Australia’s sustainability leaders came together recently for the eighth annual Green Cities Conference in Melbourne.
Speakers identified a range of sustainability trends in the built environment with “Putting People First” selected as the central theme for the two day event.
Green Building Council of Australia CEO Romilly Madew said the theme was a great fit because when it comes to creating sustainable cities it really is all about people.
Presenting the conference keynote, US scientist and MIT director Kent Larson, said the cities of tomorrow will allow people to live large in a small footprint.
“Our buildings, our communities and our cities are built by people for people that is why people are at the centre of all that we do,” he said.
Kent is behind the concept of microcities where 80 per cent of everything is within a 20-minute walk.
In a micro-city alternatives to motor vehicles are convenient and affordable and vertical agriculture delivers high quality produce.
“A sustainable and liveable precinct changes people’s values and they want to live in a green way,” Madew said pointing to a number of projects covered at the Green Cities Conference.
“We heard about how the people of Newcastle, the Sunshine Coast, Karratha, Melbourne and Ipswich are investing in regeneration projects to create jobs, reduce environmental impacts and improve the liveability of their communities.”
The Lord Mayor of Melbourne Robert Doyle presented details on the 1200 Buildings Retrofit Program which has created 8,000 jobs and generated $2 billion in economic activity.
The World Green Building Council CEO, Jane Henley, said it’s clear the mood has shifted and organisations are taking sustainability to the heart of their businesses – not only because it makes business sense, but because it’s better for people.
“For sustainability specialists, the current challenge is to take our technical conversation around green buildings and link it to people,” Henley said.
“All of our CEO speakers were concerned with how the built environment and their businesses would address some of the great looming challenges for people – from an ageing population to resilience in healthcare to achieving greater productivity in office workers.
“Panellists on a number of sessions acknowledged the need to get better at measuring the previously unmeasurable – productivity, wellbeing and levels of stress.”
Henley said the global council is releasing a new report which will provide best practice guidance on the type of green building features that enhance productivity and performance.
Another trend undergoing rapid growth is the green roof industry, however, delegates agreed there is still plenty of work to do.
“We need to talk about great places to live not just the technical solutions that reduce carbon emissions,” Henley said.