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The Living Building Challenge

12/18/2009 by asladirt


Metropolis magazine wrote about the Omega Institute of Sustainable Living in Rhinebeck, New York, one of the world’s greenest buildings. According to Metropolis, the institute creates its own energy through on-site geothermal and solar systems, and materials ”strenuously eschew toxins—there’s virtually no PVC, lead, or mercury to speak of—and draw from a 250- to 1,000-mile zone, depending on the product.” The building was created using the International Living Building Institute’s living building standard. Certified living buildings must consume zero energy andwater, consist of non-toxic materials, restore habitat, and produce food (all of these are actually required). 

One of the more interesting features is the building’s “Eco Machine,” a system that clearly demonstrates for visitors how plants and fish remove human waste from water. The system was described as “a self-contained sewage system that mimics nature’s self-corrective principles by freeing plants, bacteria, micro-organisms, algae, and fish to feast on human waste, thus purify-ing it, much as a stream cleanses its own ecosystem.”

However, creating these buildings is no walk in the park. Skip Backus, executive director of the Omega Institute, told Metropolis: “To say that Living Building Challenge is a challenge—you’ve got to keep that word Challenge capitalized throughout the process.” Dan Hellmuth, the architect for Washington University’s Living Building project, added: “We knew what we were getting into, but we didn’t know how bad it was going to be.”

Inhabitat adds that data must be collected and verified through the living building certification process: “”One of the most important features [...] is that it measures the actual performance of buildings. Basically this means that a year after a building was built, measurements are taken to ensure that it is, in fact, net zero in terms of energy and water, etc. This is a big distinction from existing requirements like LEED and CA’s Title 24 which measure performance models and do not hold projects accountable to live up to those models.”

The new certification may spur more stringent energy and water efficiency guidelines in the LEED rating system. “Think of the Living Building Challenge as a Port Huron Statement for the green age. Its motto, ‘No credits, just prerequisites,’ rebukes the moderate incrementalism of LEED, which favors plaques and incentives over soup-to-nuts sustainability. The rigors of the Challenge, the thinking goes, will pressure the USGBC itself to radicalize, effectively tamping the entire industry into smaller carbon footprints, one pretty little building at a time. In this era of (perhaps mythical) carbon-neutral resorts and LEED Platinum skyscrapers, it seems a logical next step.”  

In 2009, the Cascadia Region Green Building Council founded the International Living Building Institute to promote the development of living buildings and sites. There are now 70 projects pursuing certification in the U.S.

The institute’s Jason McLennan told Inhabitat it recently updated its living building certification system to address food, transportation and other issues. “The simple concept of green buildings has generally produced more efficient buildings and smaller footprints. But that is no longer enough. With version 2.0 addressing issues of food, transportation and social justice, we expect a considerable leap forward will happen once again.”

Read the article and see more photos at Inhabitat.

Also, check out a Wall Street Journal article on the U.S. Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)’s work to create the country’s greenest office building. ”NREL told designers bidding on the project that the new building could use no more than 32,000 BTUs per square foot a year. A typical office building in the Rocky Mountain region uses 65,000 BTUs per square foot a year, says the U.S. Green Building Council. If the building stays within its limits, all its energy use should be covered by a one-megawatt solar array being built on the NREL campus.”

Image credit: Metropolis magazine

Posted in Green Buildings, Sustainable Design, Sustainable Materials, Waste, Water Management | Leave a Comment »

International Design Competition: Rethinking Toronto’s Gardiner Expressway

12/18/2009 by asladirt


Waterfront Toronto and the City of Toronto announced a new design competition calling for new concepts for Toronto’s Gardiner Expressway. The goal of the competition is to create a “bold solution or series of bold solutions that can generate broad consensus on the best way forward for the eastern portion of the elevated Gardiner Expressway.”

According to Waterfront Toronto, “the elevated Frederick G. Gardiner Expressway has been a controversial element of the Toronto skyline since it was completed in 1966.  In recent years, public debate has been intensifying over whether its future should be a renovation, relocation, or complete removal.  At the same time, progress on waterfront revitalization has made clear that the elevated structure and the at-grade roadway beneath, if they are to remain, must be integrated with the new waterfront districts currently being developed.  While many plans and proposals have been put forth over the years, none have produced a sufficiently compelling vision for a new urban identity and truly functional transportation system.”

Out of all submissions received, six firms or teams will be shortlisted to participate in an intense, eight-week design competition.  These six teams will receive an honorarium of CA$50,000.  At the conclusion of the competition, Waterfront Toronto and the City of Toronto may choose to retain one or more than one of the teams for continued involvement in the approved plan.

