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Ecocity World Summit April 22-26 in San Francisco
Richard Register, Ecocity Builders
Throughout Earth Day Week, April 22-26, 2008 in San Francisco, California, the Ecocity World Summit (7th International Ecocity Conference) will be convening an international community of inspired change-makers; courageous individuals who are addressing problems of the world’s environment with thoughtful long-range solutions that are truly sustainable, ecologically healthy and socially just.
The International Ecocity Conference Series brings together the key innovators, decision makers, technologists, businesses and organizations shaping the conversation around ecological and sustainable city, town and village design, planning and development. We intend to put these issues on the economic and environmental agenda for 2008 and beyond.
Ecocity World Summit 2008 Themes
- People: population, health, equity, and access
- Nature: protecting and restoring the planet’s living systems and agricultural lands
- Sustainable Development: land use, transportation, architecture and infrastructure
- Economies & Technologies: building the supporting markets, businesses and technologies
- Incentives & Support Structures: role of government, organizations, institutions and individuals
…What is a Green City?
A Green City is an ecologically healthy city. No such city presently exists. We do, however, see hints of Green Cities emerging in today’s solar, wind and recycling technologies, in green buildings and green businesses, in urban environmental restoration projects, urban gardening and organic farming, and in individuals using foot, bicycle and public modes of transportation in preference to the automobile. Car-free urban centers, “mixed use” and “balanced” development projects represent land use and architectural changes moving in the right direction, too.
But despite such positive signs and efforts, the much larger trend around the world is toward cars and sprawl. And now we are at a point of crisis in the way we live, which is largely determined by the way we build. This continuing trend is promoting global warming, species extinction, loss of habitat and agricultural land, serious public health problems and even war.
(January 2008)
Green architect receives golden honour
SwissInfo
Environmentally conscious architect Conrad Lutz was one of the winners in the “Watt d’Or” awards, which are presented annually to Switzerland’s best energy projects.
… The architect could not contain his satisfaction at having his “radical” ideas recognised. “In 1973 I was in the middle of studying and those weekends without a car and the oil crisis really stuck in my mind,” he said.
It was during this time that he came up with his first building, which demonstrated that insulation was financially viable.
“This was the start of my journey into ecology and sustainable development. At the time people called us every name under the sun, but history has proved us right. Today we all have to pay attention to energy,” said Lutz, who has his own architecture office.
The Green Offices project in Fribourg shows that it is possible to construct a building with a low environmental impact and at little cost. The three-storey building offers 1,300 square metres of office space to eight green companies, among them Lutz’s own.
Apart from the foundations, the building is entirely made out of untreated wood from the region. “This is to save as much grey energy as possible, the energy needed for the production and transport of materials,” explained the architect.
“The savings made are equivalent to the energy needed to heat the building for nearly 100 years,” he added.
The Green Offices are also CO2 negative – they absorb more of the gas than they gave out during their construction. And 94 per cent of the energy used in the building is from renewable sources – the hot water is produced by solar panels on the roof and the heating by a wood-pellet fired boiler. The electricity is wind-powered.
Added to this, rainwater is collected and the toilets are biodegradable and dry, with wood shavings that transform waste into humus.
swissinfo, based on an article in French by Isabelle Eichenberger
(14 January 2008)
Desert state channels oil wealth into world’s first sustainable city
John Vidal, Guardian
Lord Foster designs car-free, solar-powered project for 50,000 people
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In an expanse of grey rock and dust in one of the harshest environments on earth, the United Arab Emirates is about to build what is being described as the world’s first sustainable city, designed by British architect Lord Foster.
The site is far from promising. Miles from a polluted sea, a fierce sun raises temperatures to 50C (120F) in the summer, and there is no fresh water, no soil and no animals. But tens of billions of petro-dollars will be poured into these seven square kilometres of desert on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi.
Called Masdar – “the source” in Arabic – the walled city is intended to house 50,000 people and 1,500 businesses. It will have no cars and be self-sufficient in renewable energy, the majority of which will be solar energy.
(21 January 2008)
Hard to see how a city can be sustainable with no fresh water, no soil and no animals. Might be a case of what permaculture co-originator Bill Mollison calls type-one errors: a flaw in a basic design decision. “Once you make that error, error after error will follow.” -BA
