Low Technology

Technology has brought us many modern conveniences that we often take for granted. Everyday appliances like refrigerators, water heaters, and stoves are so prevalent that it is quite hard for most people to picture a life without them. How about the estimated 20% of the world population without access to electricity (link: “Access to Electricity”)? We are going to briefly discuss how some of these modern conveniences can be brought to rural regions at a low-cost: both environmentally and economically.

Zeer Pot

Introducing the pot-in-pot refrigerator, also known as the Zeer pot, keeps the inner chamber of the device cool by the means of evaporative cooling (water absorbs relatively large amount of energy when transitioning from liquid to vapour). The device is constructed using easily obtainable items: two clay pots; a piece of cloth; some sand; water (which need not be potable as it is kept separated from the food storage), and requires no electricity. Below is a video on how you can make your own:

Food can be stored fresh for a longer period of time with refrigeration, this is important in places where there is a food shortage, extending the shelf life of food is a matter of survival. Farmers can also benefit from the increased profit from food sales as food can be stored for a longer period of time giving economic and social benefits to the community.

A modern lecturer Mohammed Bah Abba has modernized the evaporative cooling principle and commercialised it for modern Nigeria, distributing it under his company Mobah Rural Horizon. A Zeer pot only cost around £1 to manufacture and Bah Abba reportedly sells 30000 such pots a year in rural Nigeria (link: “The Shell Award for Sustainable Development”). In addition, an inventor Emily Cummins came up with the Sustainable Refrigerator that gave the pot-in-pot cooler a contemporary design.

Solar Cooker

Solar power can be harvested by solar panels, but often they require proper maintenance and may release toxic chemicals (e.g. lead and cadmium) in case of damages or improper disposal.Solar concentrators may serve as an alternative method to tap into solar energy and have already been use in solar power plants. The solar concentrators can also be used to cook food, it works by reflecting sunlight into a smaller area and therefore heating any object within that point.

Solar cookers come in a few different varieties and can provide an alternative to firewood in the absence of electricity and liquid petroleum gas. About 2 billion people still use firewood; introducing solar cookers will reduce the rate of deforestation and carbon dioxide emission. In addition, the cooker also allows people in rural area to pasteurize their drinking water, reducing instances of ingesting water borne pathogens. See how you can build one easily in the video above.

Solar cookers in various forms have been applied in other places like Africa, China, India and Gaza. Solar Cookers International is one of the non profit organisations that distributes and provides education to rural African regions regarding solar cooking. They have also commercialised their products and sell solar cooker merchandise on their website for other outdoor cooking purposes.

But I have refrigerators and kitchen stoves!

You most likely have access to powered refrigeration and cooking facilities and I doubt anyone is preparing to go without them any time soon. However it has been shown by people like Bah Abba and Solar Cookers International that low-tech solutions could commercialised to various degrees of success in niche market, partly due to the low cost of implementation and high availability of their building materials within the local market. While they could have easily been dismissed as mere life-hacks, innovations have turned them into profitable (financially and/or socially) businesses.

Some rather sharp people in Malta created a carbon lottery especially designed to lure people to fighting climate change.  Simple concept too: buy verified offsets for voluntary carbon offset projects, choose numbers as you would on any ordinary lotto ticket, and get entered into the draw for a £4m prize.  Each entry only costs £2.  There is a footprinting tool built into the process, and information on each of the projects worldwide that the funds go towards enabling.  While we personally don't like the idea of lottery, we realise others have a different view.  Seems like a good approach to harness existing behaviour and channel the money towards something useful.  Why try and fight existing behaviours, when a slight tweak could enable them to positive outcomes?

... as it turns out, Jane McGonigal isn't the only one using gaming to explore how to motivate people to solve real world problems.  Learn more about how to engage people and harness their energy/interest:

PSFK CONFERENCE NYC 2011: Aaron Dignan from Piers Fawkes on Vimeo.

Interesting video that talks about the state-of-play for many shifts and trends, and what will affect consumer behaviour in the years ahead.

PSFK CONFERENCE NYC 2011: What's Next? A Panel On The Future from Piers Fawkes on Vimeo.

This video takes a brief look at some of the issues surrounding a world built on fossil fuels, like environmental destruction and economic instability. Alternative energy sources have not been able to replace fossil fuel due to technology and existing infrastructures that were purposed to support fossil fuel consumption. It asked an important question regarding the sustainability of the current model of economic growth.

Here are a four points that were suggested:

-Learn to live without fossil fuel
-Relook at our current economic model of growth
-Stabilise human population to 7 billion
-Mitigating the negative human impact on the environment

Even with the technological advancements in the field of alternative energy, humans will still have to find a way to live within nature’s budget of renewable resources and at the rate at of natural replenishment for a more resilient future.

“Resilience – the ability to absorb shocks and keep going”

Check out other interesting videos on Post Carbon Instiute's YouTube channel too.

