Green building leaders to present Birmingham Charter to U.N.  

09/04/2009

By Dan Carsen

If some renowned green building pioneers have their way, Birmingham, Ala., could spawn the world’s blueprint for sustainable urban development.

The Birmingham Charter, a 100-point plan meant to transform the world’s increasingly crowded cities, grew out of the first annual Green Building Focus Conference and Expo, held in Birmingham in July.

The charter’s proponents intend to present it to the United Nations at the environmental conference in Copenhagen in December. After that, all nations will be invited to contribute to the plan. The input will then be reviewed by an international panel before the charter is consolidated into final textbook form, to be released next summer.  

The charter, the core principles of which will be drafted at a Sept. 25-27 summit in Birmingham, could replace the Athens Charter of 1933.

James Smith, a green building advocate who put together the July conference, says the Athens Charter set an “unsustainable blueprint” for many of the world’s large cities. It was based on separate areas for living, work, recreation and transportation.

“That model has led to congestion, overcrowding, isolation, increased energy consumption and poverty, because you need a car to get to work,” Smith says. “The model was broken. Have you ever been in Atlanta at rush hour? It’s the same in Paris, Delhi and Calcutta. Cities today are unable to support their current population and there will soon be a billion more people.

“If something’s not done, we’re looking at the decay of the modern city.”

Smith says the charter will be paired with a roadmap of practical, specific directions on how to implement the guidelines and will be applicable to any city in the world.

The July conference also gave rise to another initiative. The Birmingham Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, which supports the charter, is putting together the Birmingham Manifesto, which will guide architects regarding sustainable design principles.

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