Jason Ross, who MC’d the recent Building Design Association of Australia’s (BDAA) national festival, reports that the industry is on the move with sustainability and climate. Here are some takeaway thoughts.
More than 500 industry professionals attended the Building Design Association of Australia’s (BDAA) national festival of design in-person, Australia’s largest festival of design last week and the biggest congregation of building design professionals since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Billed “The Rebuilt Environment – A National Festival of Design” the conference attracted luminaries such as the renowned architect Peter Stutchbury and Dr Geoff Woolcock – chair of the Australian National Development Index and Talina Edwards, board director at Australian Passive House Association (APHA) and co-ordinator of Australian Architects Declare.
The clear message from the event was the overwhelming support for greater action on Australia’s biodiversity and climate emergencies.
Gathering in Melbourne, ahead of the Victorian state election (November 26, 2022), the reference point was the growing number of organisations becoming involved. This includes more than 100 local government jurisdictions that have pledged their support for climate action – 36 in New South Wales and 35 in Victoria and the ACT.
However, this comes in the context of no declaration of a climate emergency at the federal level, with an October 2019 motion raised by the Australian Labor Party and supported by the Australian Greens Party defeated by the Morrison Government.
In July 2022, the Albanese government joined 16 regional leaders in signing a climate emergency declaration following the Pacific Islands Forum in Fiji.
“Leaders declared that the Pacific is facing a climate emergency that threatens the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of its people and ecosystems, backed by the latest science and daily lived realities in Pacific communities,” according to the expected communique published in the Sydney Morning Herald.
But building designers can do a lot to stimulate progress on climate and sustainability through their work.
According to the association a building designer is first and foremost a professional familiar with all facets of the building trade including national codes, standards, and regulations.
They can have autonomy over the complete design of a building structure and for the most part have full control over material selection through the building specification. They can also have an important role in reducing carbon emissions especially through material selection and meeting the steps required to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
That’s a lot of influence.
Among presenters at the event who called for more action and addressed the elephant in the room were Paul Haar, 2020 Sustainability Awards Lifetime Achievement winner, Willem Overbosch of SDG Align and 2022 NSW Sustainability Award finalist, Dr Geoff Woolcock, chair of the Australian National Development Index (ANDI) and Jane Hilliard, head designer of Designful.
Peter Stutchbury challenged attendees to embrace not just the physical but the social and spiritual dimensions of the built environment as part of a conversation with Talina Edwards of APHA.
Stutchbury, who won the Australian Institute of Architects’ prestigious Gold Medal in 2015 and is Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, spoke of his affinity for the land and the importance of true sustainability being more than a sum of materials and calculation of carbon.
Mark Thomson, project leader of the Commonwealth supported Furniture 360 initiative, spoke of the hazardous substances and chemicals of concern in everyday furniture and furnishings.
In another presentation BDAA supported Tools for Success, which was launched at the event – a tool that simplifies the National Construction Code and Australian Standards into simple and easy to understand interactive graphics.
The festival also featured the BDAA National Design Awards – hosted by Australian broadcaster Libbi Gorr with 250 special guests on hand at the Melbourne Museum to celebrate the very best in Australian building design.
BDAA chief executive officer Chris Knierim said the festival was “an overwhelming success”.
“It was fantastic to see so many people coming together to attend the face-to-face event, listening and learning from the industry experts flown in from across Australia. It was pleasing to see so many new faces too.”
He said the national conference had been running for many years and the organisation itself was flourishing.