Raise the Hammer

David, Sustainability is not just an important part, it has become an integral part of urban design and architecture in our times.

There are no winners or leaders in sustainability issues. Being ahead of Toronto should never be a premise for Hamilton. The success of either city rests on the success of the entire region becoming sustainable.

We need to develop a better understanding of the sustainable imperative facing us. This involves dispelling myths around Green certification standards and awards - and discovering the truly transformational work being done in innovative labs that will lead us towards Green 2.0 and closer to becoming real Green and sustainable.

"High-fiving each other for spending wads of taxpayers' money is one thing; finding creative ways to encourage an nurture humane urban and suburban environments is another. ~ Nox"

• Exploring Origins Project: "The goal of this project is to use molecular illustration and animation to help describe origins of life research and theories to broad audiences."

• Creating 'Living' Buildings: "...responsive protocells to clad cities in an ethical, green and sustainable way... protocells may be used to create carbon-negative architectures..."

• On Designing Form

• 12 Sustainable Design Ideas From Nature

• On the Scale and Unity of Life from Cells to Cities

• Green Building 2.0

"the prototypical Vancouver condo building—towers of (poorly insulated) glass separated by (heat radiating) concrete balconies—provides about a tenth of the insulation value that a wood-frame home does. Yet, through the addition of a few energy efficient appliances, unscrupulous (or merely ignorant) marketers have succeeded in labeling condo towers as "green" buildings."

"The truth is that mainstream green building certification systems such as LEED, Built Green Canada, and Green Globes all reward strategies that lower energy demand, while next-generation standards such as Passivhaus, (Darmstadt, Germany) - Passivhaus, (Canada), and Living Buildings-(intro) are whittling building energy use very close to zero."

• And You Thought LEED Was About Delivering Actual Performance

"With 145,000 LEED Professionals and 7,000 Certified projects, the USGBC's LEED Rating System has created an industry of LEED consultants across the globe. Yet what owners, designers, contractors and others are reminded of every day is that LEED is a checklist, not a design manual."

• ISO 14000 standards

"A decade from now we may recognize these standards as one of the most significant international initiatives for sustainable development. ISO 14000 defines a voluntary environmental management system."

• LEED versus ISO 14001

"The one is a recognized tried and tested truly international standard, the other is a 'non profit' trying to bolster their sustainable building agenda w reality being that it can never be a universal fit..."

• ISOXpress - ISO 14001 Software - (Free version)

• Environment Management Info Systems - (Freeware)

• BREEAM

"BREEAM is the world's foremost environmental assessment method and rating system for buildings, with 200,000 buildings with certified BREEAM assessment ratings and over a million registered for assessment since it was first launched in 1990. BREEAM can be used to assess the environmental performance of any type of building, new and existing, anywhere in the world. BREEAM is an internationally recognised brand across the world, setting the standard for sustainability in the built environment -(Case studies)."

• BREEAM or LEED - strengths and weaknesses of two main environmental assessment methods

On LEED & Envirobabble:

• The Gap Between LEED Certification And Energy Efficiency

• University questions LEED rankings

• It's Way Too Easy Being Green

• Perkins + Will Debunks Antilia Myths

• Green Luck

Comment edited by Mahesh_P_Butani on 2011-11-27 00:52:25