Mondragón Worker-Cooperatives Decide How to Ride Out a Downturn

If the economy is any indication, it should have prompted us to rethink the economy as it is currently. From its stubbornness to recover from a slump to the increasing polarization of wealth distribution between the rich and the poor (source: Key Household Income Trends, 2010), it should have provided good motivations to look at alternative economical models to the usual top-down management.

In comes the Mondragón Cooperative Corporation (MCC). It is a consortium of worker-owned companies that is worker-centric. The business is driven by egalitarianism: workers are each given equal voting powers on issues; all workers are subjected to distribution of profit and loss because success is a result of collective efforts.

MCC’s innovation in doing business ensured that workers were safe unemployment during the global economical downturn, furthermore generating revenue of $24 billion in 2007. Their success should give even the toughest of sceptics enough reasons to take a long hard look at MCC’s business model.

“Mondragón is proof that a commitment to the common good is not an obstacle to commercial success. Instead, a dedication to innovation and training at all levels can bring forward the best of the community. That quality of life continues outside the workplace, multiplying the benefits for those who choose a cooperative path.”

Now we can all discuss the possibility of social equality without the tough sell of forgoing commercial success. 

Further reading: The Old Economy's Not Coming Back. So What's Next?

This video documents how manufacturers shift from the making quality products that were designed to have a long service life to deliberately shortening life of products to drive consumption and economy. Product engineers were made to adopt different values and objectives in their designs while consumers had to accept this newfound disposability as a norm. In a modern context, new products are made available to consumers at a rapid rate, enabling consumers to retire and replace their products unnecessarily.

The documentary also explored one of the potential environmental and social impacts of careless electronic consumption. As computers and electronic devices are disposed, a significant portion of the waste is shipped off to developing regions such as Africa. The electronic waste contains toxic components such as lead and cadmium and they are liberated when locals try to obtain scrap metals using primitive methods. Therefore causing health problems and polluting the environment surrounding the electronic waste dump.

While the manufacturers have created the consumer’s society as we know now, there is an increasing awareness of the finiteness of earth’s resources and the need for sustainable development. Some people are taking a step towards improving the sustainability of the consumer’s society. From consumers working to help other consumers bypass predetermined time for failure in an electronic device, to filing lawsuits against corporations that have unsustainable policies, to manufacturers taking a different approach to production design.

Perhaps we could all then take a moment before retiring our phone for the spanking new one that we have been coveting.

“It’s not like there is a green world and a business world, I think business and sustainability go hand in hand is actually the best basis to build a business on. And the only real way to do that is to factor in the true cost of the resources that have been used and also look at the energy consumption and also the indirect energy consumption of transportation. If you factor all that in to all the product that you manufacture, then there will be huge incentives for manufacturers to entrepreneurs all over the planet to make products that last forever” – Warner Philips (Lemnis Lighting)

Here's an intriguing case study of an environmental lawyer helping villagers fight a lawsuit against an ore mine owned by the provincial government in the Yang Chow village, China. Villagers in nearby areas are affected by the lack of treatment of mine effluent; the villagers crop's yield and quality have been affected, as well as their health.

It was reported that the river water contaminated by the mine effluent is high in some heavy metals (i.e. lead and cadmium), however existing technologies are capable of removing them from the effluent wastewater. One of the common methods of heavy metal removal is chemical precipitation, in which precipitants are added to raise the pH of water decreasing the soluble portion of heavy metals, then the precipitated heavy metals can be removed by conventional solids removal techniques. This illustrates that the corporations are negligent to not provide appropriate treatments even though they are available and that authorities are not taking enough actions to enforce existing environmental laws. The corporation stands to damage its own reputation in addition to setting itself up for potential liabilities in the future.

The villagers and their environment are paying the bills accrued by rapid economic development while reaping none of its benefits.  How much monetary value can be assigned to the human health and environmental damages caused by careless economic exploits?

 As the world attempts to transit slowly towards renewable energy to satisfy global energy demand, the true environmental and energy cost are often not considered. Perhaps more effort could be done to contemplate ways to reduce global energy demand.

"The holocaust of extinction we are causing is due primarily to the taking of so much habitat by humans. We should be returning very large areas to natural state, not contemplating the taking of more."

John Thackara briefly highlights the potential cost of implementing existing renewable energy solutions.

Energy: A Sense of Loss

This video discusses the solution to traffic congestions on a global scale: smaller vehicles.

The number of vehicles globally will double between 1990 and 2025 while the length of commonly used road in cities remains largely the same. Traffic congestions increases the unpredictability of traffic conditions and travel time, increasing the amount of non-productive time. Taking a cue from the maneuverability from motorcycles but with safety in mind, smaller and safer vehicles may address the problem of limited infrastructure falling behind growth of vehicles.

