Brighton‘s green building scheme praised at climate change conference
Brighton & Hove City Council has received international praise for a first of its kind initiative that encourages food growing in new buildings across the city.
The Council was awarded an Honourable Mention in the World Green Building Council’s Government Leadership Awards for its planning guidance which highlights the opportunities to grow food in buildings, such as on rooftops, balconies and walls.
The Awards, unveiled today at the United Nation’s climate change conference in Warsaw, Poland, recognise local government leadership in sustainable building policies.
The guidance, known as the Food Growing Planning Advice Note (PAN), has been widely available to Brighton’s 3,000 annual planning applications since it launched in 2011, and is the first of its kind in England. Produced in partnership with the Food Matters charity, it is already having an impact with more than one third (38 per cent) of approved new build (residential and commercial) applicants proposing to include food growing.
Jason Kitcat, Brighton & Hove City Council Leader, said: “Since it was adopted, PAN has resulted in a huge increase in the number of development projects coming forward that include food growing.
“Food growing helps reduce the city’s carbon footprint and producing food on our doorstep has the potential to result in a massive reduction in food miles. Growing food locally increases biodiversity, creates a greener urban landscape and really can promote a greater sense of well-being.”
Jane Henley, Chief Executive Officer of the World Green Building Council, added: “These awards not only recognise the commendable efforts of local governments to transform their buildings, their communities and their cities - they also acknowledge our challenge to implement sustainability measures on a city-wide scale in our increasingly urbanised world.”
Winners of the 2013 Awards were:
•Best Green Building Policy: Vancouver, Canada - for its Greenest City 2020 Action Plan, a suite of policies and initiatives that aim to make the city the world’s greenest by 2020.
•Regional Leadership Award: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates - for the Estidama Pearl Rating System, a comprehensive program that has implemented mandatory sustainability regulations in a city that previously had none.
•Urban Regeneration Award: Christchurch, New Zealand - for various policies and initiatives affecting a sustainable rebuild in a city devastated by earthquake damage.
•Climate Action Leadership Award: Seoul, Korea - for its One Less Nuclear Power Plant initiative, a three-year initiative that aims to reduce energy consumption in the city.
•Honourable Mentions: Cape Town, South Africa - for its Municipal Energy Efficiency Buildings Programme; and Shanghai, China - for its Green Building and Eco-City Campaign.
For more information on the Awards visit www.worldgbc.org/leadership-awards.