green urban design - convention management · green urban design principles 1. ecological approach...
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GREEN URBAN DESIGN BEYOND THE BUILDING ENVELOPEDION COWLEY
Key Questions
1. What is Green Urban Design?
2. How do we make it business as usual?
1. What is Green Urban Design?
Is it this?
Or is it this?
First lets visit Urban Design
Why is Urban Design important?
>72% of the population living in the 16 main urban areas and around 33 percent in the Auckland urban region Alone1
NZ urban environments designed around the colonial 1/4 acre dream and personal motor transport.
Current development models push ecosystems and agriculture to the periphery of cities.
Challenge is to create desirable urban areas that people want to live/work/play in.
Must be done in a way that ensures future generations have the same access to resources at hand.
1NZ Department of Internal Affairs (2008)
Definitions of Urban Design
No one globally accepted definition - problem
Local adaptation is important
Agreement to core principles needed (common language)
NZ Definitions of Urban Design
Central Government
Ministry for the Environment - Urban Design Protocol (2005)
Dept Internal Affairs - Building Sustainable Communities Discussion Doc (2008)
Local Government
Wellington - Urban Design Strategy (Draft 1993)
Auckland - Urban Design Framework (2007)
Christchurch - Greater Christchurch Urban Dev Strategy 2009
NGOs
Beacon Pathway - Neighbourhoods Framework (2005)
MfE Urban Design Protocol
Context: Seeing that buildings, places and spaces are part of the whole town or city
Character: Reflecting and enhancing the distinctive character, heritage and identity of our urban environment
Choice: Ensuring diversity and choice for people
Connections: Enhancing how different networks link together for people
Creativity: Encouraging innovative and imaginative solutions
Custodianship: Ensuring design is environmentally sustainable, safe and healthy
Collaboration: Communicating and sharing knowledge across sectors, professions and with communities.
Auckland Urban Design Framework
A more distinctive city - city of the Pacific
A more compact city - high quality, walkable, mixed use
A more connected city - choice of efficient, affordable
transport
A more sustainable city - land use and built form
A more beautiful city - each space contributes to whole
A more human city - how people experience the city
Wellington Urban Design Strategy
Fit - physical form and capacity of public place
Structure and Orientation - visual clarity of layout
Place Character - set districts apart
Access and Connections - ability to reach other places,
activities, resources
Sense - five senses
Variety - diversity of experiences available
Continuity - transparency of history of place, growth and
change
Where green buildings currently fit in
Urban Design Principles
1. Urban Character
2. Diversity
3. Sustainability
a) Transport
b) Habitat protection
c) Use of „Green‟ technology e.g. buildings,
stormwater, tri generation of energy.
So what is Green Urban Design?
„Green Urban Design‟
Are our Urban Design goals good enough?
Are they leading us towards „happy/healthy urban
environments‟.
Green Buildings are just the start.
Ecological sustainable design - oxymoron or our
future?
What are Green Urban Design
(GUD) Principles?
1. Ecological approach - micro sustainably and macro sustainability
Cradle to cradle thinking - no longer “less bad” but “net positive effects”
Permaculture Design Principles
Bioregions
2. Natural design – actually incorporate nature into buildings/places
Biophillia Hypothesis – "the innate human affinity for nature"
3. Resource resilience – Transition Towns Movement
Foodscapes - ecological foot print, keep it healthy keep it local
Waterscapes – water quality and availability
4. Incorporation of indigenous culture - sense of ownership and identification
Macro System
1. Ecological Approach
Permaculture – systems design principles applied to bioregion1
Observe and interact
Catch and store energy
Obtain a yield
Apply self regulation and accept feedback
Use and value renewable resources and services
Produce no waste
Design from patterns to details
Integrate rather than segregate
Use small and slow solutions
Use and value diversity
Use edges and value the marginal
Creatively use and respond to change
1Permaculture - Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability, 2002 (David Holmgren)
Micro System
Buildings (and infrastructure) are the building blocks of urban environments
‘The Living Building Challenge’ 2006 - The Cascadia Region Green Building Council
(British Columbia, Washington and Oregon)
High end building rating tool
‘The Living Building Challenge’ is comprised of sixteen prerequisites within six
performance areas, or Petals.
Site - Limits to Growth, Urban Agriculture, Habitat Exchange, Car Free Living
Water - Net Zero Water, Ecological Water Flow
Energy
Net Zero Energy
Health - Civilized Environment, Healthy Air, Biophilia
Materials - Red List, Embodied Carbon Footprint, Responsible Industry, Appropriate
Sourcing, Conservation and Reuse
Equity - Human Scale/Humane Places, Democracy/Social Justice, Rights to Nature
Beauty – Beauty/Spirit, Inspiration /Education
System Context
Cultural Urban Design Principles
CBD like any other in world vs. distinctly NZ urban space
Differentiate our urban areas from those abroad.
Sense of place.
Sense of ownership.
Tourist dollar
Te Aranga Maori Cultural Landscapes Strategy
Papakainga housing developments - Whagarei, BOP and Hastings
Definition of Green Urban Design
Systems approach at micro and macro levels within
context of bioregions.