However, even though smaller vehicles can bring a partial relief to congested roads, some questions remain to be answered before deciding if it can be a long term solution. For example the energy efficiency of the vehicles compared to other modes of transport (i.e. public transports) should be considered. If the vehicles are inherently the less energy efficient mode of transport, can developing intracity infrastructures to support such form of transportation still be a sustainable long term solution?

Times are shifting with economic dramas and a raft of natural disasters.  Governments and businesses are trying to keep up, and one of the trouble areas is the education system.  Worldwide, there will be a battle for talent in the years ahead to help meet urgent economic needs and global challenges like climate change.  This website showcases many new initiatives that train young people, using technology as an enabler, with many amazing real-world outcomes.  It also discusses mega-trends like social networking, virtual offices, and training, and how businesses can innovate to meet impending shifts.  Buckle up, it's a cool read.

An alternative to oil palm, sugar palm has huge potential in terms of a valuable commodity that can be grown without the need for large scale plantations, providing a livelihood for people across Southeast Asia without distruction of native forests.  Willie Smits explains more at Qi:

The Amazing Power of Sugar Palms by Dr. Willie Smits from Qi GLOBAL on Vimeo.

Watch the full episode. See more Journey to Planet Earth.

This award-winning documentary explores one of our most important resources: water.  It traces how supplies in many places are dwindling, and in many cases, the driving factor behind the scarcity is greed.  Explore the politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel in this stellar film.  (thanks to The Natural Eye for your entry)

From the Center for the Advancement of Steady State Economies, check out some thought provoking reads on how to move away from endless growth economies while enhancing people's lives.  Very thought provoking material!

A brief intro on China vs. US emissions here, but note that the tool found here can be used to compare any nations on the list at the right hand side.  Great way to visualize how development has increased emissions over the decades.

Fantastic article on varying models of microcredit: how some alleviate poverty and how others exploit poor people.  A must read for those wanting to understand the topic.

In this week's Resource Roundup, big news and global developments:

• Food Security: With droughts and heatwaves affecting areas like wheat producing Russia, as well as floods engulfing large amounts of agricultural land in Australia, issues of food security are high on the radar for 2011.  Food prices to increase dramatically, and in some areas they already are.  With a surging world population, there's less arable land to work with, impacts of severe weather are taking a huge toll, and nations competing for commodities will drive up prices and create scarcities.  The year ahead is tipped for some big challenges.  Read the full article here for a bird's-eye view.  According to Lester Brown:

"As the new year begins, the price of wheat is setting an all-time high in the United
Kingdom. Food riots are spreading across Algeria. Russia is importing grain to
sustain its cattle herds until spring grazing begins. India is wrestling with an
18-percent annual food inflation rate, sparking protests. China is looking abroad
for potentially massive quantities of wheat and corn. The Mexican government is
buying corn futures to avoid unmanageable tortilla price rises. And on January 5,
the U.N. Food and Agricultural organization announced that its food price index for
December hit an all-time high." 

• Climate Change: With weather disasters playing such a big part in interrupting food production, you'd think that legislators in various parts of the world might be taking climate change a bit more seriously. 
  
  Well, it appears they're still not-- and in part, its because of some flawed economics being cited to predict the impacts climate change will have on the economy, when weighed against the perceived cost of taking action.  The outcome?  Little serious action, when some bold steps are needed-- at least in some places.  What are the true costs of climate change to our way of life?
  
  [Side note: Seattle seems to be doing some interesting things in anticipating how climate change may affect the city in the years ahead.  Worth keeping tabs on how this develops.]
   
• Sustainable Farming: "An amazing thing is happening within the EU...A few years ago everyone said these farms were irrelevant and policy favoured competitive farms. Now small-scale farms are seen as valuable for food and landscape, with massive benefits for flood and fire control, biodiversity and mitigation against climate change. They are increasingly appreciated as vital for Europe's future."... says Nat Page of ADEPT, an organisation devoted to sustainable farming practices.  They're doing some amazing work and learning from one of the most unlikely of places-- Transylvania-- where farming practices largely haven't changed in centuries, provide people a sustainable living, and protect local biodiversity at the same time.  How does this work?  Find out. 
• Mobility: According to a study by Lee Schipper and Adam Millard-Ball, automotive transport may be reaching its limits due to a number of factors, and it seems people might in fact be travelling less in some developed nations.  Among the interesting snippets, Schipper says:

"My basic thesis is, 'There ain't room on the road,'" he said. "You can't move in Jakarta or Bangkok or any large city in Latin America or in any city in the wealthy part of China. I think Manila takes the prize. Yes, fuel economy is really important, and yes, hybrid cars will help. But even a car that generates no CO2 still generates a traffic problem.

"Sadly, what is going to restrain car use the most is that you can't move."

