In Melbourne, we're great at producing one-off sustain ability showcase buildings with leading examples, includ ing the City of Melbourne's Council House 2 (CH2), 60L in Carlton and The Gauge in Bourke Street.
These developments are a great demonstration of what can be done with an inde pendent commitment, but it's the large green acre develop ments which form our new neighbourhoods and suburbs which seem to be stuck in the increasingly unsustainable model of low-density, ineffi cient and car-dependent outly ing developments.
A recent study by Curtin University found the infrastruc ture costs of building on the fringe are close to three times higher than those for infill development. When you con sider this economic cost and that cities are directly or indi rectly responsible for 75 per cent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, it's obvious we can't afford to continue with the status quo.
So when it comes to the global warming debate, it shouldn't just be electricity generators or resource and transport companies in the hot seat.
Land developers and builders need to recognise there are better, more feasible options and working models for us to learn from. Interestingly, they show us that local councils and communities may be the key and that there can even be a revenue upside for developers who start to think differently.
Australian developers and planning policy makers could look a little further abroad for inspiration, particularly towards showcase developments like the German district of Vauban or OneBrighton in the United Kingdom.
Our local councils also have the ability to learn from our international leaders, and while they might still lack the necessary powers to enforce developers to raise the bar, acquiring significant tracts of land in middle Melbourne could be the catalyst to creating a more sustainable city.
A great working model is Vauban in Germany, a brand new suburb for 5,000 people where street parking, driveways and garages are all but forbid den - and mostly unnecessary as most residents choose not to have cars because of the better alternatives available.
When the French military finally packed up its German quarters in the early 1990s, Vauban could have become another stock standard subur ban development. It took the local people to stand up and demand the best outcome for the community - a big part of which was living sustainably - rather than merely the best outcome for the developer. Having the land owned by the local municipality provided an important point of leverage.
Another development, OneBrighton, was developed with an aim to create real busi ness solutions to sustainability issues and the joint venture involved a mainstream devel oper that from the outset was committed to sustainability principles.
The partnership company, BioRegional Quintain, recog nised not only that green living principles are important to many homebuyers, but that there are opportunities to offset upfront costs by staying involved in such a develop ment through the part-owner ship of local energy generation, ongoing estate management and other services.
As a result, OneBrighton res idents use only renewable energy (a significant proportion of which is generated on-site), grow their own food and travel by bike or share car - all of which is contributing to a long- term revenue stream for the developers, not to mention 50 per cent better apartment sales than its competitors.
There are nascent signs of such innovation here. For example, Moreland City Council and developer Equiset are working together on the Coburg Initiative in the inner northern suburbs and have invited the Moreland Energy Foundation to provide advice and research support on sus tainability issues.
Some other developers are also beginning to grapple with the issues, but Melbourne, indeed Australia, is still lacking a showcase development on the ground.
Places like Vauban and OneBrighton are not 'pie in the sky' examples that have no application elsewhere. They are real demonstrations of sustain able living and working models of how developers can create sustainable places to live and, in doing so, keep their investors happy with short- and long-term profits.
The way forward requires industry collaboration and events such as DesignBUILD provide a platform where industry leaders can come together and share case stud ies, thoughts and technology.
Peter Steele is the co-ordinator - urban development at the Moreland Energy Foundation Limited. Steele will speak at DesignBUILD 2010 June 23, giving an overview of his find ings from a tour of sustainable developments in Europe, includ ing Vauban and OneBrighton.
