The Sustainability Handbook: Volume 6

Abstract

Climate change mitigation and adaptation is at the forefront of the reasons why cities need to refocus environmental sustainability to cater for the foreseeable impacts. With the need to move towards sustainable cities, the world is shifting towards the space of digitisation. The aim of this transition in the built environment is to collect sufficient data to measure, track and improve performance of the built environment, be it existing or new developments. Without the measurement and tracking of building performance, there is no basis for improvement in terms of the sustainability of the built environment. Performance can be measured in terms of efficiency in energy usage, water consumption, materials and their embodied energy, waste minimization, transportation and it's marked carbon footprint, etc. The World Bank Group defines sustainable cities as cities that are resilient, with a level of adaptability, mitigation, and promotion of social, economic, and environmental change. These aspects define the health of a city and should be measured and monitored. The agenda of sustainable development has been around since the seventies. South Africa adopted the National Framework for Sustainable Development in 2008, followed by the National Strategy for Sustainable Development (NSSD) in 2011. Many cities are working towards addressing the issues of climate change in accordance with 2030 and 2050 net-zero carbon commitments. Five South African cities have joined the global community of C40 Cities to work towards these targets. Amongst other initiatives, this is being achieved through the promotion of green buildings standards and adoption of best practices in the built environment.