In other mobility news: to encourage people to drive less (and hence burn less fossil fuel, create less carbon), California has approved  "Pay as You Drive" car insurance, and Massachussetts is considering introduction as part of it's Clean Energy and Climate Plan, along with numerous other programmes. 

• Biodiversity:  Recent mass animal deaths are highly unsettling.  From crabs in the UK to birds in the US to fish in Brazil, what's the cause?  An interesting article explores potential common threads and possibilities.  [Side note: someone recently chimed in quite aptly on the matter: "Seems to me the event is th canary in the coalmine for humanity."]
  
  In other (slightly more optimistic) news in biodiversity is that whaling is pretty close to not breaking even.  But if it is a loser from a business point of view, will the practice still continue with nations like Japan and others willing to throw government subsidies at continuing such an industry?
• Alternative Energy:  India claims Asia's first tidal power plant-- a 50MW facility to be constructed in the Gulf of Kutch by Atlantis Resources and Gujarat Power. Pretty brilliant stuff. 

Not sure I entirely agree with the following article/study, but it poses interesting food for thought.  The "Happy Planet Index" reveals the ecological efficiency that delivers human happiness [research report found here].  A nice and tidy breakdown of the research can be found here.  The basic premise: the amorpheous concept of "happiness" has been mapped worldwide.  Based on the research/mapping technique, colour codes are assigned to countries that rate their happiness-- appears as green.  High correlation here between material "stuff" prosperity and being "happy" -- note many Western countries fitting this profile.  

Right, so then the research goes on to explore life expectancy which correlates somewhat similarly to GDP.  Similar picture emerges.

Then we move on to ecological destruction-- the process by which the local environment is destroyed to create material prosperity, and calculate each nation's footprint accordingly.  Red is bad.

 Western countries coming in with big big footprints.  No surprise here.  Then demographers smush all these three data sets (happiness + life expectancy/GDP + environmental footprint) to reveal how each country is really doing.  In this case, green is good, red is bad:

The whole picture looks pretty bleak once you combine these factors.  Can't say that outcome is particularly surprising. 

What's worth further questioning is their underlying definition of happiness having such a strong correlation with materialism.  People can be happy without stuff, and many would comment that travels in developing countries reveals people who are, perhaps sometimes surprisingly, very happy-- even if they have a minimum of material wealth.  What they do have is community, family, cultural identity, traditions, etc.-- intangible things that we often forget can make us quite happy.

So, first off the bat, why define happiness for this study's sake in such close terms with material wealth?

Second, why is it that Western countries that have astounding rates of depression, anxiety, use of medications/substances to tackle those problems, suicides, etc. are seen as "more happy"?

Whether you're talking UK, US, Japan, or NZ-- each of these developed nations (and plenty of others) is gripped with many ills that are characteristic of a severely unhappy population.

While this study is interesting in what it proposes, a redefinition of happiness from step one might be in order to get a more accurate sense of what it actually means to be happy from a non-materialistic approach.  It would also be interesting to weigh those socially negative pressures in Western countries in a more realistic and accurate way. 

Still, ambitious project, interesting findings, and we'd like to see this tweaked and updated in the future.

Climate Change: a quick recap on Cancun Climate Talks:

Check out the debrief on SustainableBusiness.com.  A few minor points were agreed on, including a target of stopping climate change at (an admittedly severe and totally inadequate) 2 degrees Celsius (bad news as runaway climate change could easily cut much higher and action on greenhouse gas emissions is slow to come).  Also, a Green Climate Fund of US$100bn is to be established to help poor nations save forests and develop cleantech.  Where's the bling coming from?  Good question... to be decided.  At least they got that far.  No replacement for/extension to Kyoto seems to be in the cards as big polluting countries are still in deadlock.

Forest Stewardship: At least not all the news out of Mexico was bad-- local forest management programmes handled at a community level are turning some very positive results on economic, environmental, and social fronts.  Model worth repeating elsewhere perhaps? 

Peak Fertiliser: As with other commodities in deminishing supply, fertiliser is likely going up which will have knock-on effects for conventional food production.  Natural gas is getting in tighter supply, and it is a major ingredient in making ammonia in fertilisers.  Phosophorous is also getting harder to come by.  Perhaps it's time for some organic alternatives...

BioChar: ... which segues nicely to BioChar (check out this article on the pros and cons of the stuff) as a potential alternative for enriching soil quality and locking up carbon at the same time.  Does take energy to produce, as well as organic matter which could come from numerous sources-- not all of them necessarily good.  Worth exploring though.

-In other more light-hearted news-

• Interesting read on social entrepreneurship, and balancing business and marriage from the cohorts behind Stonyfield Farm organic yogurt/milk products.  Very insightful. 
• New app aims to help smoother driving, fuel savings by... get this... making sure you don't spill water.  Strange idea, or pure genius?

