Sustainable Futures in the Built Environment to 2050

13Built Environment Professionals as Sustainability Advocates

Gerard Healey

13.1 A view from ‘the middle’

The urgency of improving the environmental performance of the world's building stock is increasing (WMO, 2016). Analysis of carbon mitigation strategies tends to focus on top‐down or bottom‐up approaches (IPCC, 2014). Examples of top‐down include government regulation regarding energy efficiency or putting a price on carbon. In contrast, bottom‐up approaches are driven by end‐users or the market more broadly, such as office tenants only occupying buildings that meet particular sustainability criteria.

Janda and Parag (2013) expand on this binary view by arguing that building designers (or ‘the middle’) are also a legitimate actor for improving the energy performance of buildings. Examples of influence from the middle from the author’s professional experience include contributing technical expertise to government regulation and policy, developing design standards for building owners, and designing buildings and systems that are more energy efficient than required by building code (without being requested to by the owner).

The fact that the middle can act as a driver of change is no surprise for design professions, with the opportunity and responsibility of the middle to influence the sustainability of the built environment being enshrined in professional codes of practice (Engineers Australia, 2010; Australian Institute of Architects, 2006; American Institute of Architects, ...