| Why Eco? |
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“OUR APPROACH TO THE ENVIRONMENT AND OUR CUSTOMERS” Our declaration to all our customers is that we as a Company look to our operating statement for the practices we propose to maintain. Our Company statement on all our business documentation reads: “Balancing Design with Nature” Effectively we work with our consultants and seek to provide a completed product that has taken a sensible approach to its location, client requirements and day to day operation. As we are currently building on Koh Samui, an Island off the east southern coast of Thailand there are restrictions to what we can achieve without making our projects commercially unviable. For example we cannot practically produce “Green” concrete. This is produced from old crushed concrete which simply is not available in enough quantities to meet demand together with the fact that there is no crushing machine on the Island to reconstitute it. BASIC CRITERIA OF OPERATION We adopt some basic rules that apply to all our projects as a basic stated standard. Our basic provisions are as follows:- Building Envelope To specify external walls, roofing and windows and doors which when assembled provide a low “U – Value” in terms of W/m2/°C heat transfer between external and internal envelope. This is to prevent the heat from the outdoor transferring into the house. The house is affectively fully insulated. Benefit – Reduction in usage of Air Conditioning thus producing reduction in usage of electricity and electricity requirements. Building Materials/ Finishes Generally Eco Developments look to source materials from local suppliers’, this in turn reduces air freight and shipping costs. In the Surat Thani region there are a number of suppliers who provide timber from a replenishable source. In addition products such as ceramic tiling and other quarried goods are readily available. Eco Developments follow this policy so as to not expend unnecessary costs in bringing materials to the construction site. Water Rain Water – Collection of rainwater to provide minimum four days of storage for watering purposes. Benefit – This provision makes it possible not to rely on well water for longer periods of the year. In reverse, it also stops large amounts of discharge on surrounding land owners properties. Sewerage Water – Provide localized passive treatment units to individual or groups of properties. Benefit - Provision of these units provide is a highly acceptable solution when living on an Island that effectively has no sewers and there is not adequate land/space to provide septic tanks. Hot water – Heat pumps are utilized to provide low cost hot water for washing, cleaning etc. Benefit – This is the most electrically efficient route to pursue in terms of low energy usage the power consumption for the heat pump is approximately 3-3.5 times lower than an ordinary electrical heater). If the property has good insulation then heat exchange systems utilizing the air conditioning system have little or no benefit as they do not operate for long enough periods to assist with the partial warming of water. In addition shower units utilising electric instantaneous water heaters, use very high levels of electricity to directly heat shower/bath water supplies. Mechanical & Electrical Eco Developments look to use sanitary ware and electrical goods which are tried and tested practice in terms of being energy efficient or environmentally friendly. For example, Sanitary ware if specified correctly should be, low water usage, non polluting and have closed system septic units. Electrical goods should generally be of the low energy type, for “White goods” or kitchen, bathroom related items. Eco Developments follow the Australian Energy Star standards which is seen regularly in Thailand on domestic appliances. Solar exterior and common area lighting Eco Developments where ever practical will look to provide solar powered communal lighting as street lighting and basic lighting around parking areas. Solar powered lighting will also be utilized in some of our properties in the common large garden areas. Swimming Pools Eco Development uses cartridge filter for filtering the circulation water in and out of the swimming pool. The cartridge filter does not require backwash water for cleaning the filter media, but uses small amounts of water through a tap for cleaning from time to time. This requires less water than other filters and thus avoids the pollution from large amounts of waste water entering into the drainage system. The disinfection can be achieved by salt. The system is a salt chlorination system. In general operation it does not require any chemical being added into the pool water other than salt. ADVANCED CRITERIA OF OPERATION Set out above is ECO Developments standard operating procedures to illustrate our dedication to being environmentally aware. These have been reviewed and commented on by our Building Services Consultant, Lincolne Scott. ECO choose to currently not try to work to any countries particular environmental provisions, we endeavour instead to take a middle road between viability within the product we offer and its price range. If the customer has ecological views of their own we as a company are fully prepared to investigate and consider amending our specifications to suit our customers’ requirements. We reserve the right to charge accordingly should the need arise. |