Materials: Net Positive Waste
Thursday 13 November 2025 2:00 – 3:00pm AEDT / 4:00 – 5:00pm NZDT
Learning outcomes
- Explore the concept of waste as a resource.
- Understand the philosophy of the Net Positive Waste Imperative of the Living Building Challenge® (LBC) and why it is important.
- Case study showcasing holistic materials selections that value waste through all project design stages, including “what good looks like” in a Materials Conservation Management Plan.
- Case study on effective approaches to achieving waste reduction on site.
- 1 formal CPD point
Learning Level
This course is appropriate for anyone wanting to know more about how to effectively reduce or eliminate the waste associated with buildings, to conserve natural resources and mitigate environmental impacts. A basic understanding of regenerative design for the built environment may provide additional valuable context.
Description
The intent of Living Future programs is for resources to be valued across their whole life cycle, for “waste” to be redefined, and to build with materials that are safe for all species throughout time. Circular thinking involves integrating waste reduction into all phases of projects and the imaginative reuse of salvaged materials. This is the philosophy of the Net Positive Waste Imperative of the LBC Materials Petal. Hear from Charissa Snijders, Auckland-based Architect specialising in regenerative architecture, and Scott Matyus-Flynn, LFIA Board member and co-founder of start-up Site Cycle, which aims to improve transparency in construction waste. Facilitated by Nicola Smith, LFIA Technical Officer.
This one hour webinar will give built environment professionals (and everyone who cares about rethinking waste) a good overview of strategies for achieving net positive waste on building projects.
Speakers
Charissa Snijders is an award-winning Registered Architect, who has worked in the field since 1992, including on Living Building Challenge® Petal certified projects. Charissa is committed to transforming the process and outcome of architecture to one that is regenerative and life-affirming. Working immersively and co-creatively with clients and her team at Charissa Snijders Architect, regenerative fundamentals, storying of place, and the blueprint of the land and people, are symbiotically combined to create places of beauty and resonance that restore harmony and positively give back to people, place and all of life. As a writer, and advocate, Charissa has contributed to the profession and community with voluntary service and published articles on transformational change. She has recently been announced a finalist for the Sustainable Business Network’s Next list – Transformational Leadership.
Scott Matyus-Flynn is a member of the LFIA Board and co-founder of start-up Site Cycle, which aims to create circular solutions for construction waste that saves on costs and brings transparency to recycling. He has worked in sustainability for over 15 years and has extensive experience developing and embedding sustainability strategies into businesses across Australia, including leading real estate companies. Passionate about inspiring businesses and people to embrace a sustainable future, he believes the built environment plays an important role in showcasing what’s possible. Scott is a strategic thinker and highly skilled at making sense of complexity and communicating social and environmental issues simply and effectively to different stakeholders.
Photo: Unison Substation by Alphapix photography.
