ROPE - A New Set of Sustainability Principles

To ensure most of us are pulling in the same direction, we need a common set of sustainability principles to guide our actions. Dozens of sets of sustainability principles are chronicled in Andres Edwards’s book The Sustainability Revolution. The problem with most of these sets is that they’re too detailed to remember or they’re framed in a negative way. Building on principles from Janine Benyus’s biomimicry approach, William McDonough’s Hannover Principles, Karl Henrik-Robert’s The Natural Step, and Lovins’s and Hawken’s Natural Capitalism, here is a set of positive and concise sustainability principles. Just like the efforts of an organization to become sustainable, which is a journey not a destination, this list of principles is a work in progress.

Collapsing several sustainability concepts into a short acronym is one way to help people remember the principles. I submit for your consideration the ROPE acronym: Resources, Opportunity, Perspective and Environment. This ROPE is a lifeline that will pull us toward a sustainable future.

Resources should focus on using “just enough” local, small-scale, decentralized and renewable inputs whenever possible. Opportunity is the way to view a sustainable future: creating a world that meets our needs even better than what we have now. Perspective involves taking an intergenerational and global view where everyone’s basic needs are met while the privileged consider what truly makes them happy. Perspective also involves valuing the strength that diversity and interdependence bring to a community and an ecosystem. As for Environment, we have a responsibility to restore the environment our lives depend on: for our own sakes, for the benefit of future generations, and for Nature’s well-being.

What Exists Is Possible – Leading Transformational Change for Buildings

The American Institute of Architects recently issued the AIA 2030 Challenge which aims to reduce energy use in new buildings by 50 percent by 2010 and challenges its members to create carbon-neutral buildings by 2030. Ideally, a carbon neutral building will generate as much on-site renewable power as it uses, instead of simply purchasing carbon offsets to compensate for carbon emissions.

To accomplish carbon neutrality with on-site green power generation, buildings must first maximize energy efficiency by insulating the building envelope (walls, roof, and windows); installing efficient equipment; and installing controls to turn off heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems (HVAC), and lights and equipment when not needed.

One of the early adopters of this transformational approach to building design is the electrical engineering firm Integrated Design Associates in San Jose, California. Their green workspace is comfortable and pleasant, and serves as a role model for others. After all, what exists is possible.

Some notable green features of the 7,200 square foot building include:

* A ground source heat pump connected to radiant flooring (water flows through pipes in the ground then up through the concrete slab, tapping into the year-round 57 degree temperature of the Earth) to cool the building occupants in the summer and warm them in the winter

* Abundant indirect daylighting (passive solar) lights and heats the office space

* 30 kilowatts of photovoltaic panels tied to the electricity grid (so they don’t need batteries)

* Equipment controls connected to the burglar alarm so when the last person leaves for the day, the photocopier and plotter are automatically turned off

* Motion sensors connected to the lights and computer for each cubicle

* Electrochromic glass (which darkens to shade the occupants from direct sunlight)

The principal of the firm, David Kaneda, estimated that these additional green features added a five percent premium to the cost of the building. However, these costs are an investment that yields quick returns since operating costs over the life of a building are generally estimated to be three times the architectural design and construction costs.