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”