Inaugural FuturArc Forum shows and goes the way in 2007

Hundreds of representatives and leaders of Australia’s construction industry attended BCI Australia’s green building conference and the launch of BCI’s FuturArc magazine in Australia on 28 September 2007 at The Westin Hotel in Sydney.

Hosted by BCI Australia, in association with the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA), the conference also featured talks by three renowned international architects showcasing green buildings around the world.

Dr. Nirmal Kishnani, Chief Editor of FuturArc and lecturer from the Department of Architecture at the National University of Singapore, opened proceedings with a welcome speech. Thereafter, Stephan Langella, National Training Manager of Graphisoft (a major conference sponsor), spoke about the benefits of physical versus digital modeling in architecture, explaining how the practice of building models was essential in all forms of architecture.

Peter Poulet, the representative of the RAIA and the Assistant Government Architect of New South Wales, then talked about the role of the RAIA in green building in Australia, elaborating how the RAIA was a bridge between the government and the industry as it looked at ways to embed sustainability in Australian architecture for the future, while at the same time actively pursuing a reduction in the carbon footprint of all current projects. Mr. Poulet stressed that initiating interdisciplinary activity at all levels of building was key to promoting sustainability.

Dr. Kishnani took the stage again for his keynote address. He explored the role of the architect, who has often become divorced from the practice of making and operating buildings by the increasing number of experts involved in the design phase and budget overruns. Dr. Kishnani also spoke about passive and aggressive systems in modern architecture and gave many examples of successful passive green buildings around Asia, pointing to innovative systems such as the floor cooling of the new campus building at the University of Singapore and the use of mirror aided refraction to light the atrium of the Asian Development Bank headquarters in Singapore. He rounded up his talk by saying that making a building 100 percent green was not as difficult as it seemed, “The first 50 percent depends on the common sense of the architect.”

Ulf Meyer, editor of ARCH+ journal and German correspondent for World Architecture, assumed the podium after Dr. Kishnani and began his lecture on the green reinvention of Berlin. He explained the vast differences of architecture in Berlin after the wall came down and noted that “Berlin is the most industrialised city between Moscow and Paris”. New insight was offered, including the idea of reusing as opposed to demolishing older buildings, citing the Reichstag as an example. In his opinion, up to 95 percent of a building could be greened, while the externally visible five percent could retain its original look. Following this paradigm, it was thus possible for many historical buildings in Berlin to retain their aesthetic value for future generations while functioning successfully in a modern context. Mr. Meyer believed this formula could be applied elsewhere, regardless of location.

Shortly after Mr. Meyer’s address, Dr. Kishnani, Chris Rose, Managing Director of BCI Australia, and his team officially launched the Australian edition of FuturArc. The inaugural issue showcased green residential spaces in Asia-Pacific, with a special segment featuring projects from the Berlin DAZ Exhibition entitled “Living the Modern_Australian Architecture”. The edition also announced the FuturArc Prize 2008 green building design competition, the first of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region.

After the lunch break, corporate sponsors and supporters of the conference such as Graphisoft, Clipsal, Dulux, Somfy, James Hardie, Ardex and CSR Hebel addressed the audience to give insight into how their work supported the pursuit of green building in Australia.

On behalf of his wife Dr. Claudia Perren, an architecture critic and curator in Sydney and Berlin, Nicolas Perren from Turner & Associates Architects assumed the podium to deliver an address on the uniqueness of Australian architecture and its impact around the world. A special mention was given to Dr. Perren’s exhibition “Living the Modern_Australian Architecture” and a new book of the same title in which she was a primary contributor. Mr. Perren commented that Australia’s architectural landscape was distinct as it was intrinsically linked to and influenced by its natural environment. He touched on the modern challenges to green building such as an oversupply of cheap energy, a knowledge gap, the lack of post occupancy evaluations and the dearth of internationalised standards. Mr. Perren echoed Dr. Kishnani’s thoughts by saying that green buildings offered an overall increased return. He explained the concept of Minimal Invasive Architecture with its focus on heavy prior research coupled with a clear bias towards passive systems. He illustrated Dr. Perren’s four-pronged approach to green building in the Integrated Parallel Communication model, where experts in all areas are consulted, beginning with function, security/technology and sustainability, followed by costing. It was through this formula that Minimal Invasive Architecture worked; this method was a new approach to overcome the challenges many architects faced in green building. Aptly quoting Albert Einstein before he finished: “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we had when we created them.”

After Mr. Perren, BCI Australia’s Chris Rose bid the attendees farewell until the next conference on 27 and 28 March 2008. In line with its advocacy towards sustainability, BCI purchases 100 percent GreenPower electricity and 6.99 tonnes worth of carbon neutral offsets. – Martin Silk