Put out by the WWF, a new document format renders electronic information unprintable to save trees.  Brilliant idea.  Currently only for Mac, but Windows version coming soon. 

Great documentary on a variety of community focused solutions to stabilising the economy, connecting people, living/working greener (finally some GOOD news out of the US!):

Watch the full episode. See more NOW on PBS.

Trying to make change in your company, organisation, or community? You may or may not have come across these books before:

We've given them both a flick and think that they are really amazing resources worth checking out.  Best of  other free resources to help you get going even if you can't get the books straight away.  Loads of stuff to download from tips and pointers on motivating people, to how to craft messages that influence, and how to get permanent change.  Plenty of case studies detailing how people carried out amazing transformations with little or no resources/budget-- just a carefully crafted strategy and communications approach. 

Politics: Yup, the US elections this week were a major setback to the country.  From high speed trains to climate legislation to cleantech: major fallout for all things progressive.  It'll be a cold day in Siberia before the country takes any serious action-- and at a time so critical in human history, what a point to be so stupid and backward looking...

Energy: ... and speaking of Siberia, the US and others are getting beaten to the punch as Russia races to claim energy rich areas freed from ice by climate change. 

Transport: Ever wanted to know the nuts and bolts of electric vehicles?  Simple FAQ guide here in plain English.  

Agriculture: How many people can our planet feed?  The answer: it depends on diet and land use.  Check out this really well researched article that lays the facts out plain as day.

Design: And of course we couldn't pass up the chance to fulfill our modular eco-home fetish.  This new design is a house-boat studio apartment powered by renewables.  Tres sexy!

Design: This week, we've come across some really good perspectives on design over on Fast Company.  Check out the piece featuring Walter Hood on urban invigoration, and Gadi Amit on "What's wrong with green design".  Our favourite quote from Amit's interview: "My theory... is that beauty is a very positive, visceral force that we should harness for sustainability."  He goes on to outline that designing beautiful objects that people want to hang on to would actually decrease disposability.  Good connection made.  Also, check out the series about socially and environmentally conscious designers from around the world.  Very inspiring!

Biodiversity: Many times the value of biodiversity is overlooked by business, or worse, viewed as something with no value.  Did you know, for example, that the death of a certain species of buzzard in India would up costing the country a whopping $24 billion?  Or that the humble yew tree would provide solutions to numerous types of cancer?  Find out what a species is worth and get a better perspective on just how vital biodiversity is to all of us on Earth-- businesses and individuals alike. 

Community Building: Leave it to those kiwis... our friends in New Zealand have produced a database of great solutions to build value in communities.  From shared computer centers to time banks, there are some very unique solutions to be found here.  Best of all, you can add your own community initiatives to their ever expanding list. 

Environmental Accounting: We've often railed on GDP for being an ineffective way of measuring a nation's genuine prosperity.  Well, as it turns out India is set to get a "green" accounting system in the coming years to take into consideration environmental impacts and services.  Keep an eye on this one folks.  Like Bhutan's "Gross National Happiness", this is yet another promising step towards including a wider range of criteria in national decision making.

White House Goes Solar... Again: We have to hand it to Bill McKibben.  The solar panels are going back up on the White House again, for the first time since Jimmy Carter.  Gee, that only took...30 years?  Who says American politics isn't progressive...

GMO Crops: We're thrilled to see that Africans, fed up with being told what's good for them, are now pushing back the arrogant likes of Monsanto and Bill Gates to determine what is appropriate for their own farming and food needs.  Fact of the matter: GMO crops do not serve people well, especially in developing countries, they endanger food security and local ecosystems, and are a downright bad idea.  Well done people!  (In case you think we're joking about how insideous this industry is, check out this other article about how GMO big 5 companies are buying up other seed suppliers in an effort to make GMO seeds the only ones available!)

Oil Crunch: The New Zealand Government (or at least some well-researched members) are sounding the alarm on impending oil/energy issues.  Positive to see them putting a research paper forward, but now what will happen in terms of policy?

Modular, eco-hotels: We couldn't resist this.  A new chain of energy efficient, modular, design-savvy, automated eco-hotels is planned in Spain. 

(( thanks to Ray Skinner and others for links and leads! ))

Check out our coverage of the event on Eco-business.com, courtesy of CDL:

Jack Sim: Economic and social objectives now converging, especially amongst youths

Summit showcases businesses with a heart

Meeting the challenge of climate change

CSR in Asia gaining traction

Economy got you down?  Apparently there's a growing movement of "eco-psychology" gaining momentum.  It's long been known that getting outdoors can be good for you, but  one particularly promising project in the UK is demonstrating marked improvements for patients suffering from depression as they interact with outdoor conservation activities.  The results are highly encouraging.  Read the article, then go outside.

