiatua, Hastings, and Napier collects unwanted Resene paint and packaging, for return through the PaintWise programme. Any leftover paint collected is either remanufactured into RE:Paint, our custom recycled paint product, or used for community groups. Packaging is recycled into new pails. Just drop your leftovers back into store to ensure a better outcome for people and planet.
Extra for experts
- good-practice-guide-dust-2016.pdf
- Spill control: Thinking ahead for rapid response - Risk Radar fact sheet 4
