So what is an Holistic Built Environment?
Regenerative Building Design + Sustainable Urban Living
“We have lived by the assumption that what was good for us would be good for the world. We have been wrong. We must change our lives, so that it will be possible to live by the contrary assumption that what is good for the world will be good for us. And that requires that we make the effort to know the world and to learn what is good for it. We must learn to cooperate in its processes, and yield to its limits” (Wendell Berry).
Red = Regenerative: We have stopped depletion of resources and are enriching
Amber = Sustainable: Preparing for energy decent: We are in Transition, but not quite there!
Green = Energy Efficiency: Slows down energy descent, we are going nowhere......
Regenerative Building Design:
We have stopped using fossil fuels to power our world. We have stopped producing waste. We have stopped the decrease in biodiversity. We have stopped destructive agriculture. Here the building is considered as part of its wider external environment, regional, bio-regional and biosphere. The building incorporates people, the users, the community, the global community.
· We now power our world through renewable energy sources
· We create buildings, which produce no pollution
· We create buildings that can be fully up cycled/ recycled
· We create buildings which, use virtually no heat power (UK)
· We live in Sustainable communities
· We are regenerating ecosystems
· A developing economy (Not getting bigger, but getting better)
Sustainable Building Design:
Sustainable design adopts the principles of green design, and then goes further to become a passive and active structure that uses the sites natural resources.
· Sustainable design is powered by renewable energy.
· The test is simple – can it be unplugged?
· Either a design is sustainable or it is not.
· A truly sustainable design must be capable of functioning ‘unplugged’ from the national grid
· Most buildings are classed as “approaching sustainable design”
· There are varying degrees of green design. If a building is highly energy efficient but cannot function unplugged then it is not sustainable.
If existing measuring processes and certificates celebrate designs as sustainable when they are not there will be no real movement towards this goal.
Green Building Design:
Green buildings that efficiently use standard energy merely slow down the energy & pollution crisis.
Green design uses ecologically sensitive materials and creates healthy buildings that do not negatively affect the environment during or after manufacture, construction and deconstruction.
Green design uses efficient mechanical systems and high performance technologies but still primarily functions through the use of fossil fuels.
BRE environmental Assessment method, is concerned with sustainability BUT they measure energy efficiency, typically in the use of non renewable energy
My Built Environment Designs use the Principles
of Permaculture + Sustainable urban Communities
These principles are based on the intelligence of ecology which has evolved over millions of years. Its aim is to regenerate and create balance in the world. As guiding principles they can be used for all sorts of designs, anything from houses to cars to personal health and well being. It is a broad and comprehensive set of principles which when applied using their highest values will regenerate both planet and people.
Sustainable Urban Living Models
These can be used an effective design tools to enable creative thinking. Both systems take into account Built environment, economy and health of people.