just what is sustainable develpment?

The intro to a recent report from the Optimum Population Trust cuaght my eye and made me start thinking about just what is sustainable development - have we abused the term in construction, housing and the built environment - are we remaining true to the origianl concept and context. Perhaps we have redefined sd to suit our own needs - to be seen as sustainable - to get the doing something right feelgood factor - but perhaps, just perhaps working against the true goals and aims of sustainability in its ecological sense? I recall reading that Inuits consider sustainability to be effective only if it does not limit or harm seven future generations. We find it difficult to think beyond the next.

OPT: Countryside, devlopment, housing and diversity
The Degradation of the Planet

The report starts:

The concept of 'sustainable development' has moved far away from its original meaning, which implied long-term ecological sustainability. The term is now widely abused - for example to describe building development which does not in any sense meet the fundamental requirements of ecological sustainability. These are that such development does not (by increasing total urbanisation) contribute to destabilising climate change; that such development can be supported in a post-fossil fuel energy age; that such development does not continue the destruction of biodiversity; and in the case of the UK, that it does not continue to destroy our natural landscape and countryside.

more at http://www.optimumpopulation.org/opt.more.countryside.html

arch talk

AT-09: Sustainability with Dan Rappel

Green buildings and sustainable architecture: a conversation with Dan Rappel about increasing the level of sustainability that new buildings have, and beyond.

This recent Archtalk podcast contains an entertaining and informative discussion on sustainability within the built enviroment. Set within the context of th city of Chicago, the discussion covers the LEED programme (a similar programme to the UK BREAM scheme), the ambition of Chicago to be the first green city as an extension to green buildings and views of where beyond sustainability will take design and the built environment.

Available from http://www.schellarch.com/archtalk/ or downloadable through itunes.

Collaboration and CDM

(The following was written for a local newsletter)
Collaborative Working or working together will be reinforced with the proposed amendments within the forthcoming revision to the CDM )construction Design Management) regulations. Recognising what has been evident for some time, that safety performance and collaborative working are linked, as for example on BAA framework contracts, the new CDM regulations will increase emphasis on the importance of working together, more involvement of client and working with other nearby contracts.

Teamwork, whole-team, integration, cooperation, involvement, communication and consultation are typical of the collaborative words found throughout the draft and HSE material, along with a call for forms of contract that encourage teamwork.

Clients’ attitudes and approach (“cheapest and quickest”) was seen as the second biggest hindrance to progress – industry’s culture being the first.Consultative document para 22)

A draft of the forthcoming regulations and other documentation can be found at http://consultations.hse.gov.uk/consult.ti/conregs/listdocuments

Martin Brown, July 2005 martin.brown@fairsnape.net

the fourth R

It’s the new literacy – and it’s sorely neededfor the 21st century. Everyone should understand something about sustainability, insists Sara Parkin, programme director of Forum for the Future

awareness

“A musician needs to know enough about sustainability to check whether their violin has been made by forced child labour.”

To what degree do we need to be aware within the construction, fm and built environment...

purple sky

I read two accounts of self cleaning buildings recently – the development of smart building materials which clean themselves and fight smog (see below).

Brilliant – we can see and experience the effects of smog, so we deal with it. However consider - if such emissions were any colour other than clear – lets say purple - then we would have a distinctly purple coloured sky, rather than blue. And with a sky changing from blue to purple we would perhaps address the issues of carbon emissions in a more urgent manner.

From Sense Worldwide http://www.senseworldwide.net/index.php

July 22, 2005
New weapon in fight against smog
The fight against big-city smog has taken to new direction - scientists are developing "smart" building materials designed to clean the air with a little help from the elements. Using technology already available for self-cleaning windows and bathroom tiles, scientists hope to paint up cities with materials that dissolve and wash away pollutants when exposed to sun and rain. Swedish construction company, Skanska, is part of a $1.7 million Swedish-Finnish project to develop catalytic cement and concrete products coated with titanium dioxide, a compound often used in white paint and toothpaste that can become highly reactive when exposed to ultraviolet light. It works when UV rays hitting the titanium dioxide trigger a catalytic reaction that destroys the molecules of pollutants, including nitrogen oxides, which are emitted in the burning of fossil fuels and create smog when combined with volatile organic compounds. A range of self-cleaning products coated with titanium dioxide, including windows and ceramic tiles, are already on the market but the focus has mostly been on their practical value rather than the environmental impact.


And a very similar article on the RIBS site

http://www.rics.org/RICSWEB/getpage.aspx?p=4HLWC5FPCUm9yLky93__SA

climate change not important here - Strange message to built environment industries and home owners

Reported in today’s Guardian, the government is reportedly set to drop energy efficiency plans for older properties and delay introduction of regulations for new houses. This sends the wrong signal to an industry which is struggling to increase commitment and awareness of climate change issues. This comes surprisingly so soon after the governments sustainability strategy (which promised, or hinted at tougher targets for construction) and commitments at G8.

