Today, our lecture was conducted by Dr Faris and the title of our lecture was Sustainable Development Issues and Built Environment. According to Dr Faris, built environment c
an make a change to the environment by understanding the sustainable development issues. He then told us about Al Gore. Former Vice President, Al Gore is a cofounder and Chairman of Generation Investment Management, a firm that is focused on a new approach to Sustainable Investing. He raises awareness among us about how important is sustainable development to the environment and human beings. Sustainable Development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It means our current needs shall not jeopardize the future needs. It is a development that takes the impact on the environment into account and tries to minimize environmental damage.
"When there is LOVE, there is LIFE. "- a quote from Mahatma Gandhi.This was how Dr Faris proceed with his lecture. Mother Earth is our starship, we should care and protect her. This is a best way for us to show our love towards Mother Earth. We then saw a statistic about the relationship between National Gross Domestic Product and Construction Industry (from 1974 to 2000). From the statistic, we could see that the construction industry plays a great role in National Gross Domestic Product. When construction industry increases, National Gross Domestic Product also increases. Is construction industry so important that we ignore our environment? What is the use if we only have the concrete jungles everywhere? We then given an introduction to the United Nations. Most of us have heard about United Nations in peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance. But the many other ways the UN affects all our lives such as promoting respect for human rights, protect the environment, fight disease and reduce poverty in many countries.
What are the challenges ahead in the built environment? Population around the world is increasing. More people means more houses, shops, work places, roads and highways. More people also means increasing demand of products and services and greater demand for land. For example, China has a total of 1.3 billion people. The energy consumption of Building and Construction are rising. With the increasing population, new ideas, new paradigms and new approaches to Building and Construction are urgently needed. There are 7 factors which affect the building life cycle- site, water, energy, indoor environmental quality, materials, waste and recycling and transportation.
The real challenge ahead us is the GLOBAL WARMING. Year 2005 was being recorded as the hottest year.There are two major effects of global warming which are increase of temperature on the earth by about 3° to 5° C (34° to 41° Fahrenheit) by the year 2100 and rise of sea levels by at least 25 meters (82 feet) by the year 2100. Sea levels are rising due to the melting of land ice. It can bring us to extinction if we do not take this matter seriously. It's our own responsibility to prevent global warming. Actions should be taken to reduce or reverse future warming or to adapt to its expected consequences. Most national governments have signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol, aimed at combating this global warming issue.The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is an amendment to the international treaty on climate change, assigning mandatory emission limitations for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. We hope that in such way, the global warming issue can be solved in long run. Therefore, innovations are needed to solve this problem in a shorter run. Dry-Masonry Brick House System (DBHS) is one one the innovation. In such way, we can cut down the usage of cement. Emissions of carbon dioxide in building construction is due the cement product. It is an adaptable building system where we can reuse and recycle the building materials. During the construction of DBHS in Japan, 98.34% of bricks used in the construction can be reused and the balance of 1.66% can be recycled. Parts like bolts and nuts are 100% can be recycled. The concept of 3Rs' - recycling, reuse and reduce can be applied in this project. This a great way for us to save our natural sources. Adapting DBHS in the future is relevant and significant because developing countries in Asian region highly regards bricks as the main building material.
I feel very grateful to have a great lecture from Dr Faris. I appreciate his sincerity, honesty and efforts in this sustainable development issues and built environment. I hope youths like us can change the future and have a better living place. In this lecture, I used my senses such as eyes, ears and brain to collect all the useful inputs and datas. I shall follow my instinct and heart to make a wise decision in creating a better future.
an make a change to the environment by understanding the sustainable development issues. He then told us about Al Gore. Former Vice President, Al Gore is a cofounder and Chairman of Generation Investment Management, a firm that is focused on a new approach to Sustainable Investing. He raises awareness among us about how important is sustainable development to the environment and human beings. Sustainable Development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It means our current needs shall not jeopardize the future needs. It is a development that takes the impact on the environment into account and tries to minimize environmental damage.
"When there is LOVE, there is LIFE. "- a quote from Mahatma Gandhi.This was how Dr Faris proceed with his lecture. Mother Earth is our starship, we should care and protect her. This is a best way for us to show our love towards Mother Earth. We then saw a statistic about the relationship between National Gross Domestic Product and Construction Industry (from 1974 to 2000). From the statistic, we could see that the construction industry plays a great role in National Gross Domestic Product. When construction industry increases, National Gross Domestic Product also increases. Is construction industry so important that we ignore our environment? What is the use if we only have the concrete jungles everywhere? We then given an introduction to the United Nations. Most of us have heard about United Nations in peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance. But the many other ways the UN affects all our lives such as promoting respect for human rights, protect the environment, fight disease and reduce poverty in many countries. 
At HBP, we learn about multi-disiplinary where all the 6 major courses are under one roof. So that we are able to interact and work with each other. Hand- in-hand, we can change the future. With the teamworks and co-operation skills that we learnt, we have the flexibility to work with each other. Sustainability development involves all the people around the world. This is where cultural shifts happen. Sustainability design recognizes the independence of the built and natural environment. We need the natural flows and biological process to eliminate reliance on fossil fuels and toxic materials.
What are the challenges ahead in the built environment? Population around the world is increasing. More people means more houses, shops, work places, roads and highways. More people also means increasing demand of products and services and greater demand for land. For example, China has a total of 1.3 billion people. The energy consumption of Building and Construction are rising. With the increasing population, new ideas, new paradigms and new approaches to Building and Construction are urgently needed. There are 7 factors which affect the building life cycle- site, water, energy, indoor environmental quality, materials, waste and recycling and transportation.
The real challenge ahead us is the GLOBAL WARMING. Year 2005 was being recorded as the hottest year.There are two major effects of global warming which are increase of temperature on the earth by about 3° to 5° C (34° to 41° Fahrenheit) by the year 2100 and rise of sea levels by at least 25 meters (82 feet) by the year 2100. Sea levels are rising due to the melting of land ice. It can bring us to extinction if we do not take this matter seriously. It's our own responsibility to prevent global warming. Actions should be taken to reduce or reverse future warming or to adapt to its expected consequences. Most national governments have signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol, aimed at combating this global warming issue.The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is an amendment to the international treaty on climate change, assigning mandatory emission limitations for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. We hope that in such way, the global warming issue can be solved in long run. Therefore, innovations are needed to solve this problem in a shorter run. Dry-Masonry Brick House System (DBHS) is one one the innovation. In such way, we can cut down the usage of cement. Emissions of carbon dioxide in building construction is due the cement product. It is an adaptable building system where we can reuse and recycle the building materials. During the construction of DBHS in Japan, 98.34% of bricks used in the construction can be reused and the balance of 1.66% can be recycled. Parts like bolts and nuts are 100% can be recycled. The concept of 3Rs' - recycling, reuse and reduce can be applied in this project. This a great way for us to save our natural sources. Adapting DBHS in the future is relevant and significant because developing countries in Asian region highly regards bricks as the main building material.Awareness of sustainable building and construction are very important for us to have a better future. Green built environment is a great tool to make changes. A world consensus has been reached on the need for sustainable development. Together, we shall do something to save our Mother Earth. We as actors should have sustainable intentions to have sustainable acts for sustainable production by following sustainable rules so that a sustainable site can be achieved.
I feel very grateful to have a great lecture from Dr Faris. I appreciate his sincerity, honesty and efforts in this sustainable development issues and built environment. I hope youths like us can change the future and have a better living place. In this lecture, I used my senses such as eyes, ears and brain to collect all the useful inputs and datas. I shall follow my instinct and heart to make a wise decision in creating a better future.
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