On May 12, Stantec hosted a ULI members only presentation focused on “Designing for Living Cities.” The consultancy, which provides a wide range of professional services in planning, engineering, architecture, interior design, environmental sciences and more, held the event in its handsomely wood-furnished downtown Toronto office. A cross-section of professionals, including architects, developers and public sector professionals, were present at the event.

Stuart Elgie, a Principal from Stantec, and Marty Janowitz, Stantec’s VP and Practice Leader, led the presentation to demonstrate the importance of viewing development choices in the context of the broader environment.

Elgie walked through several examples of projects where Stantec was presented with the challenge of adapting outdated institutional buildings. The challenge with many of these projects is maintaining the character and heritage of the site while improving upon its utility and connections to better suit the modern environment in which they reside.

Janowitz, a Practice Leader for Sustainable Development, was quick to note that when project or proposal bids are evaluated, they are often selected with the lowest upfront cost. This approach to decision-making is out of sync with the long-term use ultimately intended for many of the projects undertaken. Janowitz proposed that an organismic approach to design would be more helpful. The intent is to see the interaction of development sites and infrastructure in a similar light as organs interacting with each other within the body.

The presentation was intuitive yet radical, in that such a simple lens to view development would certainly be the exemption in today’s environment. Four takeaways from the Stantec event include:

1. Development cannot happen in isolation, interconnectedness between design, development and infrastructure must be considered.

Too often we make decisions to build based on narrow and discrete needs. Provided that funding is available, we often build without significant consideration of the communities around us. Janowitz cited many examples, including an example of a bridge. How does the construction of a bridge change settlement patterns? How does it impact hospital or school needs within surrounding communities? These and other considerations are frequently missing from development discussions.

2. Obsolescence in our civil and social infrastructure.

Although this may not be news to most of us within the development industry, the degree to which it is true can be surprising. For instance, Janowitz stated that in New York City, the average age of infrastructure is between 80 and 100-years-old. This presents a very significant challenge and expense as we try to grapple with the costs of modernizing our aging cities and the reality that their infrastructure was not designed to handle the challenges of the modern era. Within our own city, the importance of infrastructure and roadways, along with transportation, has only recently become a topic of serious debate and discussion.

3. Funding models are changing.

Government bodies have been the traditional sources of funding for infrastructure projects. As modern governments become increasingly strapped for cash, private equity and other non-governmental sources of capital have stepped in to provide the much needed funding. The lens which these actors approach infrastructure development are significantly different than traditional actors and, as a result, bear significant consideration.

4. Envision – a Framework for developing in a sustainable way

A consistent theme throughout the Stantec presentation was the idea of taking a holistic approach to development decisions and viewing development choices in the context of the broader environment. Janowitz indicated that the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure & Zofnass Program for Sustainable Infrastructure from Harvard University have banded together to create a sustainability framework called Envision.

Envision applies a lens to all development choices that necessitates consideration of how development decisions will impact their surroundings. It takes a lifecycle focus initially geared on infrastructure and takes into consideration all elements related to planning. Envision is a relatively new sustainability scoring system and has only been used to certify seven projects to date (two of which are in Canada). As Envision continues picking up steam, Janowitz encouraged its early adoption in the hopes that we can all begin to make better development decisions.