Why do you do what you do? 

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“I think it’s about being considerate and understanding that the world is not endless, resources are  not endless. You need to be able to give back and also think about another generation that is not here right  now. They are gonna pick up the pieces that we are leaving behind, you really need to think about that because it's not fair”

 

Paul Farinacci has been an architectural building designer for ten years based in Melbourne, Australia. Mr Farinacci has been running his own firm for six years now but has recently taken notice of his carbon footprint and the effect he has on the earth, he decided to slow down his business to focus more on environmental science as he says he wants to, “ contribute a bit more to the earth, make the world a better place and try to bring that in to [ his ] designs and make them more environmentally friendly, make them more comfortable for people, and reduce pressures on the environment”.  

 

He mentions that one of his main challenges is getting his designs approved by the local councils, he states that the “councils encourage sustainable designs”. As a result of that, it pushed him to start thinking to himself, “Why? Why are they (council) pushing this (sustainability)”, which then leads him to researching more and more about the environment and how it's being harmed. 

 

“I've always grown  up outdoors. I love the outdoors. It's something that I'm really passionate about and once I've found that its under threat and global warming is a real thing and climate change is really affecting the environment, [ that ] really pushed me to take that next step”

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Mr Farinacci dabbled in a few different companies for 4 years before starting his own. It started off with small projects like a fence and a carport for family and friends, he eventually started designing houses. 

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One of the hardest parts of implementing sustainability to his designs, according to Mr. Farinacci, is mindset. This is because he believes that it is easy to design products that don’t implement sustainability, and clients usually pay less in the short-term when the building does not have as many sustainable features. But Mr. Farinacci continues to thrive in creating sustainable architecture as he wants living standards and living quality  to increase. He believes that better and more sustainable homes can do that because, “That means not wasting your money on bills, which is something you don't need to do, because your house is being passively heated and cooled from the sun, from the materials you used, from the windows in certain positions… Bigger backyards and more green areas. That will also help”.

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Mr. Farinacci is currently preparing to go to court on the 13th of July for the approval of his project, creating five environmentally friendly townhouses. Despite receiving thirty objectives from the neighbours, Mr. Farinacci, along with the support of the local council is still determined to build these sustainable townhouses and are going to face the challenges set by the locals. Some notable features of his most recent townhouse designs are: charred timber in the first floor, he explains that, “timber is a renewable resource, the charred timber is pretty much burnt, it's a burnt coating, they burn it with a flame torch, and the charr its black grey, so that's gonna attract the sun, so that's definitely what we want in Melbourne… And the charred coating, it doesn't need any chemicals to paint it for example…  we don't want to be putting pants on there if we don't have to.There's no need for maintenance, no need for painting, for resealing”; recycled brick on the first floor; electric charging stations for electric vehicles; underground bicycle parking; a garden area that encompasses 35% of the given land; finally the permeable concrete that allows water to trickle through the surface, he justifies that, “the aggregates (of concrete) are quite large… It allows the water to filter through our soil and get treated before it gets to our waterways and that is really important because it tops up our groundwater supplies, it also allows our trees to drink, which is very important, because if our trees drink, they grow and they take in carbon dioxide”. 

 

His advice for young people: 

“Watch David Attenborough! All of his series. They are really really inspiring. Definitely watch him!”