Submissions are due by January 25, 2010. There is no fee to register.  Learn more and register. 

Also, check out an earlier post on one architecture firm’s idea of turning Gardiner Expressway into a High Line-style park.

Image credit: Kompot Photo

Posted in Opportunities, Sustainable Transportation, Urban Design, Urban Renewal | Leave a Comment »

Urban Agriculture Ideas Competition

12/17/2009 by asladirt


Brooklyn-based architecture collective Terreform ONE announces its first annual One Prize, which will award $10,000 to the most innovative urban agriculture concept. The theme of the prize is “Mowing to Growing: A Design Competition for Creating Productive Green Space in Cities.” Terreform ONE writes: “In a country that squanders some seven billion gallons of water every day watering its 40,000 acres of suburban lawns—and in which only two percent of food is grown locally—Mowing to Growing challenges architects to devise workable means for growing more of America’s food closer to more of America’s communities, and to do so at less expense to our economy and our environment.”

Terreform ONE cofounder Mitchell Joachim said: “We want to break the American love affair with the suburban lawn.”

Submissions for vertical farming, land reclamation, hydroponic facilities will be reviewed by a distinguished panel of thinkers and designers, including:

  • Cameron Sinclair, Founder, Architecture for Humanity
  • Ben  Schwegler, Jr., Ph.D., Chief Scientist of Walt Disney Imagineering
  • DJ Spooky, AKA Paul D. Miller, electronic and experimental musician,  producer and author
  • Dickson Despommier, Ph.D., Professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University and Director of the Vertical Farm Project
  • Carol Coletta, president and CEO of CEOs for Cities, Host and Producer of the nationally syndicated public radio show Smart City
  • William J. Mitchell, Professor of Architecture and Media Arts and Sciences at MIT, Director, Media Lab’s Smart Cities research group at MIT

The winning proposal will be awarded $10,000, while five finalists will receive prominent year-long exposure on the competition Web site. According to Terreform ONE, “the winning schemes will also be featured in a web symposium that will match designers with leading experts in the relevant fields of farming, urban agriculture, planning, and market analysis, with an eye towards taking the proposals to the next level.”

There is also a separate competition for high school students. The winner will receive $1,000 cash award and prominent year-long exposure on the competition Web site.

Submissions are due April 30, 2010. Go to the One Prize to learn more and register.

Image credit: Verticalfarm.com / VF- Type 0, Oliver Foster, Queensland University of Technology

Posted in Agriculture, Opportunities, Urban Design, Urban Renewal | 1 Comment »

Copenhagen UNFCCC Meeting: U.S. Offers Multi-Billion Contribution to Global Climate Fund

12/17/2009 by asladirt


United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UN FCCC) negotiations entered their second week in Copenhagen. Previously stalled negotiations on a political agreement were resuscitated by U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s announcement that the U.S. government would participate in a proposed $100 billion fund to support developing countries in their effort to mitigate CO2 emissions and adapt to climate change, writes The New York Times. The G77, a group representing some 130 plus developing countries, in part steered by China, have been critical of what they view as a lack of commitment from U.S. and European countries to finance climate change support for developing countries. 

According to The New York Times, Secretary Clinton said the funds would be a ”mix of public and private funds, including ‘alternative sources of finance.’” The U.S. typically contributes around 20 percent of total financing to global funds, in an attempt to match its share of the global economy. ”She said the money should chiefly flow to the poorest and most vulnerable nations and should contain a sizable amount to slow deforestation, which contributes to carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere.” 

However, Secretary Clinton added that the U.S. would continue to demand greater accountability from China, Brazil and other countries that could benefit from these funds. The Guardian (UK) writes that: “Without such transparency, she said, there would be no deal. And without a deal, there would be no money for African and low-lying countries that have the most to lose from rising sea-levels brought by climate change.”

It’s not clear whether the additional funds outlined by Clinton would also include a new global $350 million fund for renewable energy development U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced earlier at the negotiations. The Guardian (UK) adds: “Chu described the initiative as an expansion of agreements reached earlier this year with India and China for joint research on energy efficiency, electric vehicles, and carbon capture and technology. Under the initiative, the US will provide $85 million over five years to the fund. Italy will provide $30 million and Australia $5 million.” Chu said the U.S. has already invested $80 billion in green technology domestically through the recent economic recovery programs, and cited two areas as particularly promising areas for more research and investment: batteries and the development of powerful wind turbines in a more compact size.

