A San Diego-based company is marketing solarized parking lots and solar trees as a way to provide shade and generate electricity.
"Solar Trees. Solar Groves. The value of shade in the future economy. Bio-mimicry. My little brain was racing to absorb all the solar heat coming through the phone. I spent nearly an hour talking with Robert Noble. Trained as an architect, he's now CEO of Envision Solar in LaJolla, among his several ventures. Envision's a spin-off from his architectural firm. Their first big project was to solarize a parking lot for Kyocera in San Diego. Appropriately Kyocera maunfactures solar components, and they wanted a showcase. They got it."
"One of Noble's points is that he sees solar from an architect's viewpoint. It can be both functional and beautiful. It can be part of the overall design and pay economic dividens to the building owner. And, he says, more and more corporations are coming to realize it is not their lobby that gives a first impression to visitors, it's the parking lot they must contend with first. One of Noble's associates says any company's image begins at the curb, not at the lobby door. A solar, shaded parking lot is a very different message than forty acres of asphalt under the noonday sun. A pretty point, I must admit."
FULL STORY: Envision a solar parking lot: cool, clean and green

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

Adaptive Reuse Will Create Housing in a Suburban Texas Strip Mall
A developer is reimagining a strip mall property as a mixed-use complex with housing and retail.

Study: Anti-Homelessness Laws Don’t Work
Research shows that punitive measures that criminalized unhoused people don’t help reduce homelessness.

In U.S., Urban Gondolas Face Uphill Battle
Cities in Latin America and Europe have embraced aerial transitways — AKA gondolas — as sustainable, convenient urban transport, especially in tricky geographies. American cities have yet to catch up.
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