1. On
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e One Planet Living case studies from
around the world demonstrating that
a sustainable low carbon future is
achievable, attractive and affordable.
3. One Planet solutions
for a sustainable future
A sustainable future is not just an aspiration.
Around the world One Planet Living is becoming
a reality as communities, companies and regions
change the way they work to meet the challenges
of resource depletion and climate change.
BioRegional is working in partnership with forward-
thinking organisations around the world to demonstrate
that sustainability is attractive, affordable and
achievable. Using the One Planet Living framework
these pioneering real life projects are making a
sustainable future a reality today.
This booklet gives an introduction to this approach and
these inspiring projects.
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4. One Planet Living
Globally we’re consuming resources and polluting the planet at a
level forty per cent higher than the earth can renew or absorb.
Ecological footprinting shows that if everyone in the world consumed as many
natural resources as the average person in western Europe, we’d need three
planets to support us. If everyone consumed as much as the average North
American, we would need five planets. In China and South Africa the overall
average is one planet, but this disguises considerable variations between different
regions and lifestyles. Carbon emissions account for around fifty per cent of our
global eco-footprint.
One Planet Living is our vision of a sustainable world, in which people everywhere
can enjoy a high quality of life within the productive capacity of the planet. It uses
ten principles of sustainability as a framework.
The ten One Planet 1 Zero carbon
Living principles
2 Zero waste
3 Sustainable transport
4 Sustainable materials
5 Local and sustainable food
6 Sustainable water
7 Land and wildlife
8 Culture and heritage
9 Equity and local economy
10 Health and happiness
The approach we have found to be effective in delivering truly sustainable
communities, organisations, regions and lifestyles is to:
• measure where our carbon and ecological footprint impacts arise based
on what we are consuming, not just on what we are producing,
• develop a One Planet Action Plan to enable users to reach the globally
sustainable level of consumption, using the ten One Planet Living
principles as a framework.
• work together in partnership to create solutions, monitor outcomes
and share lessons learned with others.
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5. Around the world the One Planet Living approach is
being used by communities, companies and regions,
such as here in Guangzhou, China.
BioRegional’s One Planet initiative is a global partnership of innovative
organisations, delivering cost-effective solutions to the sustainability challenges
that we face.
Our partners not only share their knowledge and expertise, for example through
conferences and online tools, but also work together to develop joint projects,
such as the Pay as You Save project – a collaboration between B&Q, London
Borough of Sutton and BioRegional.
BioRegional promotes the work of our One Planet partners internationally
through the media and at high-profile events such as the United Nations Climate
Change Conferences and the Earth Summit 2012. Our aim is to change policy and
practice by demonstrating these real life sustainability solutions.
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6. One Planet Communities
The places we live and work shape our lifestyles. If your house
needs lots of energy to stay warm, and you need to drive a car to
the nearest shops or school, you will struggle to live within your
fair share of the earth’s resources.
One Brighton, UK
BioRegional Quintain
and Crest Nicholson
Riverside One, UK
Petite Rivière, Canada
One Brighton, UK BioRegional Quintain
Groupe Pacific BioRegional Quintain
and Crest Nicholson
Petite Rivière, Canada
Groupe Pacific
Sonoma Mountain Village, USA
Codding Enterprises
Sonoma Mountain Village, USA
Codding Enterprises
Mata de Sesimbra, Portugal
Mata de Sesimbra, Portugal
Pelicano Pelicano
These developments are fully-endorsed One Planet
Communities. Others are in These developments are fully-endorsed One Planet
the process of becoming
Communities. Others are in the process of becoming
endorsed or have used the One Planet Living framework
in their design and construction.
endorsed or have used the One Planet Living framework
in their design and construction.
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7. By working with partners around the world, BioRegional
is coordinating an international network of sustainable
communities that are using the One Planet Living framework.
Leading developers are rising to the challenges of creating
places where people can dramatically reduce their ecological
footprint while leading happy and healthy lives.
BedZED, UK
Peabody
Masdar City, Abu Dhabi
Mubadala
Jinshan, Guangzhou, China
China Merchants Property Development
Barangaroo, Australia
Lend Lease
Ivory Park and Sibaya, South Africa
Johannesburg EcoCity Trust / Tongaat Hulett Developments
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8. BedZED, UK
BedZED was the UK’s first large-scale mixed use
sustainable community, with 100 homes, office space
for 80 workers and community facilities. Completed
in 2002, BedZED is still the inspiration for low carbon
neighbourhoods across the world.
