Why a Holistic View of Sustainability is Key

摘要

By 2050, more than 70％ of the world's population will live in urban settings. As engineers, city planners, architects and politicians rethink how we plan, build and live for a sustainable future, it's critical that we get this sustainable transformation of our cities right. Climate change is an issue that is having a dramatic impact on how we build. The design of our infrastructure is of critical importance since buildings account for over one third of all man-made greenhouse gases (GHGs). Research from institutions such as MIT and UBC shows that when all phases of a building project are considered, the raw materials used in construction, through to the eventual demolition of the building at the end of its useful life - some 90％ of GHG emissions come from a building's operation (heating, cooling, lighting and so on).