Martin Brown Fairsnape, United Kingdom
Lisanne Havinga Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), the Netherlands
It is by coincidence, serendipity or just good fortune that the 2030 SDG target date falls within the recent IPCC report that details the immediate period in which we must take increasingly radical actions to avoid irreversible climate breakdown. This also resonates with the recent impassioned speech by 16-year-old Greta Thurnberg to the World Economic Forum [3], in which she challenged us with the metaphor ‘our house is on fire’ and that we (i.e. the world’s youth) ‘don’t want you to be hopeful, but to panic and put out the climate breakdown fire’’.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY
The Circular Economy was developed in parallel to regenerative design thinking. In his book titled ‘Regenerative Design for Sustainable Development’ [4], Lyle states ‘A regenerative system provides for continuous replacement, through its own functional processes, of the energy and materials used in its operation’. Lyle’s work was part of the basis from which concepts such as Cradle- to-Cradle and the field of Industrial Ecology originated. Today, the notion of the circular economy, reinforced through the work and advocacy of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation [5], provides a set of principles that establish the criteria for regeneratively designed sustainable buildings: eliminate waste, pollution, negative social
& environmental impact; keep products and materials in use;
regenerate natural systems.
DOUGHNUT ECONOMICS
Kate Raworth’s ‘Doughnut Economics’ [6] provides a new framework for economics, which, separate from the classic gross domestic product economic growth paradigm, measures economic performance based on whether the needs of people are met without damaging the earth. The ‘doughnut’ shape (Figure 2) illustrates this balance: the centre of the doughnut represents people that lack access to healthcare, education, nutrition, etc.;
the outside of the doughnut represents environmental impacts beyond the planetary boundaries. As such, the model represents a safe space for growth within planetary boundaries and above a social foundation.
REGENERATIVE DESIGN
It is within this ‘safe space’, following the RESTORE sustainability definitions, the Four Laws of Ecology, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) and the Circular Economy that regenerative design must operate if it is to design a thriving built environment that not only meets but betters the Paris Agreement and subsequent IPPC findings [7]) to achieve a future that is ecologically sound, culturally rich and socially just [8].
REFERENCES
[1] M. Brown et al., Eds., Sustainability, Restorative to Regenerative. Vienna, Austria: RESTORE, 2018.
[2] ‘Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development,’ United Nations, A/RES/70/1, 2015.
[3] G. Thunberg, ‘‘Our House is on Fire,’’ World Economic Forum, Davos, Jan-2019.
[4] J. T. Lyle, Regenerative Design for Sustainable Development. John Wiley & Sons, 1996.
[5] Ellen MacArthur Foundation, ‘Cities in the Circular Economy: An Initial Exploration.’ 2017.
[6] K. Raworth, Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist.
White River Junction, Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2017.
[7] Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Global warming of 1.5°C. 2018.
[8] ‘Memorandum of Understanding for the implementation of the COST Action ‘Rethinking Sustainability Towards a Regenerative Economy’ (RESTORE) CA16114.’ COST Association, 2016.
Figure 2
Doughnut Economics: an economic model measuring performance based on meeting people’s basic needs while staying within planetary
boundaries (Adapted from source: [6]) ecological ceiling
the safe and just space for hum anity social foundation
regenera
tive and distributive economy water food
social equitypolitical
voice peace
& justice income &
work education health energy
housing gender equaility
networks
shortfall
overshoot climate
change
ocean acidification
chemical pollution
nitrogen &
phosphorus loading
freshwater withdrawals land
conversion biodiversity
loss pollutionair
ozone layer depletion
Throughout this book, you will find considered narratives, detailed exploration and practical applications of digital tools, resources and frameworks that guide building and facilities designs towards a regenerative model based on these Pillars:
- Climate and Energy (chapter 3) - Ecology and Carbon (chapter 4) - Human Wellbeing (chapter 5)
CLIMATE AND ENERGY
Regenerative Design adapts to, harmonises with and enhances microclimates in a harmonious relation to larger climatic flows (e.g.
thermal and water flows), through designs that are a part of nature, rather than ‘apart’ from nature. The balance of energy generation and use is positive.
Because there is a synergistic relationship between the climate, ecosystems and human life, strategies to address the causes and impacts of climate change may be found in managing local microclimates as a way to reduce and produce energy, eliminate and absorb emissions, tackle the loss of biodiversity and promote the life of people in outdoor spaces. This would mean at the same time restoring or creating ecosystem services, thus adding to the overall resilience of the built environment, creating favourable climatic conditions for people to spend more time in public spaces. Substantially people need to design with climate, design with nature and design with people in mind. New cities and buildings should provide substantial opportunities for initiating and demonstrating this change.
Professionals need to ‘Design with Climate’. This is also the tile of a book published in 1963 [1], which stood as one of the most pioneering books in the field of adaptation to climate. It remains a reference nowadays that climate change is an emergency. It includes principles from ecology, biology, engineering, climatology and physics, and proves how a systematic approach to climate change can be aesthetically sound.