BedZED was developed as a partnership between BioRegional,
Peabody and BDa ZEDfactory. Residents at BedZED can reduce the
carbon emissions of their whole lifestyle by nearly 50%, including
energy use in the home, transport and embodied carbon in food and
consumer goods. Provided that government and business reduce
carbon emissions from services and products, BedZED and the
other featured case studies demonstrate that the 80-90% carbon
reductions needed in Europe can be achieved cost effectively.
Carbon emissions from energy use in the home are reduced by 72%
compared to similar homes built in 2002, photovoltaics supply 20%
of electricity, and a new biomass energy plant and off site renewable
energy will mean zero carbon emissions from energy use in the
home in the near future.
Research among BedZED residents shows:
• a higher reported quality of life, with a strong sense of
community,
• significantly lower use of energy for heating
(77% lower than local average), and electricity usage (45% lower
than local average),
• reduced water consumption – 58% lower than local average,
• a lower rate of car ownership and annual mileage reduced by half
compared to local average,
• further lifestyle changes driven by a strong community,
including high recycling rates (60%) and sustainable food
choices.
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10. Sonoma Mountain Village, USA
Codding Enterprises is developing North America’s first
endorsed One Planet Community at Sonoma Mountain Village,
combining new urbanism with deep sustainability in this
$1 billion redevelopment of an industrial site.
The 81 hectare site, forty miles north of San Francisco will house 5,000 people
in 1,900 homes. There will be some 50,000 m2 of office, retail and commercial
space, providing 4,400 jobs.
Sonoma Mountain Village aims to emit zero carbon, produce zero waste, and use
zero ground water. Codding Enterprises has already installed the largest privately
owned solar array in Northern California - a $7.5 million, 1.5 megawatt, 8,361 m2
array that will power 1,000 homes. Full construction is underway, and the first
residents will be moving in during 2010.
Sonoma Mountain Village is home to a
1.5 megawatt solar array – the largest
privately owned array in Northern
California. It will help power homes,
businesses, and a zero carbon data center –
the first of its kind in the world.
Among the new businesses at Sonoma
Mountain Village is Codding Steel
Frame Solutions. The on-site factory
will supply 20% of the development’s
building materials and create long-term
employment for local residents. The new
factory creates steel wall, roof and floor
panels. It produces no waste and runs on
100% solar power.
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11. A sustainable community
Codding Enterprises is using the One Planet Living framework to ensure that the
entire 1,900 home community will thrive in 2020, with a sustainable ecological
footprint. No resident will be more than a five minute walk from groceries,
restaurants, day care and other amenities that will in turn offer local, sustainable
and Fairtrade products and services. Construction impacts are reduced with zero
waste supply chains for construction materials and 1,900 jobs being created. A
non-profit business incubator and other investments in long-term management
will carry this benefit forward past 2020.
A natural home for sustainable businesses
Commercial, office and industrial space occupies over 55,000m2 within the
10 hectare business centre at Sonoma Mountain Village. There are currently
600 employees employed in 21 businesses, including AT&T, Comcast,
Codding Construction and Codding Steel Frame Solutions. The non-profit
Sonoma Mountain Business Cluster is 60% full, with over 25 sustainability-
oriented technology start-up companies and social enterprises.
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13. One Brighton, UK
BioRegional Quintain and Crest Nicholson are the developers
behind this award-winning 172 home One Planet Community,
plus cafe, training centre and commercial space.
The ten One Planet Living principles were used as a framework for developing
sustainable solutions for design, construction and lifestyles at One Brighton.
Construction includes the greenest concrete frame in the UK, natural clay blocks
and wood fibre insulation. An on-site biomass boiler and PV panels provide
approximately 50% of energy requirements with the remainder purchased as
guaranteed green electricity through One Brighton Energy Services company.
The first residents moved in during summer 2009, benefiting from green lifestyle
features including roof top allotments, communal sky gardens, a car club and
a green caretaker. By saving costs on expensive underground car parking, it
was possible to build better quality greener buildings, enabling a profitable
development without charging more to the customer. This is a real breakthrough,
as it shows that building sustainable communities does not need to cost more.
One Brighton incorporates the greenest concrete
frame in the UK, using 50% cement replacement
and 100% recycled aggregate.
Green lifestyle features include
roof top allotments, a car club and
a green caretaking service.
