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Economic Sustainability
A review of economic theory related to sustainability, sometimes referred to as ‘green economics’, indicates that there are numerous problems with the current economic system which make it incompatible with the development, and implementation, of more sustainable practices. This section reviews relevant literature in order to develop an understanding of green economics. The review has two sections. The first part reviews the arguments against the current economic systems. The second part attempts to extract a list of characteristics of the green economics in order to understand the implications of this for buildings and construction.
The role of economics can be described as the creation, distribution and consumption of wealth.93 Conventional economic science asserts that this role is carried out in a neutral value-free way. Green economists suggest that this is not only untrue, but also wrong – if we are to develop more sustainable practices, economics must guide and expose underlying values and assumptions:
The role of economists is as much to expose the values and assumptions underlying economic choices, as it is to give guidance about the choices themselves94 Green economists argue that economics is a means and not an end and it should be developed to provide for needs of man. They point out that the current economic system only addresses a limited number of people’s needs and has a wide range of problems associated with it. They argue that it is highly inefficient, produces large amounts of waste and causes avoidable social and environmental problems. Numerous examples of waste are provided.
These include speculation:
Making money independently of productive activity or real wealth creation has become a debilitating virus in the economic system. And the high levels of solid waste and pollution in America:
The solid waste produced by each American is nearly one million pounds of material per person per year.96
They argue that the system is not only wasteful of resources it is also wasteful of people.
Figures quoted from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) suggest that there are nearly a billion people (about 40% of the world’s population) who are unemployed or underemployed.
Many manufacturing systems are also highly inefficient. In the agro-forestry business, often only about 5% of a crop is actually used, with 95% being discarded.97 In conventional cars, only about 5% of the energy produced by the engine actually is delivered to the wheels and used to propel the car.98
Green economists argue that it is increasingly important to move towards a system of economics that improves resource efficiency and values the environment and people. The key priorities for economics should be to ensure that the needs of every person are addressed. The elimination of poverty, it is argued, not only makes sense from a moral point of view, but also from an economic point of view:
Poverty destroys motivation and potential and fosters anger and alienation. Poverty tends to perpetuate itself. The elimination of poverty can be justified on the grounds of both economic efficiency and social justice.
Social Sustainability
It is difficult, initially, to see the relationship between social systems and sustainability. However this relationship is vital. As already described, economics for sustainability has a strong emphasis on people. We need to understand which forms of society are more supportive of sustainability and understand what mechanism are required in these to encourage the development and implementation of more sustainable practices. This is important because, without a concerted effort that integrates social and economic systems, more sustainable practices are unlikely to be adopted.
This section reviews literature that describes the role of society in sustainable systems. It has three parts. The first part reviews definitions of human and social capital; concepts widely considered important in establishing how society can support sustainability. This leads to a review of examples, which help describe the role society has to play. Finally, the review extracts a number of characteristics of society that need to be cultivated in order for societies to become more sustainable. Behind economic activity, Elkington argues, there is an invisible structure of beliefs.103 These guide economics and are often responsible for the particular strengths or weaknesses of a system. Green economists argue that instead of this being invisible, this structure should become explicit and must have as objectives, the restoration and assignation of value to people and the environment. People and characteristics of society, they argue, play a key role in wealth creation. To describe these roles they use the terms ‘Human Capital’ and ‘Social Capital’.
1. THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING
1.1. The Problem
1.2. The Sub problems
1.3. The Delimitations
1.4. The Assumptions
1.5. The Need for the Study
1.6. The Organisation of the Study
1.7. The Definition of Terms
2. THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CONTEXT
2.1. Sub Problem One and Hypothesis One
2.2. Addressing Hypothesis One
2.3. Concluding Hypothesis One
3. UNDERSTANDING SUSTAINABILITY
3.1. Sub Problem Two and Hypothesis Two
3.2. Addressing Hypothesis Two
3.3. Concluding Hypothesis Two
4. A REVIEW OF EXISTING SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT SYSTEMS AND INDICATORS
4.1. Sub Problem Three and Hypothesis Three
4.2. Addressing Hypothesis Three
4.3. Concluding Hypotheses Three
5. SPECIFICATION FOR A BUILDING ASSESSMENT SYSTEM
5.1. Sub Problem Four and Hypothesis Four
5.2. Addressing Hypothesis Four
5.3. Concluding Hypothesis Four
6. THE SUSTAINABLE BUILDING ASSESSMENT TOOL
6.1. Sub Problem Five and Hypothesis Five
6.2. Addressing Hypothesis Five
6.3. Concluding Hypothesis Five
7. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
7.1. Conclusions
7.2. Recommendations
7.3. Areas for Future Research
8. WORKS REFERRED TO IN THE THESIS
8.1. Supplemental Reading
