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When Building Green Ain’t So Green
Don Fitz, CounterPunch
The Twisted Logic of Eco-Sprawl
Look at the web site for the next green builder you see on TV or in the daily paper. Does the site show plans for a home with trees and no parking garage? Or, is it another house plan that tells you how many cars the garage will hold and says nothing about trees?
Many green architects and builders are doing their best to create environmentally friendly homes. But most have a narrow focus on eco-techniques. They rarely understand that current construction is actually making environmental problems worse.
Politicians who promote green building are not helping. Their bandwagon jumping indicates they are not seriously concerned with global warming. US building practices in the early 21st century will probably increase CO2 emissions rather than reduce them.
Wasted energy in homes deserves far more than the shallow attention it is receiving. An estimated 43% of US energy goes to buildings.
Here’s 10 ways that the green building fad is not improving the environment.
- It ain’t green to ignore perfectly good homes. …
- It ain’t green to build massive homes. …
- It ain’t green to encourage urban sprawl. …
- It ain’t green to build as if space for homes has nothing to do with transportation. …
- It ain’t green to ignore advantages of multi-family homes.
- It ain’t green to pretend that there is no advantage to building underground. …
- It ain’t green to not know what the word “green” means. …
- It ain’t green to protect the environment with one hand while destroying it with the other. …
- It ain’t green to build homes that will not outlast our grandchildren. …
- Voluntary green ain’t green. …
The first step in deep green building would be rejecting the absurd idea that you can do it one home at a time. The architects and builders I have met seem to be sincere people who are trying to do the best they can. But most jump to expensive green gadgets or efficiency systems before looking for low-tech solutions. A more basic problem is seeing the issue as home design rather than city redesign.
Don Fitz is editor of Synthesis/Regeneration: A Magazine of Green Social Thought, which is sent to members of The Greens/Green Party USA. He would like to receive data estimating the total percentage of energy savings on multi-family homes compared to single-family homes of the same size. He can be contacted at [email protected]
(5 July 2007)
Masdar Initiative CEO discusses first zero emissions, zero waste city in Abu Dhabi (Video and transcript)
E&E TV
In April, 2006 the government of Abu Dhabi launched the Masdar Initiative — an economic development program devoted to sustainability that seeks to create the first zero emissions, zero waste city in the world.
Construction on the project has just begun, but key aspects of the development remain unclear. How does the government plan to achieve zero emissions and zero waste? What other goals does the Initiative have for this site in Abu Dhabi?
During today’s OnPoint, Masdar Initiative CEO Sultan Al Jaber, discusses the various aspects of the plan. He explains how Masdar plans to team up with MIT to create a world-class institute for sustainable technology research. Sultan Al Jaber also discusses how this project will promote the enhanced recovery of oil.
(9 July 2007)
Urban Chic: City Growth Can Be ‘A Force for Good’
Nicole Olsen, OneWorld.net
The growth of cities will be the single largest influence on human society in the 21st century, according to a new United Nations report, which argues that urbanization can be a much more powerful force for positive change than many currently believe.
Around the world, urban areas are growing at more than 1.2 million people a week, says “State of the World Population 2007: Unleashing the Potential of Urban Growth.”
The report notes that 2030’s expected urban population will be nearly 5 billion. By contrast, the total human population this year — both urban and rural — is around 6 billion.
The future of cities in developing countries — and the future of humanity itself — “depend very much on the decisions made now in preparation for this growth,” George Martine, the principle author of the report, said at its release last week.
Urbanization is inevitable but it can also be positive, he added.
Up to now, policy makers and civil society organizations have merely reacted to the challenges of urbanization as they arise. Instead, “a pre-emptive approach is needed,” argues Martine’s report, adding that policy makers and advocates must better understand the way cities are growing if they are to effectively solve the related social and environmental problems.
A key misconception to be dispelled, according to the report, is that urbanization is inherently bad for people and the planet. Images of city slums, poverty, and environmental degradation can easily lead people to judge city growth negatively, but according to Martine, “urbanization can and should be a force for good.”
There are many economic, social, and environmental advantages to concentrating people and the services and jobs they need in close proximity to one another. The higher intensity of economic activity in cities favors jobs and income. In addition to this, proximity and concentration allow for governments to more effectively and inexpensively provide social services, infrastructure, and amenities to their citizens, the report explains.
(4 July 2007)
