Click on the headline (link) for the full text.
Many more articles are available through the Energy Bulletin homepage
Livable Streets and Reclaiming Public Space for People (Instead of Automobiles)
Glenn, The Oil Drum: Campfire
One of clearest ways that cities and towns can start to de-couple their economic fates from the addiction to oil is to create alternatives to automobile centric lifestyles. One way that New York and other cities are adapting their land use policies is to reclaim space from automobiles to encourage a rich pedestrian environment that attracts people to sit, relax, walk around their neighborhood or commercial districts
For anyone who is down in the dumps and thinks that nothing can be done to change the car-culture where you are, I hope this post offers a glimmer of hope, optimism and inspiration on what can be done when we re-think our public domain.
Here are a few examples of reclaiming space from automobiles (courtesy of Streetfilms) to create more of a livable streetscape or car-free environment from all around the world.
(13 May 2009)
Losing sustainability in the urban canyons
Richard Black, BBC
Could New York be the world’s least sustainable city?
The question came to me as I walked down the narrow corridors that pass for open space here, the city canyons that guide the cars and the people (in that order of priority) between the soaring walls of stone and glass.
I’m here for the two weeks of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) meeting – not reporting, but running a project aimed at enhancing media coverage of sustainable development issues in developing countries and the former Soviet bloc.
With journalists from Bulgaria, India, Kenya and Peru, we’re running a mini radio station from the basement of the UN, reporting on the themes of the CSD negotiations, on issues raised by the numerous interest groups represented at the meeting, and – as making good radio means getting out of the studio – on some of the sustainability projects scattered among the suburbs of New York…
(12 May 2009)
Built To Last (YouTube)
Eric Hess, WorldChanging
Here’s a great, short video on development, sprawl, and transportation that illustrates some of the concepts we here at Sightline have been talking about for a while. Created by John Paget, it’s the winner of the Congress for New Urbanism CNU 17 video contest. And it’s pretty cool to boot:
(14 May 2009)
Stripping away efficiency: It turns out humans can undo the savings of green buildings
Dylan Rivera, The Oregonian
In trying to create the most Earth-friendly, energy-efficient buildings possible, architects and engineers have stumbled on a problem they hadn’t fully understood: You.
Your desktop computer that’s on, even when you’re out to lunch. The power-hogging photo copier in your office and its incessant red light. And then there’s the space heater under your desk, keeping you warm because the building is too cold.
Designers have found ways to make cooling and heating systems more efficient than ever, mainly by using cutting-edge technology and old-school techniques such as natural ventilation. But some of the greenest buildings in the world are undermined by human behavior and the traditions of engineers who design structures, build them and leave them for fallible humans to figure out later.
To make buildings truly sustainable, engineers say they need to sit down with the people who will live and work in their projects.
“Education of the occupants and involvement of the occupants is increasingly important,” says Omid Nabipoor, president of Portland’s Interface Engineering. “They need to buy into strategies and understand how they can change their behavior.”
(14 May 2009)
A White Roof Isn’t Always the Right Roof
Robert Reale, Miller-McCune
Even partisans of using reflective roofs note that a ‘winter penalty’ in
cooler climes may mean their albedo benefits may pale compared to heating
requirements.
(15 May 2009)
Janice Sinclaire writes:
Do you remember that wonderful article by Sam Kornell about using the albedo effect to combat global warming by painting roofs and roads white? (Is White the New Green?)
Robert Reale counters with this article by pointing out that we shouldn’t all run out and paint our roofs…yet. Good stats and links here from the Cool Roof Rating Council and others.
The Earth Sheltered House: An Architect’s sketchbook
Chelsea Green
The Earth Sheltered House: An Architect’s sketchbook, a classic among sustainable building books, is now back in print! The reprint offers a new introduction by the author, Malcolm Wells, a legend in the field of environmentally responsible architecture.
“Malcolm Wells has been an inspiration to two generations of architecture students. This book should be required reading for everyone making decisions about the built environment.”
—Steve Heckeroth, award-winning solar designer/builder
Malcolm Wells has a fundamentally different way of looking at the design and building process, and his iconoclastic perspective has never been more apparent. 192 pages of handwritten font and b&w illustrations, this is a true sketchbook to be collected, admired, and put into action.
A pioneer of underground building and natural design, Wells is widely known for his many books, including How to Build an Underground House and Gentle Architecture. He lives in The Underground Art Gallery in Brewster, Massachusetts.
The Earth-Sheltered House Bookpage: http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/the_earthsheltered_house:pape…
(18 May 2009)