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14. Jinshan, China
BioRegional worked with China Merchants
Property Development to develop a One
Planet Action Plan for the 5,000 home
China Merchants Property
Jinshan development in Guangzhou.
Development was recently
The first phase has now been completed and it
awarded one of five UN-
Habitat green business integrates many features from the Action Plan,
awards for the Jinshan resulting in a 65% reduction in energy consumption,
development. solar hot water for 500 homes, and waste
water treatment on site which will reduce water
consumption by 36,000m3 per year.
Masdar City, Abu Dhabi
In September 2008, building began at Masdar City, a zero-
carbon zero-waste and car-free community in Abu Dhabi.
Masdar will house approximately 50,000 people and up to 1,500 businesses
focusing on sustainable products and services.
Masdar City is being developed by Mubadala and masterplanned by Foster &
Partners, and aims to enable One Planet Living through a range of infrastructure
and design features set out in the One Planet Action Plan, developed in a process
led by the One Planet Communities team at BioRegional.
Barangaroo, Australia
Barangaroo is a 22ha site in the heart of
Sydney, the development of which is split
into three stages.
BioRegional is working with Lend Lease, the
developer of stage one, to draw up a One Planet
Action Plan that includes targets such as a zero
carbon site, 75% reduction in energy demand, and
87% diversion from landfill of operational waste.
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15. Mata de Sesimbra, Portugal
This €1 billion integrated sustainable
building, tourism, nature conservation
and reforestation programme by
developer Pelicano, was the world’s first
endorsed One Planet Community.
South of Lisbon, the 5,300 hectare site contains a 4,800
hectare nature reserve and native pine and oak forest
restoration project – the largest private forest restoration
project in Europe. Alongside this is a 500 hectare tourism
development comprising around 5,000 units.
Ivory Park and Sibaya, South Africa
At the World Summit on Sustainable Development In 2002,
BioRegional supported Johannesburg EcoCity Trust to create
a demonstration of eco-houses and a community centre at
Ivory Park Township.
More recently BioRegional has been working with Tongaat Hulett Developments
and eThekwini municipality to apply the ten One Planet Living principles to
the proposed Sibaya development north of Umhlanga in Durban, creating an
overarching ‘one planet’ strategy for the entire 850 hectare site including 6,000
residential units, 6 hotels and commercial space.
Building the community centre at
Ivory Park Township
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16. One Planet Companies
Around the world, as legislation and consumer demand
encourages a more sustainable approach to business, companies
and other organisations are increasingly demonstrating their
green credentials.
BioRegional is supporting businesses, charities and other organisations in taking
a holistic approach to carbon reduction and sustainable business by applying
the One Planet Living framework. Some organisations, like B&Q, have formally
adopted the programme to become endorsed One Planet Companies, while
many others simply use the One Planet Living framework to inform their
business operations.
For example, BioRegional worked with Nokia to carry out ecological and carbon
footprint analysis and develop sustainability strategies for their factories in
Hungary and Copenhagen. The strategies will help Nokia to reduce the impact of
building emissions, waste, transport, materials, water and food as well as engage
staff and influence suppliers.
BioRegional’s free One Planet
Action Plan toolkit is helping
businesses around the world to use
the One Planet Living framework
to work more efficiently and reduce
their environmental impact. The
toolkit can be downloaded at
www.oneplanetvision.org
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18. One Planet Home by B&Q
B&Q, the UK’s largest home improvement
and garden retailer and part of the
Kingfisher Group, is working with
BioRegional to reduce the environmental
impact of its activities, leading to a 90% cut
in direct emissions by 2023. To meet this
stretching target, all stores will need to be
zero carbon and emissions from transport cut by at least 50%.
The company has already made impressive progress: Based on reporting in
2009, B&Q has made an absolute saving of 16% CO2 compared to its emissions
in 2006. This was achieved even with an increase in turnover and without any
offsetting or green energy tariffs. Further achievements include smart water
metering which has reduced water consumption by 13.6 million litres per
annum, and a 58% recycling rate, from a 2006 baseline of 29%.
Using the One Planet Living principles, sustainability is embedded into the
company’s governance structure. Sustainability is one of B&Q’s seven key
business plans and progress is reported to the Board of Directors. Managers
across the company have specific sustainability targets and actions relating to
their day to day responsibilities, from lighting refurbishments through to food
procurement and employee engagement.
