This past Saturday, I had the honour of joining a group of invited urbanists and sustainability experts, in a special dialogue put on by The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment, and Vancouver's Simon Fraser University. Among other things, the event was to launch a new partnership between these two innovative organizations around research and curriculum for sustainable urbanism.
Environment
Rating the Landscape
A new rating system for open and planted spaces has been created, offering a way to identify the most sustainable landscapes.
USA Today
New Natl. Parks Chief Takes Scientific Approach
Jonathan Jarvis, named the head of the National Park Service last month, says that he'll work with the National Academy of Sciences to fight global warming, which he says is "the greatest challenge ever to face national parks."
The Christian Science Monitor
Land and Water Unite in Waterfront Redevelopments
Cities across the globe are rediscovering their waterfronts. As this piece from Places discusses, revitalization of these former industrial areas includes more than just green space.
Places
The Most Polluted Metro Areas in America
Atlanta tops a list of the most polluted cities in the country, according to an analysis of EPA data by Forbes.
Forbes
'No Credits, Just Prerequisites'
The Living Building Challenge is a new environmental rating system that focuses on required environmental design elements, diverging dramatically from the credit-based approach of the built environment's dominant rating system, LEED.
Metropolis Magazine
Solar-lit Footbridge Opens in Brisbane
Last month saw the debut of one of the world's longest footbridges, which also happens to be 100% solar-powered. 36,500 people are projected to walk across the bridge each week.
Inhabitat
When The Auto Columnist Gives Up His Car
What's this? The Wall Street Journal's 'car guy' - the reporter who writes about cars and roads, is .....without a car? As difficult as it may be to believe, Joseph White is now a carless urbanite in DC. Here is his first column in his new lifestyle.
The Wall Street Journal
Maryland's Smart Growth Law A Dud According To University Study
Maryland's 1997 landmark smart growth, hailed as one of the most innovative policies in the nation, has turned out to have failed in what it hoped to accomplish - preserve open space and cluster urban growth, according to a just-released report.
Washington Post
A Greener Shade of Golf?
Golf courses use dangerous pesticides and hundreds of thousands of gallons of water to maintain their manicured look. Many people would like to change that. But some golf courses says you can have your cake and tee off, too.
Good
EPA's Porous Pavement Project
The Environmental Protection Agency is conducting a test on three different types of porous pavement to devise ways to control runoff from parking lots and streets.
Scientific American
Wind Power Gets Airborne
The motherlode of wind energy up, up in the air, say scientists. A handful of new technologies are being developed to harvest it at the source, roughly six miles up.
Miller-McCune
Ford in the Black, Thanks to Cash for Clunkers
Ford Motor Co. is reporting almost $1b in profits in the third quarter. CEO Alan Mulally credits the Cash for Clunkers program and cost cutting for their success.
The Los Angeles Times
Chicago's Answer to NYC's High Line Will Generate Power & Food
A proposed plan from Gensler and 4240 Architecture would turn an abandoned rail line in Chicago into an energy-generating, food-growing powerhouse. Oh, and a park too.
Fast Company
Starchitecture and Sustainability: Hope, Creativity, and Futility Collide in Contemporary Architecture
Can today's contemporary architects, schooled in modernism and invention, in fact incorporate the sort of green building materials and techniques that make a real difference? And does design really matter? Josh Stephens takes a look.
Local Canadian Leaders Do What Fed Fails To
While Canada's federal government resists taking action on climate change, its provincial and Aboriginal leaders have set aside over 200 million acres of boreal forest as a carbon vault.
Guardian (UK)
A Little Soy for Your Groundwater?
In order to clean up groundwater pollution from dry cleaning chemicals, Orland, California is planning on injecting soybean oil into the problem area. The plan is touted as lower risk and lower cost than other methods.
Oroville Mercury Register
Drive A Hot Rod, Save The Planet
How can a Porsche be better for the environment than a Prius? If you use transit to commute, and only take the hot rod out on the weekends. Slate writer Joe Eaton sold his Volvo for a combination of transit and fun.
Slate
The Trouble with Transition Towns
Alex Steffen weighs the challenges of Transition Towns and, instead, advocates for bright green, optimistic democracy.
WorldChanging
Planetizen picks
Contribute
TECH-320: Advanced SketchUp Webinar
Advanced SketchUp Webinar
Wednesday, December 2, 11am PST/2pm EST
$49.95 (includes 30-day access to video recording)
Learn More:
TECH-320: Advanced SketchUp - Modeling Buildings
- Function Over Geometry
- 'Getting Religion' in Water Conservation
- The Ghost of Architecture Past
- Exercising Eminent Domain for Private Developers
- Rural America Still Leads Nation in Poverty
- Can Free Fares Save Public Transit?
- Filling In The Holes From The Big Dig
- World Bank's Urban Strategy Misses Mark
- Dockside Green: 'Lightyears Ahead' in Sustainability
- Krier Pulls No Punches
"Hoboken Daylighting" In Lieu Of Bump-Outs -- Ian Sacs
Learning from TTI -- Michael Lewyn
Automobility and Freedom: Conflicts and Resolutions -- Todd Litman
Somewhere Between Blight and Gentrification... -- Diana DeRubertis
The Future of American High Speed Rail: Regional and Slow -- Robert Goodspeed
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