Ecologically Sustainable Development Guidelines for City Public Works Projects
March 19th, 2009Greens get action on ESD policies
I put forward a notice of motion in February to ensure that the targets and aspirations of the City’s 2030 policy translate into action in the City’s public works and lead to measurable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
Grand statements and headline grabbing targets are great to inspire people but the real changes happen at the street level detail where water is diverted from rooves into storage and onto gardens that nourish our trees and edible plants and solar panels run day to day appliances and feed excess power into the grid for others to use.
A friend of mine, environmental warrior Michael Mobbs, sent me this brief message a couple of weeks ago about the power of these small changes in his immediate neighbourhood:
“About 500 m2 of gardens along footpaths, on both sides of Myrtle street, and in some parts of Shepherd and Rose Streets, are now watered by rainfall from the front rooves of houses. The rooves have a combined area of some 2500 m2 (50 houses x 50m2). Add to that the street gardens - some 1200m2. Thus, the total area of rain harvesting is 3700m2. Each year each square metre of that area will receive over 1200 litres of rainwater. This provides a saving of over 4.4 million litres of water which previously ran off into Sydney Harbour.”
The guidelines, which will shape public works projects undertaken by the City of Sydney Council, will include energy efficiency, rainwater capture and storage, use of sustainable materials, opportunities for growing food, use of native vegetation, sustainable transport and measures to reduce heat sink effects of roads and pathways.
These could be groundbreaking projects which put the City into a leadership role in sustainable public works and provide models for other public authorities, state and federal governments and the private sector.
The Motion (which includes minor amendments by Crs McInerney & Burgmann) was endorsed unanimously as follows:
Moved by Councillor Harris, seconded by Councillor McInerney:
That Council recognise and congratulate the work of the City in incorporating sustainability principles and practices into the City’s programs and projects, and request the CEO to consolidate this work into a set of guidelines to guide and shape public works projects undertaken by the City and which -(A) include:
(i) energy efficiency;
(ii) local energy generation via cogeneration, trigeneration, solar panels or other existing or emerging technology as appropriate;
(iii) rainwater capture and storage supplemented by grey water and black water recycling;
(iv) use of sustainable materials;
(v) opportunities for growing food;
(vi) the use of reflective materials on roadways and pathways to reduce heat sink effects;
(vii) inclusion of facilities to support and enhance sustainable transport;
(viii) use of native vegetation and trees;
(ix) opportunities for plantings and policies to attract native fauna, insects and birds; and
(x) other measures that reduce GHG emissions and improve sustainability as identified by staff.
(B) will further enable the City of Sydney to demonstrate leadership in designing and constructing cutting edge sustainable projects; and
(C) will serve as a model for other public authorities, state and federal government
departments and the private sector to apply in the design and construction of public works and buildings.