Also on the subject of psychology, Prof. David Uzzell of University of Surrey gives some pointers on how to approach (or not approach) the subject of climate change with people.  He recommends:

"...psychologists now need to work with other disciplines, such as engineering, sociology etc. We need to have a much better understanding of the conditions which lead to unsustainable behaviour. It's no good the government saying to us that for journeys less than a mile you should walk or use public transport because when you are trying to juggle demands, such as your job and children within limited time, you are probably going to take your car. We need to change the conditions rather than attack individual behaviours."

Indeed.  The rest is equally insightful.

Now of course, climate change is but one global issue that really needs to be dealt with.  Energy is another, and Sarah van Gelder shares with us some tactics for building piece of mind and resiliency in an every changing world.  Good recommendations for building personal capacity, community, and the ability to deal with challenging circumstances. 

On a totally unrelated note, if you are having a slump of a day and want a reason to celebrate, last year solar cell production jumped to an all time record.  Accordinging to J. Matthew Roney of Earth Policy Institute:

"Solar photovoltaic (PV) cell manufacturers produced a record 10,700 megawatts of PV cells globally in 2009—an impressive 51-percent increase from the year before. While growth in 2009 slowed from the remarkable 89-percent expansion in 2008, it continued the rapid rise of an industry that first reached 1,000 megawatts of production in 2004. By the end of 2009, nearly 23,000 megawatts of PV had been installed worldwide, enough to power 4.6 million U.S. homes. Solar PV, the world’s fastest-growing power technology, now generates electricity in more than 100 countries."

Some very interesting things have come across this week:

• William McDunough (of Cradle to Cradle fame) shares his thoughts on the top 10 things he's learned from leaders in sustainability. Our favourite quotes: 
  "I have learned that design is the first signal of humanintention and that our urgent design brief is to design for ninebillion people on a thriving planet." 
  
  "Many enterprises we work with have hit the wall and nowrealise that being less bad is not being more good."
  "I have discovered, to my delight, that executives are hungryfor a clear vision of the future other than the reduce-our-badnessvision."
  Pretty positive stuff and the article is worth a read. 
• Visionary and academic Lester Brown gives his two-cents on the limits and potential of plant based energy (e.g. biofuels)... and a very informed two-cents indeed!
•  McKinsey & Co. thinks that institutional investors that manage trillions of dollars worldwide should step up their stewardship efforts when investing, and take a more active and long-term stance (hear hear!) to help avoid future financial meltdowns.
• Have to fly and feel guilty?  Websites now available can help you plan the least carbon-intensive route for travel. 
• And finally, the best for last: Worldometers has a blistering array of statistics that are tracked *live* on the site-- from mortality rates to newspapers circulated to water used-- it is a must see.

Check out our complete coverage of the event appearing on Eco-business.com, courtesy of CDL:

Interview with Jane Henley, CEO, World Green Building Council

Interview with Maria Atkinson, Global Head of Sustainability, Lend Lease and Chair UNEP-SCBI

Treehouse: A Plantinum Green Mark Case Study

Green Buildings as a Way to Stimulate Growth, Create Jobs in South Africa

Zero Energy Buildings to Boost Efficiency, Curb Emissions

BEX Asia Draws Crowds with Innovative Green Building Products

World Events can Jumpstart Sustainable Building Solutions

This week's resource roundup brings you some really good bits from around the internet:

First, Treehugger covers a quick and easy list of rebuttals for climate change deniers.  Yes, we know those people are annoying, but at least now shutting down the lame arguments is available in short form (links to science also provided in case you need heavy ammo).

Next up, check out some excellent coverage on the BP oil spill and its potential long term effects.  Think that the oil is really disappearing as quick as "experts" say it is?  Think again!   Some good on-the-ground reporting from Mother Jones as we'd come to expect.  One of our favourite mags.

Now, for those of you who may have seen the "Story of Bottled Water"...

... we'd now like to revert your attention to the bottled water industry's own not-so-clever videos which can be found

over here (along with a really good analysis of why they are so bunk). Good for a laugh, or to satisfy the cynic in you.

Finally, there are some people out there allegeding that environmental groups are banding together with certain industries to promote economic protectionism-- the knock on effect is people getting screwed in developing nations.  We report, you decide.

Ever since Singapore launched its Green Mark programme for green buildings five years ago, the city-state has experienced a concerted shift towards the development of green buildings.

The growing momentum for green buildings certified with the Green Mark has grown beyond Singapore’s shores into Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and China, noted Dr Gao Chun Ping, Senior Executive Development Officer, Green Mark Department, Building and Construction Authority.

Speaking at the National Sustainability Conference organised by the National University of Singapore and the University of Sydney, Dr Gao noted that the explosion of green buildings will also lead to 18,000 green collar jobs for building professionals in the Republic.

Dr Gao on Thursday spoke on Singapore’s green building movement as a case study of how a combination of legislation and government incentive helped to spur the industry.

