EcoBuild your future
An Eco-friendly Future
In a resource-strained world, it is important for architects and planners to be wise custodians, obediently sustainable while also being adventurous – but how can architects and planners retain excitement, dignity and quality while designing and planning in which wisdom about the best use of resources is a constant? How will an eco-friendly future look - what defines a sustainable city – and how can we re-interpret it? Ecobuild is the world’s biggest event for sustainable design, construction and the built environment – the most comprehensive product showcase anywhere and the definitive source of information for the sector.
Sustainable Architecture - and re-interpreting the Nature of the City
Ecobuild stand out from other exhibitions because of its strong offerings in terms of conferences and seminars being held featuring high profile speakers such as Ellen van Loon, Partner, OMA and Patrik Schumacher, Director, Zaha Hadid Architects. The Ecobuild conference focuses on emerging issues, new thinking, challenging ideas - and the new policy priorities of the coalition government responding to the need of the budget cuts. Expanding the tree streams for 2011, it examines the key issues surround sustainability; construction and the build environment, from big picture debates on international political co-operation, global economic models, and the psychology of climate change , to more domestic and local matters.
Try to imagine a future in which sustainability pervades all forms of architecture and design - where sustainable design and living is unquestioned - and the norm. Thinking differently will clearly be crucial just like re-interpreting the 'city as a natural system' is an important issue integrated in this matter. So, how about thinking out of the box - looking at land use and landscape design from new perspectives? How about making the re-use and re-purposing of buildings a priority over new hightech build? These are among the themes which some of the leading architects, planners, theorists and critics in the field such as Linda Farrow, Founding Director, White-Design Studio, vice-chair of Creating Excellence and Tom Emerson, Founder of award winning 6 A Architects represent, just to mention some of them.
Danish Pavilion at Ecobuild 2011
The British market is showing increasing interest in eco-friendly and sustainable building, construction and planning. To support the initiative the Danish Embassy is organizing a joint stand at Ecobuild in the ExCel Exhibition and Conference Centre in London on 1 - 3, March 2011. Click here for more information about the Danish contribution to the conference.
Read cases on sustainability, biodiversity and eco-friendly initiatives in the build environment for instance London where the world's first Eco-friendly Olympic city is currently under construction for the Olympic Games in 2012.
Comments
Dear Signe,
I agree that there are many changes that need to happen in the future planning and changes to our urban environments, urban agriculture, bikeable cities like London’s new Bicycle Superhighway project. But what is almost always overlooked by architects, planners and engineering professionals of these schemes are the inhabitants and the changes they must make to insure all the effort of infrastructure works as planned. We cannot transform the urban environment without transforming the customer.
The failure in improved efficiency of equipment and systems in industrial society, and in energy conservation programs, have been shown in studies in the UK, USA and Australia to be due in large part to how consumers, without the education about true conservation, continue with their habits of excessive consumption undermining efforts in these efficiency improvements, This falls under the Jevons Paradox which I've spoken of this in several of my Green Building and Energy Efficiency lectures. I don't know why the
Jevons Paradox concept is not taught to the engineers and designers of these various efficiency and energy improvement schemes. The failure to take the "Consumer" into account and build in training of the consumer about conservation undermines the success of these programs/improvements. I have often referred to the consumer as "the elephant in the room no one seems to want to talk about."
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