Beddington Zero Energy Development (BedZED) is an environmentally friendly housing development in Hackbridge, London, England. It is in the London Borough of Sutton, 2 miles (3 km) north-east of the town of Sutton itself. Designed to create zero carbon emissions, it was the first large scale community to do so.
Ken Yeang is an architect, ecologist, planner and author from Malaysia, best known for his ecological architecture and ecomasterplans that have a distinctive green aesthetic. He pioneered an ecology-based architecture, working on the theory and practice of sustainable design. The Guardian newspaper (2008) named him "one of the 50 people who could save the planet".[ 1] Yeang's headquarters is in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) as Hamzah & Yeang, with offices in London (UK) as Llewelyn Davies Ken Yeang Ltd. and Beijing (China) as North Hamzah Yeang Architectural and Engineering Company.
Dongtan was a planned development described as an eco-city on the island of Chongming in Shanghai, China that was never built. Design began in 2005, and by 2010 the development had stalled. Adjacent to booming Shanghai, designers claimed Dongtan would be the world's first truly sustainable new urban development. Dongtan was presented at the United Nations World Urban Forum by China as an example of a purpose-built eco-city,
An eco-city or ecocity is "a human settlement modeled on the self-sustaining resilient structure and function of natural ecosystems", as defined by Ecocity Builders. Simply put, an eco-city is an ecologically healthy city. The World Bank defines eco-cities as "cities that enhance the well-being of citizens and society through integrated urban planning and management that harness the benefits of ecological systems and protect and nurture these assets for future generations". Although there is no universally accepted definition of an 'eco-city', among available definitions, there is some consensus on the basic features of an eco-city.
Environmental art is a range of artistic practices encompassing both historical approaches to nature in art and more recent ecological and politically motivated types of works. Environmental art has evolved away from formal concerns, for example monumental earthworks using earth as a sculptural material, towards a deeper relationship to systems, processes and phenomena in relationship to social concerns. Integrated social and ecological approaches developed as an ethical, restorative stance emerged in the 1990s. Over the past ten years environmental art has become a focal point of exhibitions around the world as the social and cultural aspects of climate change come to the forefront.
The sustainable city, eco-city, or green city is a city designed with consideration for social, economic, environmental impact, and resilient habitat for existing populations, without compromising the ability of future generations to experience the same. The UN Sustainable Development Goal 11 defines sustainable cities as those that are dedicated to achieving green sustainability, social sustainability and economic sustainability. They are committed to doing so by enabling opportunities for all through a design focused on inclusivity as well as maintaining a sustainable economic growth. The focus also includes minimizing required inputs of energy, water, and food, and drastically reducing waste, output of heat, air pollution – CO2, methane, and water pollution. Richard Register first coined the term ecocity in his 1987 book Ecocity Berkeley: Building Cities for a Healthy Future, where he offers innovative city planning solutions that would work anywhere. Other leading figures who envisioned sustainable cities are architect Paul F Downton, who later founded the company Ecopolis Pty Ltd, as well as authors Timothy Beatley and Steffen Lehmann, who have written extensively on the subject. The field of industrial ecology is sometimes used in planning these cities.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to sustainability:
This page is an index of sustainability articles.
Kevin Kennon is an American architect. Kennon is the Director of the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies and is a founding principal of United Architects, a finalist in the prestigious 2002 World Trade Center Design Competition organized by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.
The natural environment, commonly referred to simply as the environment, includes all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth.
The Earth Awards is an aspirational platform for consumer-driven ideas that challenge designers and innovators to build a new economy. It is an annual competition since 2007, aiming to "transform visionary ideas into market-ready solutions by offering finalists the unique opportunities to pitch their project to world business leaders". The Awards are open to students, graduates and industry professionals - the public is invited to submit innovations to be judged.
Environmentally sustainable design is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of ecological sustainability and also aimed at improving the health and comfortability of occupants in a building. Sustainable design seeks to reduce negative impacts on the environment, the health and well-being of building occupants, thereby improving building performance. The basic objectives of sustainability are to reduce the consumption of non-renewable resources, minimize waste, and create healthy, productive environments.
