Defining Sustainable Development

Andrée Iffrig, M.E.Des. (Arch), Opacity Creative

Posted by
Andree Iffrig
Sep 10, 2008

CMHC’s sustainability conference this month kicked off with Chris Turner, author of The Geography of Hope. He borrowed a definition of sustainability from E.F. Schumacher: A lifestyle designed for permanence. Focussing on community-based alternative energy projects in countries like Denmark and Germany, Turner made it clear that when it comes to reducing carbon emissions, the best initiatives are those at the community or district level.

The goal of no net emissions, or better yet, producing more energy than a building can consume, is behind the City of Vancouver’s design guidelines for the Winter Olympic Village. Roger Bayley of Merrick Architects, design manager for the project at Southeast False Creek, illustrated a wide array of measures for reducing dependence on conventional energy, maximizing passive energy and recapturing heat.

Incorporating sustainable design features has been relatively inexpensive at the village because of the economies of scale associated with such a large housing project. When finished in 2009, it will house 20,000-30,000 people.

CMHC staff and industry partners involved in the project EQuilibrium™, a national sustainable housing initiative, demonstrated building techniques for reducing energy use. The Riverdale NetZero energy home is the program’s showcase in Alberta. The house is a large duplex, each unit 1844 square feet, or 2519 square feet with the basement. Achieving net zero emissions has cost an additional $60 per square foot, a substantial increase.

The Riverdale model is in Edmonton’s inner city, but other Equilibrium homes are in new suburbs on the edges of cities; a daily commute is inevitable. Compared with European examples of sustainability, the Alberta unit is an over-built reminder that as long as Canadian home owners are expected to solve the climate change problem alone, rather than as communities, the ecological impact of sustainable design will be marginal, but the hit to the homeowner's pocket book substantial.