The New York Times contends that European countries, including the UK, have been calling for more than $150 billion over ten years, but haven’t agreed to long-term financing schemes. Last week, European countries agreed to provide short-term financing totaling $10.5 billion over the next three years to help poor countries. “But the bloc has so far failed to agree how much they would give in long-term financing. European experts have recommended that the fund should total about $150 billion annually by the end of the next decade.”

African countries threatened to walk out of the conference earlier this week over efforts by developed countries to end the original Kyoto Protocal-negotiated agreements; African recently countries won that dispute. Meanwhile, U.S. Senator John Kerry gave a speech saying he could get a climate change deal through the U.S. Senate if global negotiators reached a political deal. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger also arrived to announce the importance of progress by “sub-national” actors like his state, and argued that leaders of the world’s major cities also have a key role to play in reducing CO2 emissions. Al Gore gave a speech outlining the importance of reaching a deal quickly.

With 48 hours left in the negotiating process, Yvo de Boer, head of the UNFCCC, argued that remaining hours must be used productively if any interim political agreement is going to be reached in time for the more than 100 heads of state, including U.S. President Obama, who arrive later in the week.

Read the article and see ongoing coverage of the global climate negotiations from The New York Times, Guardian (UK), and Climate Progress. Also, view the actual negotiating texts.

Mongabay.com, a leading tropical forest conservation site, is also offering coverage of the Copenhagen negotiations on an anti-deforestation financing scheme, the “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation” initiative, which will provide developing countries credits for leaving their valuable carbon sinks in place. The U.S. has just announced its plans to contribute $ 1 billion to prevent more extensive deforestation in developing countries.  The New York Times argued that even if the Copenhagen climate change negotiations collapse, a deal on REDD would be a huge major step forward, and agreement on the program looks likely.

Image credit: Kay Nietfel/European Pressphoto Agency

Posted in Climate Change, Policy and Regulation | Leave a Comment »

Sustainable Residential Design: Maximizing the Benefits of Plants

12/16/2009 by asladirt


ASLA created a new online resource guide on maximizing the benefits of plants through sustainable residential landscape architecture. The guide contains lists of organizations, research, concepts and projects related to plants and sustainable landscape architecture, and includes sections on: native plants, residential agriculture, residential wildlife habitat, indoor plants and residential composting. Developed for students and professionals, the resource guide contains recent reports and projects from leading U.S. and international organizations, academics, and design firms.

This sustainable residential design resource guide is the third in a new four part series. See earlier guides in the sustainable residential design series: increasing energy efficiency and improving water efficiency. One last future guide in this series will focus on how sustainable residential landscape architecture can incorporate innovative, recycled (and recyclable) materials.

The guide is separated into five sections:

  • Native Plants
  • Residential Agriculture
  • Residential Wildlife Habitat
  • Indoor Plants
  • Residential Composting

As an example, the section on “native plants” includes models for reintroducing native plants into residential landscapes, as well as plant databases and government and non-profit organization native plant conservation efforts. There are also links to projects that have successfully incorporated these concepts in a residential context.

See earlier resource guides:

Go to the Resource Guide

Image credit: Dune Side Residence, East Hampton, New York. Edmund Hollander Landscape Architect Design, P.C, New York, New York

Posted in Gardens, Landscape Architecture, Residential Design, Sustainable Design | Leave a Comment »

Separating Program from Design

12/16/2009 by asladirt


Should programming and design be two separate disciplines carved out by separate professionals? Are there certain benefits or disadvantages to this approach?

A number of people involved with Houston’s Discovery Green shared their thoughts with Landscape Architecture magazine.

Fred Kent, Project for Public Spaces (PPS): “You need a lot of skills to make a project work. In the beginning, you need a vision and you need a program. You don’t want a design. You don’t know the answer, but the community does….

The program needs to be independent of any designer because you know as well as I do, if you have the designer do the vision, it’s really only about the design. [When a separate programmer works with the community], the community then owns the program because they did it. There’s this healthy tension between [the programmer and the designer] that can produce really fantastic results. It’s like a check and balance.”

Mary Margaret Jones, Hargreaves Associates: “It depends on the designer. We always do public process up front before we have a design vision. Maybe some don’t, but we do. The best designs are usually the ones that grow out of what you hear about the program, what you hear about desired uses, and the site itself—its soils, its climate, its geomorphology—and out of those things you begin to work on the design. You also have to bring good design to the table.

