Celsias Team
Sustainability
David Suzuki on living under an illusion and the outlook for a sustainable global future
He’s extremely captivating and can summarise in 10 minutes what might take some one hour to articulate. We caught up with renowned and influential Canadian scientist, environmentalist, educator and broadcaster David Suzuki on his recent visit to New Zealand, to discuss the prospects of a sustainable global future. Right now, says Suzuki, we’re heading towards a brick wall at 100 miles per hour. But we don’t know enough about how nature operates to say it’s too late or that we’ve passed too many tipping points. But the situation is dire. He says that while the majority of high level business executives believe climate change is real and caused by humans, the business community is held captive the game they have to play. And don’t look to the markets either. He tells us why putting the onus on markets to offer solutions is a “load of bullshit”.
Building
Dank and damp Kiwi homes receive performance assessment tool
It’s no secret that New Zealand homes aren’t renowned for their warmth and insulation properties. In a bid to address the issue, in 2008 the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development (NZGBCSD) released a report on how to improve the performance of Kiwi homes. The report—resulting from a two-year $300,000 research project—found one million of the country’s 1.6 million homes were inadequately insulated and 45 percent were mouldy. It indicated 26 percent of homes (410,000) could be making their occupants ill. But now, a new rating system has been launched which allows homeowners to assess their home’s performance in comfort, health and energy-efficiency.But while it’s a good start, what are the pitfalls?
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