As some 30 to 40 percent of global energy use and associated emissions comes from buildings, it was an imperative to drive a shift towards leaner, more efficient buildings, he said.

Recent legislation had required all new developments and refurbishments on buildings in Singapore to meet the minimum Green Mark standards since April 2008.

The Green Mark Certification for Non-Residential Buildings currently covers new and some existing buildings in Singapore. The assessment criteria include energy efficiency, water efficiency, environmental protection, indoor environmental quality, and other green features such as renewable energy. There are currently three levels in the programme: Certified, Gold, Gold Plus, and Platinum.

Uptake of the certification has been steady due to government mandate for green buildings. The Inter-Ministerial Council for Sustainable Development (IMCSD) has a target that 80 percent of local buildings should be green by 2030.

To increase certifications in the years ahead, the Government had launched a $20 million Green Mark Incentive Scheme for New Buildings. This scheme offers financial incentives per square meter to encourage high certification levels for development projects, explained Dr Gao.

Another carrot available to developers is the Green Mark Bonus GFA Incentive Scheme. This offers up to 2 percent additional gross floor area (GFA) for Platinum rated projects, and additional 1 percent GFA for Gold rated projects.

The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) also has an awards programme to recognise leaders in the industry. Called the Green Mark Champion Award for Developers, this accolade honours excellence in the area. It has previously been won by City Developments Limited (CDL), widely recognised as a local pioneer in green buildings.

Mr Lee Chuan Seng, President, Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC) also spoke at the conference on upcoming developments in the Green Mark Certification tool.

The ratings system will be upgraded to a higher standard, lifting the bar for green buildings in Singapore.

According to the BCA 2nd Green Building Masterplan, there is also an upcoming shift in focus from new buildings to include existing buildings. To that end, the Green Mark tool will be updated to Version 4. This new version will come into effect at end of 2010 with both residential and non-residential building criteria.

“Singapore has 210 million square meters of existing building stock, and approximately 2-4 percent new buildings developed every year,” Mr Lee said. “The main users of energy are commercial buildings.” As a result of this, the Singapore carbon intensity per dollar of gross domestic product (GDP) is a notable 0.35 tonnes. While this number has leveled out in recent years, Singapore’s greenhouse gas emissions are still an upward march.

Thankfully, changes made to the building industry locally in Singapore are sped along by an effective public-private-partnership, Mr Lee said, and this applies to the green building space. This close partnership ensures that regulatory changes can be implemented rapidly, and is advantageous compared to many other countries like Australia which are more fragmented.

Addressing the perceived additional cost of developing a green building, Mr Lee noted the latest statistics. Green Mark Platinum buildings may sustain an extra project cost of 1-2 percent, but have payback in approximately 2-4 years, demonstrating even faster payback than noted in recent years.

Several Green Mark Platinum rated buildings already are demonstrating large resource and operational cost savings. Some include Ocean Center, Goodwood Residences, and City Square Mall.

In one innovative example, Lend Lease created a Green Lease programme limiting the amount of energy used by mall tenants and measures to increase energy efficiency.

“We invest resources to develop a calculator to help determine the energy use and carbon footprint of every fixture, and the cost it poses to the tenant,” said Mann Young, Head of Sustainability, Lend Lease Asia. “We then work with collaboratively with tenants to optimise their store fit-outs and cut their energy use.”

Electronic waste (or E-Waste) is a big problem worldwide.  All those used computers, monitors, mobiles have to go somewhere.  Often enough, it is to a developing country where the dangerous components are broken down with the release of all sorts of toxic nasties.  Thankfully, the process can be handled correctly.  Here's a look inside how to properly recycle E-Waste:

Involving Stakeholders for Better Project Outcomes-- We talk to CEO Stuart Smith of Wood Holmes PTE about stakeholder communications during a major public works project.  Learn how to get the community involved and involve them to shape projects.

Explosive Population Growth: How Will Cities Cope? -- Live at World Cities Summit in Singapore, we get the word on the future of human civilisation from a wide variety of international leaders.

Green ICT: Plugging the Emissions Gap -- While technology is a major cause of greenhouse gas emissions, it can also be a saviour in the battle to fight climate change.  Learn about the latest techno-trends from industry experts. 

Renewable Energy:  If you're among the people who believes there's no potential for windpower in Singapore, think again.  On Eco-business.com, we explore Cygnus and their unique vertical wind turbines, as well as get their CEO's thoughts on local attitudes towards wind energy.

New Economic Models:  Coming out of the financially shellshocked EU, we found this take on economic growth really interesting.  There has been growing dialogue in recent months on "degrowth".  The synopsis: economy has taken the driver's seat for far too long, with growth being the only mantra.  At the same time, this emphasis has meant outstripping ecosystem resources, the destruction of communities, and transfer of wealth to an elite group of people.  Interesting though that there is a growing tide of people questioning this alignment, and the logic of unchecked economic growth.  Watch this trend in the months ahead. 