Programming is not rocket science. It should never be seen as something that’s separate from design. In the best instances, it’s part of the design process. There have been cases where designers have had set styles that they apply wherever they go, and those have led to failed plazas and parks, but that’s not the way we work.”

George Hargreaves, Hargreaves Associates: “In architecture, they will do programming that’s not building specific, then they set about designing a building around it. The flaw in that is you often end up with a building you can’t afford. I find it very difficult to work that way.

“We actually put design as part of that process. If you put a parking lot beneath a park, that’s $30 million; it creates these problems and these opportunities. At the same time we’re trying to understand the regional landscape, trying to understand circulation flows, the microclimate. We’re not only talking about program opportunities and how much they would cost, but how they would impact what we’re trying to build.”

Bob Eury, Central Houston Inc./Board of Discovery Green Conservancy: “I feel pretty strongly about having an independent program advocate. The tension created by the two parties, the separate programmer from the designer—I think that tension is extraordinarily helpful. There are a lot of significant pieces of Discovery Green that are a direct product of the public engagement. But I sure don’t want Fred [Kent] designing it either.”

Guy Hagstette, Discovery Green Conservancy: “I feel fortunate that we had the talents of both PPS and Hargreaves. They both brought a lot of ideas to the table. I would not go so far as to say the programmer should always be separate. The public input process prepares the client to be a better client. You can do this with the design team or a separate programmer, but you need to do this.”

Jacob Petersen, Hargreaves Associates: “It appears that [programming] will be something landscape architects have to fight for to retain it in the profession.”

What do you think?

Image credit: Hargreaves Associates

Posted in Landscape Architecture, Public Spaces, Urban Design | 5 Comments »

Gateway Arch International Design Competition

12/15/2009 by asladirt


The National Park Service and St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay announced a new international design competition to re-invigorate the park and city areas surrounding “one of the world’s most iconic monuments”, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. The competition, “Framing a Modern Masterpiece: The City + The Arch + The River 2015,” is called for in the National Park Service’s new General Management Plan, which was created through extensive public input over an 18-month period and approved on November 23, 2009.

According to the Gateway Arch Design competition site, “the Gateway Arch instantly became an international destination and won immediate recognition as one of the world’s premier works of public art. The grounds immediately surrounding it, designed by the late Dan Kiley, are also widely recognized as a landscape masterpiece. However, those grounds, and the city streetscape, highways, and the Mississippi riverfront which they abut, lack the ‘buzz’ of constant activity associated with a vibrant urban park – one of the issues the competition is meant to address.”

Tom Bradley, Superintendent of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, which includes the Gateway Arch, added: “This competition is a unique and important opportunity to integrate the Arch and the park surrounding it into the fabric of the city and region and embrace the Mississippi River and its east bank. By achieving these objectives, we will design people into the area – and establish a national model for urban parks.”

The competition will invite teams to create a new design for the Arch grounds and surrounding areas with ten goals in mind:

  • Create an iconic place for the international icon, the Gateway Arch.
  • Catalyze increased vitality in the St. Louis region.
  • Honor the character-defining elements of the National Historic Landmark.
  • Weave connections and transitions from the city and the Arch grounds to the Mississippi River.
  • Embrace the Mississippi River and the east bank in Illinois as an integral part of the national park.
  • Mitigate the impact of transportation systems.
  • Reinvigorate the mission to tell the story of St. Louis as the gateway to national expansion.
  • Create attractors to promote extended visitation to the Arch, the city and the river.
  • Develop a sustainable future for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial.
  • Enhance the visitor experience and create a welcoming and accessible environment.

Dr. Robert Archibald, President and CEO of the Missouri Historical Society, said: “The Gateway Arch is truly stunning; as magnificent today as it was the day it was completed. We need now to free it of its isolation and connect it to the region and the river on whose banks it sits.”

The winning design will be announced in October 2010, and the work will be completed by October 28, 2015 (the 50th anniversary of the completion of the Arch).

Competition registration ends January 26, 2010. Go to the competition web site to learn more.

Image credit: Encyclopedia Britannica / Richard Pasley—Stock, Boston/PictureQuest

Posted in Landscape Architecture, Opportunities, Public Spaces | 1 Comment »

The New Yorker’s Ten Most Positive Architectural Events of the Year

12/15/2009 by asladirt


Paul Goldberger, architecture critic for the The New Yorker, announced his list of the ten most positive architectural events of the year. At the top of the list is New York City’s new High Line Park, created by James Corner’s Field Operations along with Diller, Scofidio + Renfro and horticulturist Piet Oudolf (see earlier post). The New Yorker writes: “Far and away the most uplifting thing to happen in New York this year was the completion of the first segment of the High Line, the magnificent promenade/public park atop the old elevated freight line running through West Chelsea. [...] it is crisp, fresh, inviting, and comfortable, and if there is any shortcoming to this brilliant design, it is that it has made this area even more chic than it was before.”

