One Planet Communities: A real-life guide to sustainable living

by Pooran Desai

One Planet Communities One Planet Communities
A real-life guide to sustainable living by Pooran Desai How can we create sustainable zero carbon communities cost-effectively at the same time as increasing the probability of people leading happy and healthy lives? Written from the perspective of practical experience gained from world-leading projects such as Beddington Zero (Fossil) Energy Development (BedZED), One Brighton and Masdar City, this book provides a clear overview and simple insights for students, interested individuals and professionals in all areas of the property development and planning industries - including architecture, planning, engineering, surveying, development management, finance, legal, sales and marketing and estates management. It combines leading-edge thinking with simple practical advice in this fast-emerging field. In the often confused realm of sustainable development, the book starts with the question of how to turn sustainability from an abstract concept into a clear framework on which to base practical design, development, long-term management and governance decisions. It describes One Planet Living, the approach which links the science of ecological footprinting to a simple framework of principles, and how the framework is being applied to create a coherent approach to projects in the UK, Europe, China, the US, South Africa, the Middle East and Australia. It also draws on other examples of best practice projects from around the world.

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 26, 2010

About the author

Pooran studied at Oxford and Cambridge Universities before co-founding BioRegional Development Group in 1995. Initially he worked in sustainable forestry, helping develop the concept of ‘bioregional network production’ (linking local suppliers to national retailers) and founding BioRegional Charcoal Company Ltd of which he remains managing director. In 1997 he initiated the BedZED project, contributing through design, construction and monitoring – which in turn led to the Z-squared and One Planet concepts.

He is a shareholder and Sustainability Director of sustainable property development company BioRegional Quintain Ltd and heads up BioRegional’s One Planet Communities programme. Pooran also led BioRegional’s work to revive the historic lavender industry in south London. He has co-authored 2 books and his third book is ‘One Planet Communities’ published in 2009. He lives with his wife Sue Riddlestone at BedZED.