New environmental practices in land development

Land development has always been a large environmental issue and will be for many years to come. There are however, a number of new developments that land developers should be paying attention to.

Energy: The new law based on the EU directive on the Energy performance of buildings imposes the issue of an energy demand certificate. This will provide information to the new owner on the energy related costs of the building and whether this will produce climate change related gases. Not in the distant future, we will also have a penalty tax for high energy demanding buildings.

Water and Sewage: Sewage collection and treatment is an expensive business. The treated water is however of good enough quality for watering gardens and for certain types of agricultural activities.

Finding drinking water is nowadays very difficult, because of reduced rainfall, the extensive use of fertilizers and air pollution.

Old techniques of collecting rainwater are now back in fashion in many places around the world. This water can be used in the garden and the toilet.

Reuse: Sustainable development principles demand the re-use of building material waste or the use of recycled products. In Cyprus the land development sector produces more than 600000 tones of waste per year. Unfortunately we don’t have standardized sizes (e.g. for doors and windows) so that we would be able to reuse some of these.

Soon, government tenders will demand products made from recycled materials or the reuse of items from demolition works. Materials for landfills, insulation from recycled materials, old bricks and tiles are just a few possible examples.

It is worth noting that the law that allows public tenders to specify these has been in place from the beginning of this year.

Environmental management: The environmental and social corporate policy of a company is nowadays an important aspect in the business world. The Environmental standards that a company adheres to, both in its normal course of business and also during a project execution can also be a selection criterion in public tenders, according to the recent law. This is already in use in Europe. In addition, negative publicity from environmental groups will scare investors away. For this reason companies should consider revising not only their own practices but also those of their business partners.

Household Waste: The ultimate target is for zero waste production, through the golden rules of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. So, in designing the refuge collection area of an estate we must provide at the design stage, for the Recycling bins and bags and not just for a single bin. Other central collection systems might also be considered, such as garden waste or electrical goods. Areas known as "Community Green Points" can also be designated.

Noise: Road traffic noise often affects negatively the price of a property. Clever house orientation and double glazing were the only options till now. But the new Low Noise road surfacing material can offer a noise reduction of 50%. All new roads in UK will now be using this material.

Renewable Energy: Solar water heater panels are now standard in all developments. Designers should however make provisions for the installation of other renewable sources such as wind and solar power electricity generation. There is also the alternative of electricity generation using biofuels, which is slowly becoming a more viable option these days. Recent changes in the law make this now, a possible solution and this is an alternative which is particularly attractive in isolated areas.

Charalampos Theopemptou

Commissioner for the Environment