The Boston Globe wrote about the challenge of making urban living sustainable, given more than half of the world’s population already lives in cities. The challenge relates to how to improve existing urban areas — tearing down whole cities and re-building them block-by-block would be incredibly greenhouse gas-intensive. “We can invent all the green technologies we like, but we can’t tear down blocks full of drafty old structures and start from scratch – to say nothing of the networks of streets lined with wiring, pipes, and tunnels that might be decades, even centuries old. The problem is especially acute in older cities such as Boston,” writes the Boston Globe. The practical solution may be to retrofit cities.
The Boston Globe highlights a few ideas: bikes on demand; smart grids; pod cars; mobility hubs; re-skinning buildings; and solar rentals.
Bikes on Demand refers to the bike-sharing programs that have sprouted up across cities in Europe and the U.S.. In the U.S., Washington, D.C. has recently initiated a popular and growing program.
Smart grids involve the creation of an “energy internet” that enables smarter, more conscientious use of energy, including the transmission of distributed, home-generated energy back to a central grid. Smart grids are key to expanding the use of electric vehicles. (see earlier post).
Pod cars: In Masdar, an experimental “post-petroleum” city being developed in Abu Dhabi, the world’s first “personal rapid transit project” is under construction, which would enable pod cars to shuttle citizens at lower energy cost (see Inhabitat article).
Mobility Hubs relate to inter-connected transportation networks that facilite easier connections between car, bikes, taxis, public transportation. The Boston Globe writes that Bremen, Germany is exploring a scheme like this.
Re-skinning buildings involves retrofitting older buildings for energy efficiency. The Boston Globe writes: “Careful re-skinning might cut energy usage by as much as half, and the new skin can also house better pipes, ducts, and cables. Berlin is leading the way here, re-skinning a complex of 40-year-old buildings with 16,000 apartments. An office building in Manchester, England, was reskinned with photovoltaic cells. Even iconic buildings can be re-skinned, in a sense: the Empire State Building is being retrofitted from the inside, adding triple-paned windows and mechanical updates that should yield $4.4 million in annual energy savings without changing its appearance.” (Metropolis also recently wrote on the retrofit of USGBC’s offices within an older office building in D.C.).
Lastly, solar rentals could enable homeowners to lease household solar panels and use solar power without paying for the full up-front installation costs.
Read the article and also check out a few recent, related books of interest:
“Green Roof Systems: A Guide to the Planning, Design, and Construction of Landscapes Over Structure.” Susan Weiler, and Katrin Scholz-Barth. Wiley: 2009
“Positive Development: From Vicious Circles to Virtuous Cycles Through Built Environment Design.” Janis Birkeland. Earthscan Publications: 2008
“Resilient Cities: Responding to Peak Oil and Climate Change.” Peter Newman, Timothy Beatley, and Heather Boyer. Island Press: 2009
“Retrofitting Surburbia: Urban Design Solutions for Redesigning Suburbs.” Ellen Dunham-Jones. Wiley: 2008.
Image credit: Metropolis Magazine, Eric Laignel/courtesy Envision
