The Australian Bite
Talking about Green Cities
27 February 2010
Listen and download: MP3
This week on the Australian Bite, we drop in on the Green Cities 2010 conference held last week in Melbourne. We’ll meet Romilly Madew, Chief Executive of the Green Building Council, who’ll tell us exactly what a Green City is, and how Australian cities are moving along the path to becoming more sustainable. Engineer and sustainability consultant Shane Esmore will tell us how the experts can measure the carbon footprint of buildings, and where things are heading with more environmentally friendly building materials. And environmental consultant Brenda Kingston will talk about the importance of indoor environmental quality.
Making our cities “Greener”
No I’m not just talking about planting trees and gardens, though that will probably help! Romilly Madew from the Green Building Council of Australia guides us through the various considerations that need to be addressed when making our cities more sustainable. And with growing populations and scare water resources, there’s a lot to think about. Romilly also talks about how Australian cities are making sustainability a serious priority – and which ones are doing it best.
The Green Cities 2010 conference was an initiative of the Green Building Council of Australia and the Property Council of Australia. You can take a look at the conference website here
Moving on from concrete and steel
It makes sense that if a city is to be green, so do the buildings within it. Shane Esmore is a Director of the building services and sustainability consultancy Umow Lai. He has extensive experience and expertise at the cutting edge of green building design, and he spoke to me about what types of things can be done to minimise, or even neutralise, a building’s carbon footprint.
You can read a very interesting article about Umow Lai’s own Melbourne offices, which have a Six Star Green Star – Office Interiors rating (and bio-filtration walls!) here.
Taking care of the people inside
Green buildings aren’t just those with a low carbon footprint. The best ones provide a pleasant, healthy environment for the people inside. Brenda Kingston is an environmental Design Consultant with Built Ecology and she says that sustainability and a good indoor environmental quality fit hand in glove. So what makes a building good for us humans to live and work in? And how does a good indoor environment affect health and productivity in the workplace. Brenda answers those questions and talks about one of her recent projects, the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre in Melbourne.
Another of Brenda’s recent projects is the building pictured above – the recently completed Faculty of Economics & Commerce building for the University of Melbourne. This building was the first in Victoria and largest building to be rewarded with a 5 star Green Star Education PILOT rating. You can view the architect’s page on the building here
Music (not in podcast)
Two of Australia’s best known musical exports team up for a track that originally appeared on Olivia Newton John’s album 2 but also appears on a special album to raise funds for the Olivia Newton John Cancer and Wellness Centre.
Artist: Olivia Newton John & Friends
Track: Sunburned Country (with Keith Urban)
Album: A celebration in Song: Olivia Newton John & Friends
Hear the song and also the artists talking about it on You Tube
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