The future is not somewhere we are going. It’s something we are involved in. So let’s put climate change to one side for a minute and think about sustainable resources and renewable energy.

They are issues we can all do something about. What we do about them in the short term can have an impact on the bigger picture about how healthy we leave the world for our children.

Go back seven years to the Urban Development Institute of Australia’s (UDIA) Queensland state conference at Twin Waters. There, Dr Barry Jones and Professor Ian Lowe were given standing ovations. It was unheard of at the time. Two advocates of sustainability in a room full of developers.

Yet the UDIA took what they said on board and decided it was something they needed to be involved in.

They realised that providing environmentally sustainable developments were not a cost but an investment in the future.

At this year’s UDIA Qld awards the Excellence in Environmentally Sustainable Development category went to Sunrise at 1770, a beachside community at the Town of 1770. Gold Coast eco-community, The EcoVillage at Currumbin took out two mainstream categories – Small Residential Subdivision and Marketing Excellence. While Pacific Harbour at Bribie Island received the Residential Subdivision award for, among other achievements, the sensitive treatment of coastal wetlands and marine ecosystems.

UDIA (Qld) president Brent Hailey said momentum had been gathering in the industry’s conversion towards environmentally sensitive development in the past decade.

“Ten years ago there were few developers who were pioneering new designs and technologies in the niche green market,” Mr Hailey said. “We have a come a long way since then to the point where sustainable features are being incorporated into mainstream projects and the industry is harnessing the growing market desire for these values.’’

Mr Hailey said Pacific Harbour provided compelling evidence that sustainability can be successfully integrated into mainstream developments.

“It was designed for those seeking a seachange lifestyle, without compromising on quality. It has a high standard of finishing and residents enjoy a great deal of extra benefits including the services of the on-site golf and country club.

“Pacific Harbour’s partnership with the Wallum Action Group (WAG) saw thousands of native trees planted and germinated to landscape the golf course. This shows a fantastic commitment to retaining the integrity of the natural vegetation. I am also deeply impressed by the construction of a $1million tidal lagoon bird roost at Kakadu Beach in 2001.”

Another outstanding environmentally sustainable feature of the site is a water clarifying process which cleans water of sediments, organic compounds and metals. It has potential for future applications in mining, forestry, agriculture and waste management.

QM Properties managing director Jon Haseler said the Pacific Harbour development had proved that environmental sustainability can go hand in hand with progress.

“The UDIA has recognised that Pacific Harbour has set out to create a lifestyle where human interaction and the natural environment and wildlife can be positive” said Mr Haseler.

“We hope that future generations will also acknowledge that we have left a light footprint on Bribie Island”.

This takes me back to what Prof Lowe said at Twin Waters about the urgency needed to reshape our practices if we were to have a sustainable future.

“Meeting the growing demands of a growing population is putting stress on the environment. Our present course is unsustainable. Postponing action is not an option. Sustainibility is our moral duty. Otherwise we are stealing from our children.’’

Prof Lowe said that to be sustainable you had to think about not wasting resources. He advocated that all new homes were to have rainwater tanks and noted the amount of solar energy that hits the earth is about 10,000 times what we use. The amount of solar energy that falls one day in Australia is equal to the entire energy use for the world for one year.

“There is no shortage of energy. What there is a shortage of is political will.

“We should look at a building still being here in 50 to 100 years. Ask what will people think of your development. Were you wise or were you just here to make a quick buck?’’

There is a Chinese proverb: “Treat people as if you might die tomorrow. Treat the land as if you will be here 1000 years.’’