The list also highlights the new make-over of Times Square into a pedestrian public space free of cars. Goldberger says New York City may become a bike-friendly city under the creative management of Janette Sadik-Khan, the NYC transportation commissioner. “2009 really was a good year for public space in New York, since it also brought the conversion of Broadway in midtown into a pedestrian mall, thanks to the city’s extraordinary transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Kahn, who seems able to accomplish in a brief time what has frustrated others for a generation. The key here wasn’t just closing a portion of Broadway, it was in recasting the entire street before the closure for a mix of cars, bicycles, and pedestrians, phasing out the cars block by block. New York may yet become a bicycle-friendly city.”

Other architectural events in New York noted by Goldberger: the new Cooper Union academic building designed by Thom Mayne / Morphosis, which is at the “cutting edge of sustainability”; Citi Field and the new Yankee stadium;  Saratoga Avenue Community Center in Brookyln; the renovation of Lincoln Center, including Diller, Scofidio + Renfro’s new Alice Tully Hall; the Guggenheim Museum’s facelift and exhibition of Frank Lloyd Wright’s work to mark the building’s 50th anniversary; and two new books: ”Wrestling with Moses” by Anthony Flint and “Twenty Minutes in Manhattan,” by Michael Sorkin.

There were a few non-NYC items of interest as well: President Sarkozy’s new planning efforts for Paris, including the commissioning of ten new master plan proposals, and Chicago’s celebration of the centennial of the Burnham Plan, “still the greatest plan any U.S. city has ever commissioned.”

Read the article

Also, check out the ”best of 2009″ list offered by Blair Kamin, architecture critic of the Chicago Tribune. Kamin’s list also features the Burnham Plan centennial celebration, which included two new pavilions commissioned from Zaha Hadid and Ben Van Berkel for Chicago’s Millennium Park.  

Image credit: Inhabitat

Posted in Sustainable Design, Sustainable Transportation, Urban Design, Urban Renewal | Leave a Comment »

World Bank Launches New Urban Development Strategy

12/14/2009 by asladirt


The World Bank Group recently launched a new global urban development strategy that will guide its project financing and research over the next decade. The World Bank says cities will expand by another two billion people over the next 20 years, and 90 percent of urban population growth will occur in the developing world.  “Developing countries need assistance in facing this historically unprecedented pace of urbanization, including anticipatory policies and financing for urban services.”

World Bank President Robert Zoellick argues that urban development cannot be separated from larger economic development strategies. Furthermore, urban development plans have deep impacts on health, education, environment, and infrastructure: “Urbanization is a vital phase of development, and if managed well, it can be a key driver of long-term economic growth in a country. Climate change, jobs, poverty, education, health, infrastructure – these are all development challenges closely intertwined with cities.”

Countries can “harness the economic energy of cities” to reduce poverty and increase economic growth. Many countries are already targeting cities as key areas of investment: “In Vietnam, urban poverty has been reduced by an impressive 11 percent a year over a 10-year period and in China, more than 50 percent of GDP is now generated in coastal cities representing only 20 percent of its territory. ”

Katherine Sierra, Vice President, Sustainable Development, added that the new urban and local government strategy “will help governments at all levels make cities more equitable, efficient, sustainable, and environmentally friendly. The strategy draws on two principles. First, that density, agglomeration, and proximity are fundamental to human advancement, economic productivity, and social equity. Second, that cities need to be well managed and sustainable.”

The strategy will focus on: city management, governance, and finance; urban poverty; cities and economic growth; city planning, land, and housing; and urban environment, climate change, and disaster management.

The World Bank outlined a few focus areas in their ten-year strategy:

  • Planning and preparation: The strategy advocates careful planning and preparation, particularly in low-income, least-urbanized countries in Africa and South Asia where the risk of expanding slums and increased poverty is high if actions are not taken. 
  • Putting the Poor on the Map:  The strategy calls for scaled-up approaches to urban poverty, which is growing across most developing regions, by applying GIS technologies to identify, map and better target the urban poor at a city-wide and national level. 
  • Building sustainable cities: The strategy includes the Bank’s ECO Cities Program, which helps developing countries manage cities that are ecologically and environmentally sustainable. It also provides impetus to retrofit and redevelop existing areas. 
  • Expanding reach and coverage: Urban population growth is greatest today in secondary cities.  The Bank recognizes the growing diversity of its clients and the need to expand reach and coverage to more cities than ever before.  The Bank will pursue “wholesaling” strategies on a larger scale to target an expanding number of cities by working with financial intermediaries and Municipal Funds for assistance to local governments.

