GREEN GUARDIAN

.£ BY JYOTI SHANKAR

professor Deo Prasad, CEO of the Cooperacive Research Centre for Lmv Carbon Living (CRCLCL) , was appointed as an Officer (AO) in the General Division of d1e Order of Australia on Ausrralia Day 20 14. Prasad's contribution towards sustainability and the development of greener cities was recognised not just in his line of duty, but for his wider involvement nacionaJJy and internationally, in this area.

The 59 -year-old academic from Fiji moved to New Zealand and later to Australia, where he has been living for the past 30 yea.rs.

Prasad has published over 250 journal articles and six books, and received millions of dollars in compecitive research funding. As an ambassador for Business Events Sydney, he promotes Sydney as a destination for highend sciencific events. He is also a Green Globe Award winner, and winner of the lnscitute of Arcliitect's Architectural Education Prize. He serves as a member of numerous international boards and committees, including those in Canada a.ad Seoul, and cl1airs the Asia Pacific Global Civil Society Forum for UNEP.

"I started my career as an architect, bur a mrning po.int in my life led n1e co study sustainability," Prof. Prasad tells Indian Link. "I was overseeing an infrastructure project on a Fijian island where the displaced Banaban people were relocated from their island borne to make way for mining by the British Phosphate Commission These people who were fishermen and farmers, fow1d it hard to assimilate into thei.r new environment, leading co rna.ny socio-economic problems. Thinking about tbe impact created by this newly built environment led tne to come co UNSW for furche.r srudy".

Afrer a Masters in Science and then in Mam1gement, Prof. Prasad did a PhD in Engineering and continued to work at UNSW, an academic and researcher, and to the solar renewable energy sector where he has continued teaching sust,'linabilicy co11rses since many years.

Prof. Prasad says, "The built environment is responsible for 40 per cent of energ)' use. This secror is very disparate, always at the mercy of the economy. They don't get tin1e co innovate, as they move from one project co another. So I put together a large proposal and convinced the industry and government to put in more chan $100 million".

His efforts came to a head in 2012, when CRCLCL was escablisbed.

Research sometimes can be far displaced from tbe needs of reality and consigned co papers that gather dust in university libraries. What is laudable. about CRCLCL is chat mis centre brings together 50 industry partners to join forces to find real-world solucions.

Prof. Prasad notes, "Researcl1ers and orga.nisacions tend to focus on one element of a larger prob lem; bm the reality is that creacing buildings and c ities is a mulcidisciplinaryprocess, and so we need to approach it holisticaJly''. 39 varied and interesting research projects are currently running at CRCLCL which include loo king at modular construction for multi- storey buildings, energy use of domestic appliances, reducing emissions in the scl1ool sector, imegrating solar technology inco buildings and creating living laboracories of products, buildings and communities, where low carbon can be tested -and showcased.

For people who think that higher levels of consumption and waste mean chat we are doing berter in life, he has a mess;ige.

"Quality of life is not dependem on more consumption. Well -designed homes are not necessarily large homes, but are appropriate to the size of the family. We can have a high quality life by living in harmony with namre", says Prof. Prasad. Making green buildings a norm rather tl1an an exception, is Ptof. Prasad's dream.

Imagine innovations such as roohng material s or building cladding d1ac doub le as solar panels! The world of low carbon will not seem so far- fetched wben this becomes a reality.