affordable housing: lets create an alternative vision!
DESCRIPTION
Affordable housing for the Noosa Biosphere as a Learning Laboratory.Bettina Walter, Chair, Noosa Biosphere Social Board for the Housing Forum, NRRA, Noosa Bowls Club, 22.April. 2010TRANSCRIPT
Lets create an alternative Vision !Bettina Walter, Chair, Noosa Biosphere Social BoardHousing Forum, NRRA, Noosa Bowls Club, 22.April. 2010
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Australia License.
collage made from various developer prospectus
Painting a different picture:
RESEARCH
Learn from thought leaders
globally
Oogst 100 concept (Tjep Design Agency)
http://oogst.org/oogst/Oogst.org/Oogst_100.htmlA self-sufficient farm for 100 people. The residents are all farmers. In the
central greenhouse, all necessary crops are grown, the surrounding fields are for livestock.
The central windmill provides all the necessary energy, there is a water-well under the windmill. But clean water is mainly collected condensed water from the greenhouse.
The theory is that communities of between 100 and 150 people are the most optimal and harmonious. Therefore, the concept never grows beyond 100 people but it can be multiplied to form a society without shopping centres, banks, roads, cars or airplanes.
Oogst 100 concept (Tjep Design Agency)
http://oogst.org/oogst/Oogst.org/Oogst_100.html
Oogst 100 concept (Tjep Design Agency)
http://oogst.org/oogst/Oogst.org/Oogst_100.html
Oogst 100 concept (Tjep Design Agency)
http://oogst.org/oogst/Oogst.org/Oogst_100.html
Copenhagen, Brøndby - image: Yann Arthus Bertrand
Inspiration: Bill Dunster
Nottingham university Housing projectsolar panels for a 3rd of the price on the open market“We are not really trying very hard to reduce cost and accelerate transition”Bill Dunster ZEDFactory
Example photovoltaic systems – prices are being kept artificially high – petrol chemical industry wringing the last profits out of fossil fuels and are busying themselves to corner the market on renewables – Dunster went straight to supplier in China – got his own container load – all carbon expense will be recouped in 3.5 years
image source http://www.zedfactory.com/
Low cost / high performance buildings
• Simplicity is key• Dry construction• Get the buildings off the rack – modification and variety
are cosmetic• Build housing manufacturing plant in your city• Self-help regardless of government!• Start at the bottom• Simple components• With international commonality• Solutions will become affordable• Kit houses• Instructions on prevailing winds• Cross ventilations in clusters• mixed use• Added value• Exciting aesthetic
Example China:Low salariesPrepacked 400m x 400m housing blockIncl Solar panel manufacturing plant with jobsPeople pay for these added renewable systems in time with the money
they would have spent on fossil fuels image source http://www.zedfactory.com/
Flood protection: example flood dyke in Thames GatewayFirst self funded flood defense wallIncorporate flood defence into new housing developmentVery low cost housing system funds dyke construction
image source http://www.zedfactory.com/
Painting a different picture:
RESEARCH
Learn from thought leaders
locally
Crystal Waters
Bellbunya Community (edit)
What can we
do?
Biosphere Learning Lab
Individual eco buildings are great to demonstrate sustainable building designs.
We need a whole cluster of buildings to learn and demonstrate sustainable, affordable communities.
Biosphere Learning Lab
Start with one project.Lets have a vision of a POSITIVE future…
and then ‘sell it’ really well.
to sell it really well we need to
Make it as affordable and inclusive as possible.
One idea:Biosphere Housing Initiative
demonstrating BEST practice in
affordable, sustainable housingnot just in ONE building, but a whole
cluster
An alternative vision
Wind Turbine
Chicken coop
Dwelling Private back yard
Dwelling Private back yard
Dw
ellin
gPriv
ate
back y
ard
Dw
ellin
gPriv
ate
back y
ard
Dw
ellin
gPriv
ate
back y
ard
Edible garden
Herb garden
Car pool
Natural swimming pool
Watertank
Watertank
Watertank
Watertank
Watertank
Work shops
Edible garden
Bake house
Wind Turbine
Chicken coop
Porches!
