GREENING TROPICAL URBAN ENVIRONMENTS:

1. GREENING TROPICAL URBAN ENVIRONMENTS: utilising social housing policies, Caribbean raw materials, and smart technologies to build healthy and safe communities

2. poverty lack of tenure social exclusion Urban lack of affordable housing threat to food security vulnerability to natural disasters

3. Critical Urban Issues low-lying urban coastal settlements low-lying urban coastal settlements tenure insecurity informaleconomic sector inadequate supply of affordable housing

4. Critical Urban Issues colonial urban planning and management inadequate implementation and enforcement urban sprawl over-dependence on fossil fuel water stress / scarcity

5. Green Vision water efficiency sustainable site selection raw materials that support resource conservation and sustainability indoor air quality

6. Green Vision (contd) integration of biological diversity (green spaces) community living energy efficiency in materials and design

7. Green Vision (contd) reduce role of private vehicle building infrastructure for pedestrian an cyclists improve public transit using existing vehicular infrastructure

8. Green Vision (contd) introduction of mode switching implementing vehicle emission standards integrating transport and overall planning policies

9. Green Vision (contd) integrated disaster risk and climate change adaptation

10. Barbados Green Building Vision

11. Challenges to Green Urban • relatively high costs of newer technologies • absence of an overarching policy framework • lack of training programmes • Barbados Building Code not yet operationalised • lack of standards for building contractors • over reliance on fossil fuel • chronic traffic congestion • unsustainable annual growth rates • no national standards for air and noise emissions • poorly integrated public transport services • constraints on financial and human resource capacities • public perceptions of green initiatives and cultural preferences

12. Enabling Environment: • Supporting legislation and regulations • Policies and programmes • Demonstration projects

13. Opportunities: • Social housing policies • Caribbean raw materials • Smart technologies

14. Social Housing Policy Opportunities include: • refinement /development of underlying principles, policies and standards for green housing • introduction and training towards green building certification e.g. LEED • promotion of private – public sector green community demonstration projects e.g. Eckstein Village

15. Social Housing Policy Opportunities (Contd): • revision of green building guidelines based on experiences with pilot projects • community sensitisation, participation and ownership of green building outcomes • approval of the Barbados Building Act and operationalisation of the Barbados Building Standards Authority

16. Social Housing Policy Opportunities (Contd) • adoption of the Barbados Building Code 1993, update with standards for green building • approval of the Water Reuse Act and establishment of standards for grey water use • refinement of solid waste management policies to promote waste reduction and sorting at the household level

17. Green Focus Location Monitoring Design Construction

18. Caribbean Raw Materials Construction raw materials include: • Cement and concrete blocks • Wood • Clay

19. Smart Technologies A central system to control the home environment – heating, lighting, security

20. Summary • Enormous potential for move towards the required integrated approach for green economy • A highly participatory process is required

21. Thank You