AusBuildLCA welcomes built sustainability expert Dominique Hes
The 1st Life Cycle Assessment Conference for Building and Construction, AusBuildLCA, welcomes Dominique Hes as a keynote speaker.
A senior lecturer and researcher in sustainability in the built environment, Dominique is focused on identifying and filling the knowledge gaps in sustainability practice and application in the built environment.
An academic at the University of Melbourne Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, she has degrees in Science, Engineering and a PhD in Architecture.
Dominique started her career as an LCA consultant for PRe Consultant in the Netherlands. This was followed by working at the Centre for Design with Tim Grant. Through her PhD her direction shifted to the built environment and the use of life cycle thinking, and more detailed LCA where appropriate.
She is the current winner of the Deni Green, Bob Brown courageous environmentalist award, national citation award winner for teaching, on the site planning committee for CERES and convener of the Melbourne Collaborative group looking at positive futures in the built environment.
“Australian buildings produce around 23% of Australia’s greenhouse emissions; 10% from commercial buildings and 13% from residential buildings,” Dominique says. “But the good news is transitioning to this sort of world has become easier and cheaper as technology improves.
“Moving to 100% renewable energy is now A$37 billion cheaper compared to the figures reached in Beyond Zero Emissions’s previous report on stationary energy. It is now time to deal with the non-technical social and political aspects that require strong leadership. The challenge is this: assume it can be done and then find a way to do it.
“Improving the health of our building operations is one of the most effective, current ways to reduce our impact on climate change.”
Throughout her 25 years of working, learning and practicing in the sustainability field, she has asked the question why given all the effort being put into sustainability are we becoming more unsustainable, with most ecological and social indicators in decline.
Though not resolved this question resulted in the book Designing for Hope: pathways to Regenerative sustainability, which investigates both the reason for our lack of progress towards sustainability and presents projects and approaches that are starting to address this.
To hear more from Dominique, book your ticket to AusBuildLCA.