Why Doubling Agricultural Production is Unnecessary:  And on similar lines to above, have you heard headlines from major world organisations as well as industry groups pushing agriculture production increases?  The idea is that we need to double our agricultural output by 2050 (where, on the other hand, is open for discussion...).  The Soil Association is tackling these arguments head on.  They've dug into the figures and found that, among other things, part of this called for "rise" is to cover meat production in certain developed countries.  It turns out that part of the reason for these inflated statistics is entrenched business interests and farming groups pushing for a bigger piece of cake.  The report only gets more interesting from there and we'd recommend a read. 

Pssst... by the way...

Our colleague Paul Dunn, Chairman of Buy 1 Give 1 is giving several public talks in New Zealand at the end of June.  He's a brilliant guy and we'd recommend you check it out if you're down under.  

Christchurch, evening of 29 June: http://bit.ly/fwdchch

Wellington, evening of 30 June: http://bit.ly/fwdwell

Auckland, evening of 1 July: http://bit.ly/fwdakl

Since you're reading Forward Thinking and are quite enlightened, you can attend the talks... for free.  Do enjoy!

And finally, a parting word of wisdom on simplicity:

"Eliminating unnecessary possessions also means you'll need a smaller home, which will save on rent and heating/cooling. Buying fewer things means less debt. Spendingtime with loved ones or doing things you love means you spend less. All of these things are good whether you're wealthy or not."  - Leo Baubuta

Climate Change: First, check out this hard hitting interview with author Clive Hamilton in the Ecologist on why he thinks "Solving climate change is out of the question." From tackling geoengineering to "green" consumerism, he holds back no punches and demands a critical examination of what systems we invest in during the decades ahead.  The critical point that emerges: think not of people as consumers, but as citizens.  "Individuals as citizens - that is political actors - can be very effective because it is only through far-reaching mandated policy change that we will get anything like the response we need."  Well put!

Sustainable economies: Over on YES! Magazine, there is a fascinating recap of a native American society in Alaska that has thrived and adapted in the same region for-- get this -- 9000 years.  Rome lasted 500 years by comparison, and while we won't put bets on the U.S., it's not looking particularly bright at the moment.  What are the keys to long term economic stability and human survival?  Find out in the article.  There's a lot we can learn and implement.

Water management: With a changing climate, water issues are pegged to be a major issue in the years ahead.  Also from YES! Magazine, find out three keys to managing water resources around the world and how several communities have scored huge successes. 

If your organisation is trying to get it's head around greenhouse gases (GHG) and how to monitor and reduce them, Betsy Fargo from BSR has a really useful summary appearing on GreenBiz.  She discusses the types of tools available, the leading ones on the market and their features,  and how to select the most appropriate one.  

Two very interesting resources have come across the radar this week:

1) The Blue Economy:  What would the world be like if we took the most promsing 100, nature inspired technologies and ganged them up together into one system?  The answer Gunter Pauli insists is an economic "ecosystem" complete with symbiotic relationships, reinforcing technologies, and recycled nutrients.  To the critics who might think this is just another researcher's impractical wet dream, Pauli involved a project team to review and assemble the ideas-- everyone from corporate strategists to economists to financiers and policy makers.  The ideas go beyond the "less bad" in order to do "more good".  The book is forthcoming and it looks damn promising. 

2) AltUse: The website presents alternative re/uses for everything from egg cartons to banana peels.  Some very worthwhile and economic ideas here, from coffee grounds in the garden to hairspray as a stain remover. 

New video by Annie Leonard of "Story of Stuff" acclaim, this time tackling the story behind bottled water.

This week's resource roundup is very DIY on the gardening front.  Gardening has been experiencing a huge resurgence in popularity, both from an economic point of view as a response to the financial crisis, as well as amongst people looking to reconnect with what they eat.  Two really great resources have come across that are easy to pursue when space and resources are at a premium:

1) Balcony Gardening, courtesy of Callum Saunders-- some good pointers and references here. 

2) How to make a Low-Tech Vertical Farm-- step by step instructions with illustrations from Kris De Decker.

In other random oil related news (as we don't seem to be having enough about oil on here lately), check out the inside story of how a 22 year-old student caught out the IEA for fudging their energy numbers.  Pretty gobsmacking article. 

COMING NEXT WEEK:  Join us for Forward Thinking Thursdays, March 25th from 5:30 at Mezze Bar.  Hosted in the heart of Auckland's CBD on Durham Lane, the event is a great chance to kick back with a glass of wine and connect with a small group of switched on professionals about what you're up to.  It's a small crowd, laid back, and informal-- not your high pressure cattle car networking event.  RSVP's appreciated.  We hope to see you there!

posted @ Thursday, 18 March 2010 1:25 p.m. by Chris Tobias