The sustainability media platform Green Biz recently carried an extract fromFutuREstorative Chapter Six, the New Sustainability Standards. Here is an abridged version …
… (The following is an excerpt from “FutuREstorative, Working Towards a New Sustainability,”authored by Martin Brown and published by RIBA Publishing. The selection was edited for clarity and length)
Sustainable building certification standards are immense influencers on not only the built environment sector but also commercial, industrial and domestic green lifestyles. With that influence comes a real responsibility in establishing the current direction of travel for the industry against a backdrop of climate, economic and social change.
Get it right, and we move closer to addressing major climate change issues, attaining carbon reduction targets and achieving ecologically, economically and socially just goals. Get it wrong and the negative impact ripples far beyond the built environment sector.
However, it is the purpose of certification schemes not only to set best practices for design, construction and operation but to go beyond current best practices and establish a vision for sustainable buildings based on what is required — with required practice then measured against that vision.
We need to stop regarding green buildings as a benefit to be proud of. They should be seen as the norm; the way we build. Indeed, as a sector we should feel guilty about not using our skills and expertise to create green buildings for us and future generations. That we remain content to commission, design, build and operate buildings below this sustainability threshold reinforces the argument that the built environment sector is one of low aspiration.
Fairsnape 