B&Q has already reduced
absolute CO2 emissions
from its logistics fleet by
22% against the 2006
baseline. To make further
carbon savings B&Q is now
introducing a number of
double-deck trailers which
carry 50% more stock.
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19. B&Q is also helping its customers to reduce their carbon and ecological footprint
through the One Planet Home product range and an ecological footprint
calculator, developed with BioRegional. The One Planet Home products are
assessed against the ten One Planet Living principles, while the calculator allows
B&Q customers to see where their impacts arise and get a personalised eco-
action plan.
Small businesses, big carbon savings
BioRegional has also developed its own working supply chains and products
which demonstrate low carbon, resource-efficient enterprise in action.
BioRegional Charcoal Company supplies locally-produced charcoal and
wood products to national retailers in the UK using a decentralised,
network production model. This reduces carbon emissions in delivering
the product to the store by 85%.
The Laundry, a kerbside recycling collection service for small businesses
in London, was formed by BioRegional. The Laundry collects paper which
is sent to the local paper mill for recycling. Customers then buy back the
recycled paper. This local loop reduces the ecological footprint of paper use
by 93% and energy use by 78% compared to virgin imported paper.
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20. One Planet Regions
With the power to effect change through planning decisions,
retrofit programmes and influencing behaviour, local authorities
can lead the way towards a sustainable future.
While developers and retailers are well placed to influence their own customers,
suppliers and stakeholders, it requires commitment and action from central and
local government to encourage and enable sustainable lifestyles on a large scale.
BioRegional is supporting government organisations in the UK and internationally
in using the One Planet Living framework to promote sustainability across
regions and municipalities. Some organisations, like the London Borough of
Sutton, have formally adopted One Planet Living targets and are part of the
endorsed One Planet Regions programme, while many others use the One Planet
Living framework to inform their own sustainability strategies.
Middlesbrough Council has adopted the One Planet Living
model to provide a new sustainability framework for
council activities. It has published a draft One Planet Living
Action Plan to present a programme of short, medium,
and long-term actions and provide a focus for consultation
throughout the Middlesbrough community.
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22. One Planet Sutton
One Planet Sutton is a major initiative that
is helping local people, business and council
services within the London Borough of Sutton
to live and work within their fair share of the
earth’s resources.
As a typical London commuter suburb with 80,000 homes and 186,000 residents,
One Planet Sutton will have a major impact, both in its own right and through the
lessons that can be applied to other regions.
With BioRegional’s support, Sutton Council developed a One Planet Action Plan
that sets targets for council operations and a series of interventions that will
enable Sutton residents and businesses to achieve one planet living by 2025. The
targets include for all council buildings to be zero carbon by 2017 and the whole
borough “enabled” to be zero carbon by 2025.
Activities will also be focused on a 2,500 home pilot area, reducing energy
demand through a retrofit programme and supplying renewable energy to make
the area zero carbon. The project will tackle the key issue of behaviour change to
demonstrate by 2012 how a whole neighbourhood can live and work sustainably.
Other projects launched as part of One Planet Sutton include a community farm
and mobile local food market, and a business engagement project to help local
small businesses save energy and operate more efficiently.
Sutton is one of 32 London boroughs. BioRegional and
the London Sustainable Development Commission
recently completed a study, Capital Consumption , which
benchmarked London’s consumption-based CO2 emissions
and modelled how they could be reduced by the required
90% by 2050. In showing how it can be done, we hope this
will be taken up in London and used in other cities. The
report can be downloaded from www.bioregional.com
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24. One Planet solutions
for a sustainable future
BioRegional is working with forward-thinking organisations around
the world, that are committed to demonstrating that a sustainable
future is not simply possible, but actually happening right now.
With encouragement and commitment from governments,
together with clear and challenging targets, we can work together
to achieve a sustainable future today.
Visit www.bioregional.com or call +44 (0)20 8404 4880 for more
information about our work and to find out how we can help you.
“BioRegional are pioneers in
reinventing our economy”
Achim Steiner
Executive Director
United Nations Environment Programme
BioRegional is very grateful for the
generous support of our funders
Photo credits:
and partners, including the Skoll Cover, p2-3 • Marcus Lyon
Foundation, Ashden Trust, The Body p5 • China Merchants Property Development
p12 • Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios
Shop Foundation, and The Rufford p13(L) • Greg King, Construction News
Maurice Laing Foundation. p13(R) • Crest Nicholson/BioRegional Quintain
p18 • B&Q
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