Being inspired

The observation of nature leading to the socially refined abstractions of science is a human achievement.

However, it is what we do with those insights that matter, and our actions in turn present further environmental possibilities and ideas.

We use nature dynamically, as a source of inspiration, whilst recognising that man transforms the environment. The most imaginative contemporary architectural and engineering practices are ecologically minded, but could they do better? Does it help to think about sustainability when building human environments, or does a deference to nature limit creativity?

Duncan Price Nature does not have the ability to calculate optimal solutions. We project that ability onto nature because that calculation is the thing we do when we look at nature and decide where it works or does not work.

Brian Edwards You have to go through token processes before sustainability becomes mainstream.

Alex Cutler We have been researching to try and prove there is a business case, and there isn't. There is no business case for sustainability at the moment.

Click to go to keynote speech in the next session by Paul Hyett

Is everything worth building naturally precedented?

Austin Williams (chairman) (Following Alex Cutler) Thank you very much. If you have any questions either address them to individual speakers or ask them more generally please?

Peter Sammonds Brian's romanticised view of nature is something I do not recognise. The ice age almost wiped out the rainforest, while an optimum climate may indeed be several degrees warmer, leading to greater bio-diversity and an increased biomass. Nature is something that we can not be ruled by, but is something we have to take control of.

Duncan Price There was a danger in viewing nature as sentient. Brian used the example of nature minimising the use of energy, but nature does not have the ability to calculate optimal solutions. We project that ability onto nature because that calculation is the thing we do when we look at nature and decide where it works or does not work. There is a real danger of holding nature to be something above us, or as being some kind of god. Nature progresses through trial and error. We have got to optimise things for ourselves, without constantly looking back at what nature is doing.

Brian Edwards I do not want to put building services engineers out of a job. I want architects to take sustainability seriously. There could be a flowering for architecture around sustainable design provided architects and students face up to the full cultural challenge.

Students should not say, "…it's a low energy design module", and architects should not say, "…telephone the engineer to get the best low energy strategy". Sustainability has got to generate the architectural form. We have had two hundred years of designing unsustainably. Future Systems and Foster help promote sustainability and produce a lovely glossy image for us. We need recycling of bottles in order to say, "…well maybe it doesn't matter that much but it shows that we care about the principle". You have to go through token processes before sustainability becomes mainstream.

Duncan Price However, the token actions you make should be a real benefit or you get a green backlash from people who have an alternative agenda. I think it is very important to have something attractive to show but also to show some tangible benefit.

Austin Williams Accounting used to been considered a boring profession, and yet architects are all supposed to become ecological accountants. Initially Brian you argued against energy audits, but then you concluded by arguing for ecological accounting. What processes are involved and what we are we aiming to achieve?

Brian Edwards We have got to use indicators because we can not measure the whole system. It is far too complex. If we identify key indicators we can use those to illuminate the big picture. The government is measuring half a dozen key species of songbirds as an indicator of sustainable farming practices. Rather than measure the whole ecosystem of the landscape we can use a few indicators that are easy to assess. We need to select the right indicators for the construction industry to make ecological accounting measurable and useful.

Alex Cutler I'd like to make it clear that we advise businesses and do not environmental NGO's. However we network with NGO's, and have an activist mentality. I am a propagandist supporting sustainable development. We have a unique position where we advise big business and big business is interested in what we have to say. How do we decide whether a company is moving towards sustainable development or not? With an enormous company like Ford it comes down to personnel, and somebody senior being interested in sustainable development realising the way the market is moving.

Ford was interested in what Shell was doing in the oil and gas industry. We had worked with Shell before. Some people address sustainable development initially for PR reasons, while some see competitive advantage, and some see it as risk management. The deeper you get into the relationship the more you come to a common understanding of sustainable development for that particular company. Ford's responsibilities are much wider than just producing cars and providing shareholder value.

Austin Williams Can the panellists answer whether sustainability is a moral or aesthetic ideal, or is there a business case for sustainable development? Can speakers sum up in reverse order please?

Alex Cutler The really interesting one is the business case. We have been researching to try and prove there is a business case, and there isn't. There is no business case for sustainability at the moment. Sustainability is much wider than the business case, and sustainable development is about moving away from the fact that it has to have a financial bottom line. It has to have a financial, a social and an environmental bottom line. So on the question of a moral or aesthetic imperative, if I had to choose between the two, of course moral. Sustainability is not aesthetic.

Duncan Price The ethical issue is paramount, and if you do not address that you head off in completely different directions. People are slow to start looking at the ethics and values within a company but share holders do have their personal values, as shown by the rebellion at the BP share holders meeting, when they insisted that the company stop drilling in Alaska. I think business has started to change, but in architecture and engineering at the moment we are driven by the competition to design low energy, and more importantly sustainable buildings. Everyone finds this is a great challenge.

Brian Edwards I take a slightly different view because I am an academic. I am supposed to stand back and see a big picture. Clearly sustainability is an ethical debate. In architecture it is primarily ethical, with aesthetic ramifications. We need to see buildings generating their energy or recycling their waste. Doing all the things common in nature. In education I deal with futures and can take a long-term view because I do not have to make a profit or attract clients. I have to persuade my students that sustainable development provides a great opportunity for us to build a better world than we have at the moment.

Austin Williams Thank you very much. This debate will continue over lunch, I am sure, and into the third session this afternoon, Standing up for ourselves, chaired by James Heartfield.

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