With massive urban growth occuring in Asia, the Word Bank decided to launch its new urban development strategy in Singapore, a regional “hub for knowledge on urban management.”

Read the summary of the strategy paper and go to the urban strategy web site. Read a more critical review of the urban development strategy by Next American City.

Also, check out UN-HABITAT’s latest research, “Planning Sustainable Cities: Global Report on World Settlements 2009,” released during the 2009 World Habitat Day (see earlier post).  The report outlines the crucial role the planning profession plays in creating more sustainable cities. Peter Newman, author of “Resilient Cities: Responding to Peak Oil and Climate Change” wrote one of the more interesting chapters in the book (see earlier post about ”Resilient Cities” and an interview with Newman).

Posted in Urban Design | Leave a Comment »

NY Times Magazine’s Year in Ideas: Bicycle Highways, Synthetic “Carbon-Eating” Trees and Cul-de-Sac Bans

12/14/2009 by asladirt


The New York Times magazine released its 9th annual year of ideas issue, which includes a section highlighting the most innovative design ideas of the year. Here are a few of interest:

Bicycle Highways:

According to The New York Times magazine, a group of U.S. state highway officials approved the concept of a national “Bicycle Routes Corridors Plan,” the first step in a national bike Interstate system. Copenhagen, Denmark, has already moved forward with the idea: “Copenhagen, however, began last month to create the real thing: a system of as many as 15 extra-wide, segregated bike routes connecting the suburbs to the center of the city. These are not bucolic touring paths; Copenhagen’s bike highways are meant to move traffic. Nearly 40 percent of Copenhagen rides a bike to work. On Norrebrogade, a two-mile street in the center of the city, 36,000 cyclists clog the bike lane every day.” Read more.

Also, check out recent news on the national bicycle routes corridor planning process and a proposed map of the national bike infrastructure system.

Synthetic Carbon-Eating Trees:

Klaus Lackner, a Columbia University scientist has been exploring the development of artificial carbon-eating trees. The artificial trees would be designed to be more effective at cleaning up CO2 than natural trees. “The treelike devices [...] resemble giant fly swatters in one design. They use carbon-capture and storage technology similar to the kind that will be deployed at large power plants, but they aim to absorb carbon from dispersed emissions sources, like vehicles and residences, whose mobility or small size makes individual filters impractical or inefficient.” A group of UK scientists are advocating for more investment in the concept. “This summer, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers estimated that a forest of 100,000 such trees could mop up half the United Kingdom’s carbon emissions, making the forest thousands of times more effective than its natural counterparts.” Read more.

Also, check out a Times Online (UK) article on the Institute of Mechanical Engineer’s plan for rolling out synthetic carbon-eating trees in the UK: “In the first report on such geo-engineering by practising engineers, the institution calculates that 100,000 artificial trees — which could fit into 600ha (1,500 acres) — would be enough to capture all emissions from Britain’s homes, transport and light industry. It says that five million would do the same for the whole world.”  

Lastly, learn more about the idea at Columbia University’s Web site.

Suburban Cul-de-Sac Bans:

Smart growth advocates have long opposed suburban cul-de-sacs, “meandering, dead-end streets” that reflect “poor land use” decisions, and make suburbanites drive more to get in and out of their neighborhoods. Virginia, under Governor Tim Kaine, has actually limited the use of cul-de-sacs in future residential neighborhood development. “New rules require that all new subdivisions attain a certain level of “connectivity,” with ample through streets connecting them to other neighborhoods and nearby commercial areas.” Virgina also added in some powerful incentives for making sure communities follow the new rules: “If subdivisions fail to comply, Virginia won’t provide maintenance and snowplow services, a big disincentive in a state where the government provides 83 percent of road services.” Read more.

Also, check out a Washington Post article on Virginia’s work to ban cul-de-sacs.

Image credit: Columbia University, Earth Institute

Posted in Climate Change, Policy and Regulation, Smart Growth, Sustainable Design, Sustainable Transportation, Technology | Leave a Comment »

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