Ecological urbanism draws from ecology to inspire an urbanism that is more socially inclusive and sensitive to the environment. It is less ideologically driven, than green urbanism or sustainable urbanism. In many ways, ecological urbanism is an evolution of, and a critique of, Landscape Urbanism arguing for a more holistic approach to the design and management of cities. This type of urbanism has a central scope four main objectives, compactness, complexity, efficiency and stability. This model of Urbanism has as a goal to tackle the current challenges of society by intertwining sustainability and urban occupation models. The term appeared first in 1998 as "EcoUrbanism" in a book by Architect and Planner Miguel Ruano, who defined it as "the development of multi-dimensional sustainable human communities within harmonious and balanced built environments". The term was used later in April 2003 at a conference at the University of Oregon, and again in 2006 in a paper by Jeffrey Hou. The phrase was used by Mohsen Mostafavi in 2007 in Intervention Architecture and in a lecture at the Canadian Centre for Architecture, ecological urbanism as a project was largely started at Harvard University Graduate School of Design, with a conference, and exhibition, and book.
The Floating ecopolis, otherwise known as the Lilypad, is a model designed by Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut for future climatic refugees. He proposed this model as a long-term solution to rising water level as per the GIEC forecast. It is a self-sufficient amphibious city and satisfies the four challenges laid down by the OECD in March 2008 namely, climate, biodiversity, water and health.
Sustainable urbanism is both the study of cities and the practices to build them (urbanism), that focuses on promoting their long term viability by reducing consumption, waste and harmful impacts on people and place while enhancing the overall well-being of both people and place. Well-being includes the physical, ecological, economic, social, health and equity factors, among others, that comprise cities and their populations. In the context of contemporary urbanism, the term cities refers to several scales of human settlements from towns to cities, metropolises and mega-city regions that includes their peripheries / suburbs / exurbs. Sustainability is a key component to professional practice in urban planning and urban design along with its related disciplines landscape architecture, architecture, and civil and environmental engineering. Green urbanism and ecological urbanism are other common terms that are similar to sustainable urbanism, however they can be construed as focusing more on the natural environment and ecosystems and less on economic and social aspects. Also related to sustainable urbanism are the practices of land development called Sustainable development, which is the process of physically constructing sustainable buildings, as well as the practices of urban planning called smart growth or growth management, which denote the processes of planning, designing, and building urban settlements that are more sustainable than if they were not planned according to sustainability criteria and principles.
Christie Walk is a model ecological cohousing development in central Adelaide, Australia. It consists of 27 dwellings on a 2,000 square metres site. It was designed by local architect Paul Downton and completed in 2006. Its innovative aspects include energy- and water-saving measures, use of ethical finance and use of recycled non-toxic materials.
Street Farm was a London-based collective active in the early 1970s, with its origins in the Architectural Association (AA). Its core members were AA students Peter Crump, Bruce Haggart and Graham Caine.
Ecocity Builders is a 501(c) non profit located in Oakland, California, that provides advocacy, consulting, and education in sustainable city planning with a focus on access by proximity and pedestrian-oriented development. Ecocity Builders also implements urban design projects utilizing a large network of alliances with city governments, businesses and NGOs. Ecocity Builders' approach is based the work of founder Richard Register, an American artist, peace activist and urban theorist.
Carl Anthony is an American architect, regional planner, social justice activist, and author. He is the founder and co-director of Breakthrough Communities, a project dedicated to building multiracial leadership for sustainable communities in California and the rest of the nation. He is the former President of the Earth Island Institute, and is the co-founder and former executive director of its urban habitat program, one of the first environmental justice organizations to address race and class issues.
Wei Yang FAcSS FRTPI MCIHT is a Chinese-British town planner and urban designer, an author and a scholar. She is the founder of Wei Yang & Partners in London. She is a lead figure in researching, promoting and implementing the 21st Century Garden City approach and promoting joined up thinking between different built and nature environment professionals.
