Gavin AshleyGavin Ashley, co-ordinator of the the SDAPP project, will be speaking at the Planning Institute of Australia Congress in April. Gavin's presentation will be on "Building climate resilience through sustainable design assessment in the planning process"
Here is a brief summary of Gavin's topic:
In the context of Australian state and territories moving to 6-star for residential dwellings through the recent Building Code of Australia changes, there is a tendency to rely too heavily on these minimum standards for addressing overall built form sustainability, especially when time is short in the context of rapid recovery from natural disasters. So how can planning work to increase the environmental performance of built form? How can the planning system capitalise on its role earlier in the design process to push the boundaries and drive innovation to ensure that what gets built, will offer long-term climate resilience; both in durability and lower operational costs in a warmer climate.
Local councils across Victoria are leading the way in improving the environmental performance of buildings through a broad framework called Sustainable Design Assessment in the Planning Process (SDAPP). Councils have recognised that a broader, more detailed framework is necessary to implement more quantifiable aspects of sustainability in relation to matters such as water conservation, energy conservation, sustainable building principles and the use of assessment tools.
For more information see the SDAPP section of this website.
