What will it take to make sustainable development the preferred option?

Developing a planning policy

I strongly believe that the Integrated Planning Act (IPA) is the most relevant and important tool available to local councils in promoting and achieving sustainable buildings on a large scale. However, speaking with many local councils and sustainability practitioners, there appears to be uncertainty as to how local councils can best use IPA as a mechanism to promote sustainable development. Many local plans and planning policies aim to encourage applicants to consider sustainable design but do not require it. There appears to be a need for a universal sustainable building code, which would give the capacity of local authorities to set certain standards on future developments which would better incorporate sustainability practices (such as energy efficiency being incorporated, on a more inclusive and comprehensive scale).

Training

Building capacity, confidence and knowledge of the issues with stakeholders is a key component to the future success of any project. The importance of capacity-building workshops with planners, government officers, builders and developers, financiers on the issues and key principles are vital to sustainability and sustainable development.

Monitoring

With any project, development, or business plan, monitoring the outcomes and effectiveness of a project is often neglected. There are many good case studies and projects around, however few if any have data monitoring or indicators to demonstrate to others the benefits. There is an enormous cache of information available for developers but little data on the on-going costs and benefits, especially on large scale developments.

Indicators of sustainability are different from traditional monitoring indicators of economic, social, and environmental outcomes. Traditional indicators - such as development profits, project timing, energy efficiency, and customer satisfaction - measure changes in one element of a new development as if they were entirely independent of the other parts. Sustainability indicators reflect the reality that the three different segments are very tightly interconnected.

Monitoring sustainable developments is never easy, as often data are not available. Maybe we should consider what we should be measuring for future benchmarks.

Greater Connectivity

On a practical level, one has to consider the implementation process of developments, which explicitly links the development itself with policy and strategic planning processes. This process assists in driving effective and sustainable thinking into policy making process, thereby delivering sustainable outcomes and benefits for the future.

By integrating these two processes, the measure of sustainability indicators and reporting are more robust, accountable and transparent both for government and the developer.

Conclusion

Moving beyond sustainable development, if new developments are to become truly sustainable on a mass scale, the private sector needs to embrace the principles of sustainable construction. There is probably a five-year time lag between the leading builders and developers with best-practice demonstration projects and the mainstreamers picking up the baton. However, as it stands it still remains hard work to implement sustainable development. The WWF’s One Million Sustainable Homes campaign is lobbying governments worldwide for changes in planning and building regulations, to provide fiscal incentives, and to support awareness raising to ensure sustainability is integrated into all new housing developments. Several small and large developers are beginning to focus on environmental sustainability, although it is ad hoc at present. However, things are changing here too. More and more local councils are beginning to adopt policies seeking environmental sustainability within new developments, and seeing the benefits.

It seems there is evidence that sustainable construction is on the cusp of moving from the margins to the mainstream over the next few years. Let’s hope it’s not too late!