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Sustainable Development

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ZEMCH: Toward the Delivery of Zero Energy Mass Custom Homes

Part of the book series: Springer Tracts in Civil Engineering ((SPRTRCIENG))

Abstract

The continuous increase in the number and size of urban regions across the world pose great challenges for sustainable development. Given the connection between energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and climate change and the reality that the built environment emits around half of total emissions, the construction industry has considerable potential to reduce emissions and a key role in mitigating global warming. Other local challenges include for example loss of species and habitats, social degradation of neighborhoods, and an overall erosion of sustainability. Urbanisation patterns and the lifestyles of urban dwellers also affect the planet on wider scales and contribute to shaping bio-physical processes on planetary scales and affect how humans mentally connect with the Biosphere. However there is evidence our current understanding of the concept of sustainability, and thus sustainable development, is fragmented and unclear. There are a plethora of terms used to cover sustainable buildings, such as ecological, green, Gaian, zero energy, eco-friendly and environmental; all of which come in, and out, of fashion over time; do they mean the same thing or are they different? Furthermore, do the stakeholders within the built environment demonstrate a clear understanding of the concept of sustainability or; are they muddled and confused? The consequence of unclear thinking and a lack of understanding is that ultimately the built environment stakeholders are unlikely to deliver ‘sustainability’ efficiently or even at all, with the broader and more onerous consequences for society as a whole. In addition what are the implications for education and should academics be broadening the debate? This lecture examines the environmental, economic, social, political and philosophical thinking underpinning the concept of sustainable development and shows how different perspectives reflect very different ways of thinking about sustainability and sustainable development. It aims to create a better understanding while offering creative solutions.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The UN Millennium Declaration was adopted in 2000 and committed countries to reach eight Millennium Development Goals by 2015. The eight goals included: halving extreme poverty, halting the spread of HIV/AIDS, providing universal primary education, eliminating gender disparity in education, reducing the under-five mortality rate, reducing the maternal mortality rate and achieving universal access to reproductive health, developing a global partnership (to address the needs of the poorest countries, to further an open non-discriminatory trade system, and to deal with developing country debt); and ensuring environmental sustainably (by integrating sustainable development into country policies and programs, reducing biodiversity loss, improving access to safe drinking water and sanitation, and improving the lives of slum dwellers) (UN 2010).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    Sara Wilkinson

  2. Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Mona Hajibandeh

  3. Tehran University of Art, Tehran, Iran

    Mona Hajibandeh

  4. Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands

    Hilde Remoy

Authors
  1. Sara Wilkinson
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  2. Mona Hajibandeh
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  3. Hilde Remoy
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sara Wilkinson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Melbourne School of Design, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

    Masa Noguchi

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Wilkinson, S., Hajibandeh, M., Remoy, H. (2016). Sustainable Development. In: Noguchi, M. (eds) ZEMCH: Toward the Delivery of Zero Energy Mass Custom Homes. Springer Tracts in Civil Engineering . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31967-4_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31967-4_1

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