Dick Clarke, judge of the BPN Sustainability Awards, contemplates what the word really means.
The BPN Sustainability Awards were conceived to award sustainability — but what is sustainability?
The word has only come into common usage in the last decade and is commonly used to identify a vague goal of not destroying ourselves before 2100. It is also used to describe a loose group of design skills, or regulations, or scientific disciplines that work towards that same goal. What it is we actually need to do to survive as a species in a relatively intact biosphere beyond 2100, we don’t exactly know.
We know what it isn’t — which is a big help. It isn’t ‘business as usual’. We know that conventional ways of building and running our communities is degrading the biosphere that supports us. We also know it isn’t minimum BCA or BASIX compliance — these regulations are intended to eliminate worst practice. BCA 5 star will not get us to 2020, let alone 2100.
NSW’s BASIX is currently no better than BCA 4 star, so it really needs a shot in the arm! A diligent worker in the sales team of a NSW project builder recently expressed great frustration that there had to be a better way of marketing houses than “...charging extra for sarking, leafguards, water tank connections, flyscreens, three coats of paint, etc … but you get free air conditioning!”
And sustainability certainly isn’t greenwash, where skillful marketing spinners set out to fool unsuspecting specifiers that bad products are good. This is not only unsustainable, it’s immoral.
For now, we can identify sustainable human activity as any activity which heads towards zero net consumption and zero net emissions. This applies to the built environment, transport, food production or shopping.
Are we there yet? No. Are we getting closer? Yes. There is encouraging progress in many fields in spite of how far we have yet to go. Sometimes it even seems like we’re getting close, but I suspect that one day in the future we will look back and see how far off we actually were. But maybe all progress is good progress.
Another positive aspect to things is that progress toward sustainability can be measured. For instance, we have Green Star ratings which are based on best practice and can be used to rigorously measure a building’s real greenness.
There are ABGR and BASIX type compliance tools that estimate actual greenhouse gas emissions and/or water savings. And we have targeted awards like the BPN Sustainability Awards.
But we need to lower the barriers to measurement — there are enough other barriers!
Green Star ratings have been very expensive, which has limited the number of small to medium commercial projects that might otherwise have been rated. The Green Building Council has this item on its radar, so hopefully we will see that barrier come down soon.
We need to eradicate inconsistencies in different BCA or BASIX compliance methods so the bar is set at the same height for all. It is also very useful if designers and developers can crow about how much they have exceeded minimum compliance by, which the tools must show clearly.
Design and construction awards are a great way of recognising and encouraging excellence, which brings us to the BPN Sustainability Awards. There is a responsibility that falls upon the publisher and judges alike to ensure consistent rigorous assessment and judging criteria. Measurement tools are a great benefit in this regard, helping to minimise the possibility of subjectivity and preconceptions colouring the judging process.
As one of the judges in the 2009 awards, I have seen some of the very best buildings in Australia and the world. It was often frustrating to have to choose one over another when so many entries displayed such wonderful characteristics.
The barrier to entry in the BPN Sustainability Awards is low, which serves to encourage as many to participate as possible. The bar to achievement has been set very high, however, by the entrants themselves.
Here we applaud the highest achievers. But it is so very important to recognise the achievements of those who entered but did not win — in every case they demonstrated to the rest of the industry a higher standard than mere compliance, more creativity and drive than mere business as usual, and made life tough for three very determined judges!
To all entrants, the judges say thanks — you are helping to drive change toward a sustainable future, because we aren’t going to get there by chance.
