‘This is a wonderful book that should be on the desk of every architect and planner. It shows how

Kumar Venkat
has spent over 20 years developing complex computer hardware and software 
products. For the last 10 years, he has been an independent software developer providing analysis 
and optimization software to the semiconductor industry for integrated circuit design. He is currently 
working on applying a similarly rigorous approach to solving problems in environmental sustainability 
using innovative software tools. Kumar holds an MSc in electrical and computer engineering and a 
graduate certificate in computer modelling and simulation. He has published widely and has received 
two engineering patents (see www.suryatech.com).
Sarah West
gained a BSc and a Master’s Degree in environmental management after an earlier 
career in health and education. In 2000, and again in 2004, she conducted extensive research into 
sustainable small-scale sewage treatment and recycling systems and ecovillages in Europe and 
the US. Sarah has worked for Sydney Water, a private consultancy firm, and the Environmental 

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392
Positive Development
Protection Agency in Victoria, assessing the benefits, risks and costs associated with installing and 
managing innovative sewerage and recycling schemes for unsewered towns and green field sites.
These experiences have deepened Sarah’s conviction that community-scale integrated rainwater, 
stormwater, reclaimed water and local energy systems are an important model for regional prosperity, 
security and sustainability.

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Index
A
abuse of power 222
accountability 148, 154–155, 226, 243–244, 
272–273
action, responsibility for 20
actual performance 117
adaptive management 206–208
agriculture 
see
farming
air-conditioning systems 239
air pollution 
see
indoor air pollution
Alaska, US 188
America 
see
US
approval processes 117, 121, 128
Aral Sea 226
asbestos 31, 143
assessment 78, 131, 268–271, 272
see also
building rating tools; sustainability 
assessments
audits 117, 132, 258–261
see also
regional sustainability audits
Australia
asbestos 143
carbon trading 191
clean coal 90–91
coal-fired electricity 129
community management of ecosystems 334
Crossroads Project 227
development 25
eco-industrial park 335
economic indicators 157
geo-sequestration 153–154, 172
government 227
green building products 314
habitat protection 189
indoor air quality 28
industrial ecology 69
Melbourne 29
organic waste 338
point systems 122
regional synergies 317
renewable energy 238
soil degradation 175
sustainability reporting 149, 320
sustainable policies 236
urban consolidation 289
water 139, 172–173, 187–188, 213, 289
wilderness areas 14
Zero Waste Australia 176

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394
Positive Development
B
back-casting 178
bacteria 280
Bagumbuhay, Philippines 295
behaviour change 70
benchmarks 41, 93
best practice 5, 15, 324
biases, avoiding 264
biomimicry 17–18
biophysical design goals 257
bio-piracy 22
Bio-Recycle group 335
bioregionalism 208
bioregional planning 208–215
blame games 134, 230
boundaries 211, 261–263
brain waste 6
Brazil 12–13
Britain 
see
UK
Brundtland Report
xvi, 320
buck passing 134
building rating tools 83–96
consultancies 85
eco-design reporting 92–95
eco-logical design 91
front-loading design 87–88, 92
life-cycle analysis (LCA) 88–90
quantitative approaches 88–89, 91–92
re-designing 95–96
retrospective nature 84–85
sustainability standard 92–94
systems change 87, 91