Urban Design vs Green Urban Design
MfE Urban Design Protocol
Context: Seeing that buildings, places and spaces are part of the whole town or city
Character: Reflecting and enhancing the distinctive character, heritage and identity of our urban environment
Choice: Ensuring diversity and choice for people
Connections: Enhancing how different networks link together for people
Creativity: Encouraging innovative and imaginative solutions
Custodianship: Ensuring design is environmentally sustainable, safe and healthy
Collaboration: Communicating and sharing knowledge across sectors, professions and with communities.
Green Urban Design Principles
1. Ecological approach - micro sustainably and
macro sustainability
Cradle to cradle thinking - no longer
“less bad” but “net positive effects”
Permaculture Design Principles
Bioregions
2. Natural design – actually incorporate nature
into buildings/places
Biophillia Hypothesis – "the innate
human affinity for nature"
3. Resource resilience – Transition Towns
Movement
Foodscapes - ecological foot print,
keep it healthy keep it local
Waterscapes – water quality and
availability
4. Incorporation of indigenous culture - sense of
ownership and identification
How do we get Green Urban Design to be the
status quo?
Where is NZ politically?
Ministry for the Environment - National Policy Statement (August 2008)
Dept Building Housing - Building Code Revision (Sept 2008)
Dept Building and Housing - Urban Intensification Taskforce (August 2008)
Dept of Internal Affairs – Sustainable Urban Design Unit (Sept 2008)
Standards NZ - Land development and subdivision engineering, NZS 4404:2004 (Nov
2009)
Ministry for the Environment - RMA Phase II Reforms + Integration with Building
Code (2009)
Local Government creating Long Term Council Community Plans (Local Government
Act 2002)
Local Government creating urban design guidelines
Wellington City Council – Urban Design Strategy (1993)
Auckland City Council – Urban Design Framework (2007)
Christchurch City Council - Greater Christchurch Urban Dev Strategy (2009)
Where is NZ UD on the Ground?
Johnsonville Town Centre Plan - Wellington
Ferndale - Wellington
Lincolnshire Farm – Wellington
Pegasus - Christchurch
Hobsonville Point - Auckland
Flatbush Township - Auckland
Talbot Park Neighbourhood Revitalisation – Auckland
Earthsong Eco Neighbourhood - Auckland
The Tui Community - Golden Bay
From Green Buildings to Green
Communities
How do green buildings fit into to wider (ecological) context.
When designing communities we must consider:
Flexibility (designed so that different users/activities)
Will they be useful if the cost of resources increase or the climate
changes?
How resilient are the wider systems that they depend on?
Beacon Pathways - Neighourhoods Framework
Functional flexibility
Neighbourhood satisfaction
Minimised costs
Effective governance and civic life
Appropriate resource use and climate protection
Maximised bio-physical health
Community Rating Tools
International
LEED For Neighbourhoods - USA
BREEAM Communities - UK
Sustainable Community Rating Tool - Vic Urban, Australia
Green Star Communities - Green Building Council of Australia
AGIC Tool - Australia Green Infrastructure Council
New Zealand
TUSC – Waitakare City Council and MFE Sustainable Management Fund
Watch this space
The BIG question - Existing Buildings
Under performing buildings far outweigh the performers.
More sustainable to retrofit the existing than build a brand new green building +
heritage value.
Perceived difficultly/cost in retrofitting existing buildings.
Cost of not going „green‟.
Commercial
¼ of Green Star Office projects are retrofits of existing buildings.
Commercial buildings are significant consumers of energy.
Residential
NZ research focus on residential e.g. Beacon, BRANZ, EECA , NZCSD
65% of homes were constructed before insulation was required1
1/3 of homes are below the WHO standard for healthy internal temperatures
Different incentives/barriers for Residential vs. Public vs. Commercial
1Better Performing Homes for New Zealanders - Making it Happen. Peter Neilson NZ Business Council Sustainable Design (2009)
Barriers to Green Urban Design
Department Internal Affairs Building Sustainable Urban Communities - discussion
document (2008)
Capacity and capability issues in all levels of government and the development industry
Limited co-ordination of national, regional and local planning and implementation for
large-scale urban development
Ineffective integration between land use/transport planning, and transport/utility service
providers to implement sustainable urban development
Difficulties in funding urban development projects
Difficulties assembling useful parcels of land from fragmented groups of properties or in
acquiring and/or ensuring appropriate development of strategic sites
Length and nature of planning and development control processes
Limits to achieving social outcomes and public benefits (such as affordable housing)
through market mechanisms
Barriers to Green Urban Design
Knowledge
Who Pays?
“Developers incur all the initial costs and risks,
including site purchase, design and construction, and
receive all their revenue (site and building sale) at the
beginning of a 50-year life for a building”.1
1MfE Value Case for Sustainable Building in New Zealand (2005)
Incentives for Quality
Government – Custodians of wellbeing
Developers
Are they necessary?
What are they?
Development Bonuses – density/height/FAR bonuses
Financial Incentives – tax break, reduced development
contributions, fast tracking, reduced „green building costs‟,
point of difference if achieve benchmark
Incentives for Quality
Home Owners
Want healthy and warm homes
Knowledge, upfront cost and lack of payback
Split incentives
Conclusion
Green Urban Design requires:
Education – where we are and where we want to go
Consensus – work towards common goal
Incentivise of the process
Streamline the process
Celebration when we get it right
“You are where you live”