MITIGATION OF CLIMATE CHANGE: Researchers at the University of Technology Sydney conclude that Australian cities are lagging behind in greening up their buildings
Green roofs are social places (photo credit: Wilkinson, Brown & Ghosh)
How Australia Can Get On Board
“Covering roofs and walls of buildings with vegetation is a good way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. And these green roofs and walls make cities look nicer,” wrote Sara Wilkinson, Paul Brown and Sumita Ghosh. All three are on the faculty of the University of Technology Sydney.
We spent the past 12 months analysing the case for more greenery on Australian city buildings, drawing on international comparisons. We’ve shown that a mandatory policy, coupled with incentives to encourage new and retrofitted green roofs and walls, will provide environmental, social and business benefits,” stated Sara Wilkinson, Associate Professor, School of the Built Environment.
“
There are, of course, barriers to greening up buildings. These include costs as well as lack of experience in the industry, especially in terms of construction and management. Professional capacity for green roofs is still in a developing phase and further training and skill development are needed,” noted Paul Brown, Senior Lecturer, Creative Intelligence | Faculty of Transdisciplinary Innovation & Senior Lecturer – Accounting | UTS Business School.
“Around 87% of the building stock Australia will have in 2050 is already here, and a large proportion of existing buildings could be retrofitted. We recommend a voluntary approach using a mix of initiatives for building owners, such as tax benefits and credits in green building tools,” concluded the authors.
To Learn More:
To read the complete article, download a copy of Australian cities are lagging behind in greening up their buildings
And then read If planners understand it’s cool to green cities, what’s stopping them?
Retrofitting Cities for Tomorrow’s World
The culmination of a four-year collaborative research project undertaken by leading United Kingdom universities, in partnership with city authorities, prominent architecture firms, and major international consultants, Retrofitting Cities for Tomorrow’s World explores the theoretical and practical aspects of the transition towards sustainability in the built environment that will occur in the years ahead. The emphasis throughout is on emerging systems innovations and bold new ways of imagining and re-imagining urban retrofitting, set within the context of ‘futures-based’ thinking.
The concept of urban retrofitting has gained prominence within both the research and policy arenas in recent years. While cities are often viewed as a source of environmental stress and resource depletion they are also hubs of learning and innovation offering enormous potential for scaling up technological responses.
But city-level action will require a major shift in thinking and a scaling up of positive responses to climate change and the associated threats of environmental and social degradation. Clearly the time has come for a more coordinated, planned, and strategic approach that will allow cities to transition to a sustainable future. This book summarizes many of the best new ideas currently in play on how to achieve those goals.
Image credit: Enviro Systems, Australia