Harry Potter and Sustainable Design

Kia ora koutou!

Today we had a few lectures and a mini field trip to the Liffy in Lincoln, followed by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, Part II.

Dr. Hostetler lectured about designing and constructing sustainable developments. The design aspect is comprised of three phases: design, construction, and post-construction. It is important to note that during all 3 phases one must keep design and management practices in mind in order to reach a successful completion. The most successful technique of design is the low impact urban design and development plan, or LIUDD. This plan incorporates many aspects into the design of a sustainable urban area, such as:

• focus development on previously disturbed sites
• providing habitat for wildlife
• use established ecological principles
• preserve high quality natural areas
• create a network of open space
• create green transportation
• consider nearby habitat and people
• conserve wetlands and wetland buffers
• enhance Maori values

Constructing with these aspects in mind helps to reach the goal of improving the biodiversity on the building site and create minimal impacts on nearby habitat.  To see examples of the different methods of implementation of design and construction, we took a small class trip to the Liffy, a neighborhood just east of the Uni.

Use of a buffer of native vegetation between wildlife areas and wetlands from residential housing

Native vegetation planting

By far, Max's expression in the back is the best. He is really excited about visiting the Liffy

Use of retention/detention ponds as a wildlife area

Robert Watts, a water conservation manager from the Landcare Research Center also gave a lecture about different water management successes and failures in the Christchurch area.  Many of the successes were due to legislation passed in New Zealand that resemble the Comprehensive Growth Management Act and Area Planning policies in the United States.  Overall, it was a very informative presentation.

In the evening, Dr. Hostetler took us out for a movie night to see Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows Part II in Christchurch.  I swear I only choked on popcorn, and not the touching scene in the middle of the movie! We thoroughly enjoyed our night, and are excited for the lectures in the morning, although we got back way past our usual bedtime.

Whakamaoritia!

Alexis