Offices !!
Bike shed
Solar panneled up
What are the
greatest
challenges?
How do we allow council to facilitate
grassroot developments without
opening the door for Developer
Profiteering?
Add flexibility to building process
•planning
•usage permissions
•application and other fees
•subdivision regulations
Base flexibility on compliance to agreed
standards or
‘quadruple bottom line sustainability
BENCHMARKS’
On Establishing benchmarks:Peter Singer 'A Fair Deal on Climate ChangeEstablish the total amount of greenhouse gases that we can allow to
be emitted without causing the earth’s average temperature to rise more than two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), the point beyond which climate change could become extremely dangerous.
Divide that total by the world’s population, thus calculating what each person’s share of the total is.
Allocate to each country a greenhouse gas emissions quota equal to the country’s population, multiplied by the per person share.
Finally, allow countries that need a higher quota to buy it from those that emit less than their quota.
On Establishing benchmarks:Bill DunsterExample Energy:Understand the limits of energy that will be available in 50
years time• Peak oils/ peak gas now• Water, food• We can’t afford loosing agricultural land• How are we going to set up a system of upgrading our urban / suburban
fabric?• How much renewable energy can we ACTUALLY produce at the most?• Max 30 %• How much have we got per head and divide it up equally in an equalitarian
manner• All architects to design building within those constrains. SET NATIONAL
standards.
Architects can then design systems that can run indefinitely on renewable energy sources.
On Establishing Benchmarks: 2000 Watt Society
2000 Watt per person“
The 2000-watt society (2,000-Watt Society) is a vision, originated by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich at the end of 1998, in which each person in the developed world would cut their over-all rate of energy use to an average of no more than 2,000 watts (i.e. 17,520 kilowatt-hours per year of all energy use, not only electrical) by the year 2050, without lowering their standard of living. (source: wikipedia)
FIRST: CREATE these grass root benchmarks
THEN: INVOLVE profiteering developers
To participate under these grass roots benchmarks
(we need their capacity and expertise to implement large scale)
The role of the developer
Next Actions
1. Council Audit
A working group (Biosphere Social Board?) to conduct an Audit of all Building and Planning Requirements.
• Zoning• Sustainability standards• Building regulations and codes• Subdivision regulations• ‘Land Banking issues”• Make Land release to purchase - processes transparent
Which items support ‘sustainable community driven growth’Which items impede?
How can we leverage ‘economy of scale’ to benefit our communities instead of developers?
2. Ask some experts! Invite speakers
Make connections with• Transition town folks• Crystal Waters• Association for Sustainable Communities
3. Create Benchmarks
In collaboration with grassroots experts and the housing task force.
www.noosabiosphere.org.au
Thanks to Matt Lawton, Mike Shone, Alexander Kohl, Karyn Maher, Ralph Schneider
for lending ears, help and consultancy.
Referenceshttp://openarchitecturenetwork.org/projects/450http://www.wohnmodelle.at/index.php?id=12,10,0,0,1,0
Transition Town movement (find reference)http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6732157000663373188#Noosa Environment Day
“The 2,000-Watt Society is not a program of hard life, it’s not starving, it’s not having less comfort or fun. It’s a creative approach to the future.”http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/07/07/080707fa_fact_kolbert?currentPage=all#ixzz0le5t7MXa
Architecture Foundation (UK): Futureproofing the City: ZEDfactory; Foster + Partners; R/E/D http://vimeo.com/9120443
Stern report 2006 (climate change and the uk economy): http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/sternreview_index.htm
Satish Kumar, Resurgence: http://www.resurgence.org/education/climate-change/resilience-climate-change.html
Fair deal on climate change. Peter Singer.http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/singer24/English
Nice kit homes in vision image:http://www.arkit.com.au/