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Escarpment Magaz ine Spr ing 2012
At BRE, we understand the many facets of sustainability and help our
clients deliver sustainable communities that secure the wellbeing of so-
ciety, the environment and the economy while meeting the aspirations
of all of those involved. Delivering sustainable communities and devel-
oping green economies around these communities is critical to ensuring
that the social, economic and environmental aspects of sustainability
are met. Communities are developed to meet the needs
of the present without compromising the needs of
future generations. The practical understand-
ing and application of sustainability are
essential to improving the life--and the
quality of life--of a community.
The term ‘sustainable communi-
ties’ is increasingly used by de-
velopers, clients and the media,
but is not well defined. For de-
velopers to build a truly sus-
tainable community, their
plans must go beyond the
normal focus that concen-
trates on buildings and their
surroundings and instead must
focus on interactions of the
people who will live and work
in the area.
Quality of environment, particularly
housing, has an impact on health and
wellbeing of those living and working in
the area. However, good buildings alone
may not encourage occupants to operate as, or
consider themselves to be, a community. How com-
munities form and function over time is not fully understood,
so it is impossible to be sure that developments built today will harbor
healthy, vibrant communities throughout their operational life.
To be sustainable, a community requires a structure and scale that en-
ables most of its activities to take place at a local level. The local com-
munity should not have to travel far or spend significant time and effort
to access community facilities. For example, good public transportation
links, good local facilities (including education and childcare) and well
designed walking and cycling routes help support a vibrant community.
A number of checklists for sustainable developments have been devel-
oped around the world and we’re going to showcase our own sustain-
ability tool, Green Print. A GreenPrint encompasses the design factors
that are intrinsic to a sustainable community, such as the development
scale, density and most importantly, local context.
Environmental standards and resources used during construction are
also widely accepted as fundamental to ensuring a sustainable com-
munity, as is understanding how communities function day by day.
GreenPrint offers a completely custom approach in order to ensure
higher standards of sustainability that enables the design team to con-
sider and more importantly, to quantify the many of the areas shown
within the Sustainable CommunitiesWheel (left). This typ-
ically indicates where the development is meeting
and/or falling short of the best practices for a
sustainable community.
The GreenPrint Framework has eight
key objectives which impact sustain-
ability:
• Climate Change: Develop-
ments should mitigate, and be
appropriately adapted to,
present and future climate
change impacts
• Resources: The sustainable
use of resources including
water, materials and waste,
both in construction and oper-
ation should be promoted.
•Transport: Transport issues
should be fully addressed within
the development
• Ecology: The ecological value of
the site should be conserved and en-
hanced
• Business: The development should contribute
to the sustainable economic vitality of the local
area and region
• Place-making: The design process, layout, structure and form should
provide a development that is appropriate to the local context
• Community: The development should support a vibrant, diverse and
inclusive community that integrates with surrounding communities
• Buildings: The design of individual buildings should not undermine the
sustainability of the overall development
Within each objective are a number of detailed requirements to guide
the designers towards developing a sustainable community.
The GreenPrint Framework is BRE Canada’s way of giving communities
an eco-friendly opportunity for a makeover. What are YOU doing?
|E|
Julie Scarcella | President, Managing Director of BRE Canada
THE NEW FACELIFT: YOU AND YOUR COMMUNITY
Sustainability means different things to different people.
escarpment
environment
BUILDING A BETTER WORLD
By JULIE SCARCELLA