Introduction

ARC6770 Climate Sensitive Environmental Design

Future Scenarios for

Climate Sensitive and
Sustainable Design
Dr Adrian Pitts

There is a lot of concern around the world

about sustainability issues
Perception that there is a lot of talking, but
not a lot of action, and there are many
variation in opinions
There are many impacts of the built
environment on sustainability issues
What can be done?
How do we deal with the perceived
contradictions of economics and
environment in the developed world?
How to break out of single building or small
scale development into the mainstream

Content
Context of sustainability and the levels of
planning, design and construction at which
interaction may occur
Profiting from sustainability
Tools information and assessment
Case studies
Conclusions and recommendations

Context of Sustainability
Environmental
Social (equity and well-being)
Economic

International
National
Regional
Local
Neighbourhood

Strategic Planning and

Environmental Issues
The means to bring about sustainable
development in the built environment
requires good planning as well as good
design in order to address a range of factors

Built environment
Materials
Energy
Transport
Water
Wastes and pollution
Infrastructure and Information

Profiting from Sustainability

Immediate benefits
Lower energy/environmental costs
Smaller service systems
Better construction and longer lasting
materials
More robust and flexible buildings
But there are many hidden and longer term
benefits that should be taken into account

Other advantages (cont)

Sustainable/higher quality design matches
better to needs of the informed market
Sustainable buildings can be managed to
maximize income over the long term rather
than relying on asset growth
Improvement in company image designers
and occupants
Better environments for employees
reduced absenteeism
Better prospects for sustained growth for
investors
Focus on Smart Growth businesses and
organisation that expect to be around for
along time

Information and Resources

Text
Brian Edwards Green Buildings Pay - Spon Press
Adrian Pitts Planning and Design Strategies for
Sustainability and Profit Architectural Press
Web sources
Austin Green Building Program and SourceBook
US DoE Smart Communities Network and Green
Buildings
UK Office of Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) with
planning guidance and Sustainable Communities
Commission for Architecture and the Built
Environment (CABE)

Other advantages
Avoidance of future environmental risk
reduced exposure to future costs
Focus on resource streams often helps
improve supplier interface with efficiencies
More efficient use of resources (lower costs)
and reduced wastage (lower disposal costs)
Better management processes developed
Sustainable design can result in lower capital
as well as running costs smaller service
systems
Potential to enhance product/service
development

Tools
Information and Assessment
It is very important if the benefits of future
sustainable development are to be realised
that information is made available to clients,
developers, companies, councils, managers,
occupiers and indeed the general public to
explain and allow comparisons of options

Information and Resources (cont)

Examples of Companies/Organisations
English Partnerships e.g. Allerton Bywater
Energie Cites
Green Communities
Sustainable Communities Network
International Institute for Sustainable Development
ECOS
SustainAbility
ThirdWave
Smart Growth Online

Case Studies
Six cities with different issues and agendas

Leicester, UK
The UKs first environment city
Policy development and attitudinal change
over several decades
Role of Environ organisation
Impact on new developments

Melbourne, Australia
Issues of urban sprawl
Approach of encouraging green business
Greenhouse gas emissions reporting and
analysis programme
Development of triple bottom line
accounting
Developing spheres of influence

Portland, USA
Environmental approaches over several
decades
Energy Policies well developed
Financial incentives
Strong advocate for LEED assessment
Green Buildings - examples
San Francisco without the hassle or the
expense!

Austin, USA

Long history of development

Began with Austin Energy Star Program
Green Building Program
Sustainable Communities
Wide availability of information and advice
e.g. Sustainable Building Sourcebook

Malm, Sweden
Embodiment of Nordic/Scandinavian
approaches to environmental issues
Bo01 city of tomorrow development as
showcase of good design
Range of architects and several hundred
dwellings waterfront location
Many intrinsically good features
Numerous novel technologies
Not the complete answer

Hong Kong
Very economically focussed
Efficient use of resources a high priority
Very high density of population in occupied
areas
Large areas of open space
Importance of transport/movement systems
green in a different way

Conclusions 1
Sustainable and low energy solutions in the
built environment can be achieved in a
variety of settings and with exciting design
Individuals and organisations are often too
concerned with initial (economic) costs so
support is required, though more recognition
of future costs (including environmental and
social) is now beginning to occur
Sustainable Architecture requires a
supportive context to enable wider and larger
scale development

Summary of City Strategies

Leicester policy and understanding
Melbourne green business and accounting
Austin energy labelling and support based
on community involvement
Portland wide ranging policy and support
Malm city planning but involving locals to
take advantage of special position
Hong Kong resource efficiency and
economics

Conclusions 2
Strategic planning and design approaches
can offer the support that enables
development to take place in a more
controlled and knowledgeable way
There is an important role for expanding
information/understanding and assessment
The socio-cultural and economic contexts
cannot be ignored however and wider
success will depend on pragmatic solutions
being produced avoiding the trap the best
is the enemy of the good

Recommendations
Encourage and develop interlinking policies
for the built environment at national, regional
and local levels
Emphasise the importance of cities and
neighbourhoods with communities
recognising their responsibilities as well as
their rights
Extend use of assessment procedures to
provide information that should allow more
knowledgeable decision making
Incorporate environmental accounting/TBL
into decision making by organisations
Continue to raise public awareness