With the construction and related industries contributing 49% of total UK carbon emissions, the governments plan to reduce building, and particularly home, carbon footprints, it is sad, if this report is correct, that these plans are to be postponed or scrapped.

Without the support of the built environment industry the government cannot meet their overall climate change targets and ambitions. These measures would have stopped an estimated 500,000 tonnes of carbon entering the atmosphere by 2010.

So it seems the message is business as usual for the industry – with maintenance and running costs meeting the costs of greening buildings in the future. Meanwhile the environment will continue to deteriate.

Source – Guardian 18/07/05 or www.societyGuradian.co.uk/housing

Strategy Document

download location for UK SD 2005 - click on Strategy

UK 2005 SD strategy = a helpful definition?

Are we witnessing a new direction and definition for sustainability and sustainable development? Just ploughing through the 188 pages UK 2005 sustainable development strategy (– of which I participated within its 2004 consultation programme), leads me to believe we could be. The ‘clumsy’ old 4-point definition that included the high or stable economic growth walnut has been replaced by a more comprehensive definition:

The goal of sustainable development is to enable all people throughout the world to satisfy their basic needs and enjoy a better quality of life, without compromising the quality of life of future generations.

For the UK Government and the Devolved Administrations, that goal will be pursued in an integrated way through a sustainable, innovative and productive economy that
delivers high levels of employment; and a just society that promotes social inclusion,
sustainable communities and personal wellbeing. This will be done in ways that protect
and enhance the physical and natural environment, and use resources and energy as
efficiently as possible.

Government must promote a clear understanding of, and commitment to, sustainable
development so that all people can contribute to the overall goal through their
individual decisions.

Similar objectives will inform all our international endeavours, with the UK actively
promoting multilateral and sustainable solutions to today’s most pressing environmental,
economic and social problems. There is a clear obligation on more prosperous nations
both to put their own house in order, and to support other countries in the transition
towards a more equitable and sustainable world.

This carefully crafted objective is supported by five powerful guiding principles:

Living Within Environmental Limits
Respecting the limits of the planet’s environment, resources and biodiversity – to improve our environment and ensure that the natural resources needed for life are unimpaired and remain so for future generations.
Ensuring a Strong, Healthy and Just Society
Meeting the diverse needs of all people in existing and future communities, promoting personal wellbeing, social cohesion and inclusion, and creating equal opportunity for all.
Achieving a Sustainable Economy
Building a strong, stable and sustainable economy which provides prosperity and opportunities for all, and in which environmental and social costs fall on those who impose them (polluter pays), and efficient resource use is incentivised.
Promoting Good Governance
Actively promoting effective, participative systems of governance in all levels of society – engaging people’s creativity, energy, and diversity.
Using Sound Science Responsibly
Ensuring policy is developed and implemented on the basis of strong scientific evidence, whilst taking into account scientific uncertainty (through the precautionary principle) as well as public attitudes and values.

There is nice linkage within the strategy – from global to national to local, and from government to personal consumption. There is also a sense of action - words such as improving, rather than protecting are welcome. But where are the Big Ideas as Jonathon Porritt questioned recently in Green Futures? Sustainability, to misquote Einstein, needs new ways of thinking, this strategy only hints at and sets the scene for what those new ways could be. Hopefully not just rhetoric but an important milestone.

Now, what remains of interest to watch is the governments adoption of their own strategy within the public construction and facilities sector – for example within future PFI’s.

when we tug at nature...........

meanwhile this in the Guardian 06.07.05. Community involvement in action...

Democracy in question

It is hard to believe that anyone could answer yes to the following: is it worth destroying the burial ground of an East Saxon king, cutting down 113 mature trees, and covering in concrete 3000 sq metres of Priory Park in order to save Southend motorists less than three minutes on a journey down the A1159? When asked, nearly 20,000 people in the town answered no, and 16 said yes. That was without considering the price tag of £11.2m to turn an 870-metre stretch of road into dual carriageway. Southend borough council sided with the 16 and decided that cutting congestion is worth the sacrifice of its heritage and the park, given to the town by a local benefactor in the 1900s. Local protesters, still fighting the proposals, "reclaimed" the Saxon burial site by removing the fencing last week while awaiting the East of England regional assembly's decision on funding.

Arnold Schwarzenegger: It's not a time for talk. It's a time for action

I was impressed by this Arnie article within the Independent on Sunday - illustrating that the provision and use of buildings is intrinsicly liked to the global warming debate.

"In addition, with our Green Building Initiative, we have put the biggest user of electricity in California - the state government itself - on an energy diet. By requiring new state buildings to use the latest environmentally friendly and energy efficient design and construction methods, we will reduce electricity and water use by more than 20 per cent in our state-owned facilities"

"We have implemented the world's most stringent appliance and building efficiency standards. We are aggressively pursuing with the legislature my proposal to have one million solar-powered homes and buildings in California to save energy and reduce pollution."

"As John Muir, an immigrant from your islands who launched America's conservation movement here in California, once said: "When one tugs at a single thing in nature he finds it attached to the rest of the world.""

Quoting Muir is good with me - well done

Article at http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article296377.ece