by Douglas E. Gordon, Hon. AIA
Executive Editor

Summary: The AIA 2009 National Convention and Design Exposition in San Francisco kicked off on April 30 with a thought-provoking theme presentation from Arup director and civil engineer Peter Head, OBE, FREng, FRSA, who detailed how urban and suburban areas can aim to accommodate millions of people with no impact to the environment.

Watch the video presentation. Read the story below.

As the world has shifted from agriculture into the industrial age and on to the information age over the last 200 years, there has been one common result, Head says. Architects working with engineers have been at the heart of the design and delivery of the essential infrastructure for energy, water, waste, communications, transport, and flood protection. “Energy consumption is central to our model of human development and in designing and building these systems we have created the hard wiring of a non-renewable fossil fuel resource consuming society.”

To turn that trend around—a trend that is destroying this planet, we must address three questions:

• Can we move towards a sustainable way of living with up to 9 billion people and create what is being called the Ecological Age?
• What policies and investments are needed in low-, middle-, and high -income countries?
• What is the role of the architect in leading this transition to an Ecological Age?
  

Account overdrawn
The World Wildlife Federation’s 2006 Planet Report showed that we are now living in severe ecological overshoot, Head contends. “We are now consuming 25 percent more resources than the planet can replace and are drawing down the stock of natural capital that supports our lives,” he says. And, of course, this includes resources most of us tend to take for granted, such as water.

“The very long-term objective is to reach a sustainable lifestyle that uses renewable resources and the energy from the sun,” Head explains. “We need to find a soft transition over the longest possible period, so we can use fossil fuels and nuclear power as long as resources are available but with much less environmental pollution.”

We tend to address each problem we have created in our development model with another fossil-fuel dependent fix, and we have therefore created a stack of interdependent resource consuming technologies, according to Head. The good news is we are actually so wasteful, he says, that there are many opportunities for rapid improvement.

The good news is we are actually so wasteful that there are many opportunities for rapid improvement

Virtuous cycles of benefit
“In our work, we have found that by resolving each problem in an appropriate way, the social, economic, and environmental benefits achieved can be surprisingly large through what we call virtuous cycles of benefit,” he says.

He uses as an example compact development where everyone walks or bicycles to accomplish their daily routine, thus saving money and resources, reducing pollution, and improving health. Vancouver is a good example, he says, adding: “Good urban design and planning is therefore a key to a successful change of direction, and that is why this civil engineer is now in planning!”

The benefits achieved can be surprisingly large through what Arup calls virtuous cycles of benefit

How do we do it?
All this points to finding a way to live more harmoniously with the natural world. So how do we get there quickly enough? Among Head’s many blueprints offered in his presentation:

Good urban design: This means employing an eco-city urbanization model, with its higher land-use density, combined with building high-speed rail lines and moving to energy-efficient manufacturing. Also, information management will help people use their infrastructure more efficiently.

Rethinking transport: Much of the higher energy use by urban dwellers in the U.S.—as opposed to China and countries in Europe—comes from private transport. A substantial reduction in petrol and diesel use in private vehicles in urban areas will be necessary, and battery and hydrogen fuel-cell powered vehicles, as well as car-sharing clubs, will add to the mix.

Transition to food, water, energy, and waste resource efficiency: Productivity of land for vegetables and fruit can be improved using new low-energy processes of building and balancing soil fertility, and this can be assisted by closing the resource loops between urban living and rural food production. Major opportunities also abound to use much less water, treat and recycle urban wastewater, and use drip feed systems for agriculture. Also viable is collecting and storing rainwater and using it as graywater for secondary uses.

Fuel and energy: Actions center on wisely conserving and using our remaining fossil fuels while developing renewables, including sun, wind, and biofuels.

Biomimicry: Janine Benyus’ book, Biomimicry, sets out 10 principles that successful organisms on the planet adopt, starting with “diversify and cooperate,” the theme of Head’s talk. We can use them as a road map. For instance, manufacturers will need to be clustered using industrial symbiosis principles, which means sharing resources and having integrated supply chain management.

Waste—Clean up not pollute: On pollution, there is a virtuous cycle between using waste as a resource and not polluting the air, water, and soil. Health costs go down and biodiversity and carbon sinks go up. For instance, solid waste can be digested in anaerobic digesters to provide energy and compost and water that can be recycled for use to grow food.

A global effort and a defining moment
Head showed videos of models of how these principles could be turned into action, beginning with planning frameworks for retrofitting sustainable infrastructure for both urban and suburban areas.

Policy clearly is needed, and needed quickly at global, national, and regional scale—and global is the most difficult, Head says. He agrees with Prince Charles, who posits we have about 100 months to concentrate our efforts on “declaring war on climate change. Arup would love to connect with you on these efforts,” he said.

Head acknowledges that he offers a first glimpse of a way forward that is a credible vision of the future, but is only a modest start for a long journey. He is looking forward to the Copenhagen Climate Summit in December 2009 as a time for the world to come together on these crucial issues. He expresses hope that the global community of designers will come together to understand what we need to do and inspire young people to join in the challenge. Finally, he invites the young architects present to “help old duffers like me move quickly in the right direction.”