Fight for green buildings

And he’s hoping his fellow Australians will get behind him.

The Sydney man is appealing to the community to help fund his $40,000 legal battle against beer company Fosters, which owns the Carlton United Brewery (CUB) site in Chippendale, and the state Minister for Planning Frank Sartor.

He already has the support of Sydney Town Hall, with Deputy Lord Mayor Chris Harris sending letters to local residents urging them to donate money towards Mr Drake-Brockman’s cause. Lord Mayor Clover Moore also said she supported the legal action.

Mr Drake-Brockman would be appealing to “everyone across the state and country, not just residents in this area” for donations, he said.

“This issue is not just at the local level, it should involve anyone who has concern with the environmentally wasteful culture of development in Australia.”

The current plan for the CUB site would “significantly increase climate change pollution” due to the extra cars it would put on the road and the amount of energy it would use, Mr Drake-Brockman said.

He hoped the Land and Environment Court would force Fosters and Mr Sartor to make the development greener by using solar power, recycling water and sewerage, and restricting the number of car spaces available.

Fosters, however, is arguing the development - which is located the edge of the CBD and includes residential housing and office towers - is as green as they could make it and meets the environmental standards legally required by NSW law.

“We have done what we believe is a very environmentally friendly design, and we’ve done it with the best advice we can find,” Fosters spokesperson Troy Hey said.

Some of the sustainable features in the concept plan include the collection of rain and stormwater for use in irrigation and toilet flushing, plus glazed and shaded windows to reduce the need for air-conditioning.

But according to Mr Drake-Brockman this wasn’t good enough. He said the 5.8 hectare site was “one of Australia’s largest urban developments and provides the State Government with a great opportunity to show true leadership by addressing the issue of climate change in allowing only for an environmentally sustainable development”.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21892289-2,00.html