Essay Example on Critically analyse sustainable development at Manton Property Development

Executive Summary The purpose of this report is to critically analyse sustainable development at Manton Property Development MPD and based on the analysis to make recommendations for current housing project The Sunshine Development The report is based on information from a range of data sources including several academic journals The findings reveal that MPD needs to keep pace with sustainable development on its housing projects which would avoid the result in reputation suffering and improve the CSR profile and company image The company should consider water and energy efficiency on future housing projects 1 Introduction Manton Property Development MPD is a successful property developer based in Brisbane Queensland The company has been developing commercial and residential properties over 40 years MPD is planning on a new low rise and high density housing project named The Sunshine Development which is aimed at providing affordable and energy efficient water energy housing promoting sustainable living style MPD is currently undergoing a reputation suffering The absence of keeping pace with sustainable developments is the cause of the suffering 

To overcome the suffering this report will first designate alternative water sources including rainwater and greywater for sustainable housing project planning And then it will entitle the renewable energy to the project such as solar power Also it will introduce an energy saving product LED lighting Based on the analysis the recommendations for the company will be presented at the end of this report 2 Findings Discussion 1 1 Alternative Water Sources There are three sorts of water sources that could be applied Rainwater and Greywater According to Silva Afonso and Pimentel Rodrigues 2011 p22 a number of countries have been considerably developed rainwater harvesting systems They also state that rainwater harvesting systems could both to reduce the flood peaks and encourage the rational use of water The benefit of harvesting rainwater is that it is a renewable clean water source for domestic use Li Boyle Reynolds 2010 p4 Li Boyle and Reynolds say that rainwater is more likely used for non portable purposes such as flushing laundry or watering They also point out that harvested water can be drinkable when the water has been filtered Greywater can be defined as a less polluted wastewater from domestic use Memon et al 2007 p28 

Wastewater from wash basins baths and showers would be reused and discharged in kitchen and toilets To use greywater a treatment technology is required As a result the water usage will be less and it is a benefit to the environment Therefore both rainwater harvesting system and greywater treatment technology could be installed in each building to improve the water efficiency based on the research by Dixon 2000 p 31 around 18 of domestic water supply can be saved by the reuse of rainwater and greywater 1 2 Renewable Energy Energy saving Product From the perspective of energy saving several energy saving products could be applied to the building Solar Panels and LED Lighting Because solar energy is a renewable energy source for electricity according to Lewis 2007 p 798 the solar energy resource stands out from fossil based energy and other renewable energy resources Even though the conversion efficiency of around 9 to 18 Li Yang Lam 2013 p 4 up to 50 of energy consumption in heating and cooling can be saved through solar passive conditioning Filippín and Larsen 2007 p 228 LED lighting can be used nine times longer than compact fluorescent lamps CFL and CFL usually has a longer life than ordinary light bulbs Khan Abas 2011 p 297 298 Khan and Abas 2011 p 299 illustrate that LED light has 1700 lumens at 15W of power in luminance where ordinary bulbs require 100W of power at the same luminance level Therefore LED has better energy efficiency than most of the lamps They also state that all lamps except LED use mercury which would be a threat to health thus LED is much safer in practice 2011 p 298 3 Conclusion Recommendations 

Based on the analysis to improve the CSR profile and the reputation of the company it is suggested that MPD 3 1 Prepare a proper water system plan for construction practices Both rainwater harvesting and greywater recycling systems are suggested to be installed in the new housing project where they could optimize the water efficiency and providing a sustainable living style and reducing the living cost It would be more efficient if rainwater harvesting system and greywater recycling system are combined together Since the new housing project tends to be environmentally friendly and satisfy the needs of sustainable development the image of the company could be improved 3 2 Consider the use of renewable energy energy saving product in the project Since up to 50 of energy consumption in heating and cooling has been reduced by the use of solar energy Filippín and Larsen 2007 p 228 solar panels are highly recommended Solar panels are expected to be installed on the roof along rainwater harvesting devices Furthermore the implementation of LED lighting in public area is recommended as well due to its longer duration high energy efficiency and harm free of LED lights With the aid of motion or sound sensors it will reduce the energy consumption more because the light could be turned off automatically if there is no motion or sound detected within a limited area