3rd Quarter 2009

Green

It’s been 12 months since we launched the first FuturArc Green issue. There was no shortage of projects vying for coverage this year; in fact we turned a few away.

In the projects featured, there is an emerging vocabulary. We’ve obliged every submission to FuturArc to align to a common definition of Green with reporting on consumption, waste, occupant well-being, etc. Granted, this is the lexicon of Green rating tools and sometimes the answers are fuzzy, but it’s a start. The message is clear: that performance can, for the most part, be measured so let’s move past generalisations onto something more substantive.

There is, in many projects, also a serious attempt to quantify outcomes. These are outputs from simulation tools, plus a reliance on quantitative measures such as embodied energy. Also, Green is no longer synonymous with soulless architecture. The Centre for Sustainable Energy Technologies in Ningbo, China, is architecture in which form is deeply rooted in performance. As much as we don’t want to aestheticise performance in general, we’re delighted that a built project so stridently breaks free of the ‘functionalistic box’ stereotype.

Despite the surge in project numbers the question remains: how does this add up? Against the actual pace of climate change, are we moving fast enough to change the way we design and operate buildings? Maria Atkinson, a leading thinker on the subject, says no, we aren’t (The FuturArc Interview). Carbon is the currency we should be using; as of now, except for only a few projects in this issue, none speak of greenhouse gas emissions.

This issue is peppered with thoughtful commentaries from our panel of writers. We’ve roped in Jalel Sager to share his reflections on Vietnam and Prasetyoadi Tiyok on the work of the Indonesia Green Building Council; Thor Kerr asks if we are wasting this recession; Scott Prz revisits the CH2 building, Melbourne, to see how that seminal project is measuring up to initial expectations.

In the Special Supplement we feature winners of FuturArc Prize 2009 and the newly launched BCI Asia Top Ten Green Award.

The Green issue last year was a milestone. It was our biggest bestseller to date. It was well received internationally. It even won Best Front Cover Design (Trade) from the Magazine Publishers Association of Singapore (MPAS). We’d like to think we’ve raised the bar this year. Let us know if you agree or disagree.

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