As New Zealand’s population grows the byproducts of housing, feeding and transporting everyone is polluting our natural environment more and more. If we want to keep living in a beautiful clean, green New Zealand, we’ve all got to do our part to change the way we live.

The construction industry has a particularly large part to play in minimising environmental harm – buildings make up 40 per cent of the world’s total energy consumption, according to BRANZ data. This is why Williams Corporation is dedicated to building sustainable, quality homes that minimise wastage and energy use as much as possible.

Here are five ways that we make that happen.

1. Ensuring efficient use of materials

Wastage and inefficient use of materials is one of the construction industry’s biggest problems. The materials that are ordered for a build usually far exceeds what’s actually needed and the rest is simply driven to the nearest landfill after completion.

At Williams Corporation we spend extra time during the planning phase to ensure our builds use almost all of the materials that are ordered as efficiently as possible. This means less materials end up in a landfill when we’re done, and our wastage is as low as possible.

2. Using timber wherever possible

Timber is one of the most renewable, sustainable and environmentally friendly building materials known to man. In fact, it takes 19 times more energy to make a product from steel than hard wood and 45 times more energy to make a plastic product, according to Timber NSW.

Because of this Williams Corp uses as much timber as we can in our developments, planting hundreds of trees a year ourselves to further offset our carbon emissions and environmental impact.

3. Working with local companies 

If we ordered construction materials from overseas or from other cities in NZ, they’d need to be transported via truck or ship. This of course produces more harmful emissions, which contribute to global warming and environmental degradation.

To avoid this problem we deal with local suppliers wherever possible.

Not only does this reduce the environmental impact of our developments – it also pumps money into the local economy and supports small businesses.

4. Building with high quality passive design and insulation

All of Williams Corp’s new developments are built with insulation to a standard higher than the building code to reduce the need for energy use while cooling and heating. Using smart materials like aerated concrete, which is great for insulation, helps make this possible.

Better insulation and passive design isn’t just great for decreasing energy use – it makes them far more comfortable to live in too.

5. Choosing locations that cut down travel

The health and pollution affects of cars and other vehicles costs New Zealand close to $1 billion every year, according to the Ministry of Transport. To play our part in reducing this harm we only build in areas near Christchurch and Auckland’s city centres, where home buyers will have everything they need to live, work and play without travelling far.

Looking to buy a home or an investment property? Go with the sustainable option – get in touch with Williams Corp today to find out what properties we have available in your area.

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