Green Team blog

The Metropolis Green Team has a great blog post from RU LA alum Zeina Zahalan. She critiques instant landscapes and talks about alternative approaches.

(I'd like to think that the absurd amount of writing that the climate change studio required was part of what propelled her into high visibility writing. But talent and hard work are probably more to blame.)

Greenest cities infographics

Fast Company has some fascinating infographics to help you sort out which cities are the greenest in the world.

Solar Decathlon is moving ahead

With several folks from Environmental Planning and Design participating, it is great to see that the solar decathlon project is moving ahead.  The Star-Ledger just wrote up the project, with photos of the concrete solar house being constructed, and there is both a video walk-through and a Facebook page so you can learn more.

LiveBlog: Sustainable in a Material World

Meg Calkins, Ball State

Editor of the forthcoming Sustainable Sites Handbook to be published in October 2011 by John Wiley and Sons.  Author of Materials for Sustainable Sites (described by L+U as a "must read")was published in October 2008.

For an aluminum rail in Indianapolis she breaks down all of the environmental impacts of that rail.

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) concluded that ecosystem resources are critical to support life on earth.  And that society has caused irreversible damages.

More than 90% of the materials that goes into the average US product is waste before it reaches the users.  80% is molecular waste that goes into the air or water, etc.  But if you consider closed materials and resource loops, "true waste does not exist".  Good green design recognizes that and makes use of it as a guiding principle.

The first case study is the High Line. The heavy reliance on cement is a good starting point.  We can often reduce it.  Sometimes we can use substitutes like fly ash, slag, and natural pozzolans like calcined shale.  Another concern are the woods used.  If they were rainforest materials they are not renewed as well as others.  Certified wood would be better - this can include accounting for the chain of custody.  Plastic lumber is a much harder sell, but if you use it make sure you avoid PVCs.  For materials like stainless steel and aluminum, we should be considering the level of embodied energy.

If we are going to make progress on this front, we need to make a minor or less radical shift on projects like this.

But we need a major shift in materials that we need to seek out as well.

The 2nd case study is at the Queens Botanical Garden.  One innovation was rammed earth structures, which can be used anywhere.  It is high-labor, low-cost and low-impact.  Don't confuse it with Compressed Earth block (CEB).  The radical shift in materials is needed to "close the loop".

Alternate materials can include gabions with concrete or stone rubble from on-site. Stabilized soil pavement requires binders, whether they are plant-based (agave, pine resin, seed oils), and polymer binders can help us stop using so much paving.  Natural barriers can replace fencing. 

Ecobalancing - life-cycle flow of resources that balances inputs and outputs to support vital whole systems.

Finally an example was provided using an interdisciplinary student project from outside Muncie.  One included a 5ac demonstration site for a family, because 5ac is the footprint of a single family.  The designs also included selective harvesting of a forest on site, permaculture areas, strawbale construction (currently not legal in the US) and AlgaeWheel technology.  Even an incremental shift in construction methods will require proving the reliability of these techniques and showing people the benefits.

A sustainability design challenge

An interesting challenge that is popping up more and more is the ability to elegantly integrate some of the less elegant elements of sustainability in the working landscapes of daily life.  One example of this was highlighted (indirectly) in the NY Times blog this week: solar panels.  The video shows one way people are starting to integrate them into parking lots, but the truth is that as panel prices drop there will be plenty of other interesting alternatives to solar farms that will create visual and aesthetic challenges for designers.

Dockside Green

Dockside Green is a new eco-friendly housing project in Victoria, BC.

Is LEED what we need?

Political blogger Matt Yglesias has sparked an interesting comment thread on LEED standards.

A very large green roof

The Target Center in Minneapolis has a new green roof designed (in part) by the landscape architects at the Kestrel Design Group. Retrofitting is hard. But, as EcoStructre reports, retrofitting a roof into the 5th largest green roof in the country is extra challenging.

A greener Harvard Yard

The NY Times reports that Harvard Yard has turned to an organic alternative to synthetic fertilizer.

Fellowship opportunity

For our more advanced readers...

The Sustainability Science Program
Harvard University
Center for International Development

*________________________________________________*

*Fellowships in Sustainability Science*

Harvard University's Center for International Development

Due date for applications: December 1, 2009

The Sustainability Science Program at Harvard University's Center for International Development invites applications for resident fellowships in sustainability science for the University's academic year beginning in September 2010. The fellowship competition is open to advanced doctoral and post-doctoral students, and to mid-career professionals engaged in research or practice to facilitate the design, implementation, and evaluation of effective interventions that promote sustainable development. Applicants should describe how their work would contribute to "sustainability science," the emerging field of use-inspired research seeking understanding of the interactions between human and environmental systems as well as the application of such knowledge to sustainability challenges relating to advancing development of agriculture, habitation, energy and materials, health and water while conserving the earth's life support systems. This year we will give some preference to applicants who address the challenges related to meeting human needs for water or food/agriculture/land use in the context of sustainable development. In addition to general funds available to support this fellowship offering, special funding for the Giorgio Ruffolo Fellowships in Sustainability Science is available to support citizens of Italy or developing countries who are therefore especially encouraged to apply. The Sustainability Science Program is directed by Professors William Clark and Michael Kremer, and Nancy Dickson. For more information on the fellowships application process see http://www.cid.harvard.edu/sustsci/fellowship. Applications are due December 1, 2009.

Sustainability students on the rise

The Chronicle lists Sustainability in the Top 5 rising majors. It is really a loose grouping of majors, but clearly an emerging growth area for schools. They cite a recent pilot project from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education that identified more than 70 schools with sustainability-related majors (including Rutgers). But whatever you think it is about, you are probably only partly right since some seem to be teaching it as a research scienc while others are emphasizing it as training for a first job.

Environmental education intership

A different way to spend your summer:

Summer Intern
Far Hills Country Day School
Full-time, up to 8 weeks, $10/hr
Start date: negotiable

Far Hills Country Day School has an opening for an energetic and motivated summer intern with a passion for education and the environment to help develop student-driven projects related to our Sustainability Initiative.
The successful candidate will help compile historical energy consumption and construction data and use it to create a document for students to use in classroom studies. Other projects may involve internal communications efforts or researching sustainable purchasing and solid waste management.

Must be able work well with minimal supervision. Facility with Microsoft Excel a plus.

Please forward a resume and cover letter via email to:
Caitlin Wargo
Director of Sustainability and Energy Management
Far Hills Country Day School
PO Box 8
Far Hills, NJ 07931
cwargo@fhcds.org
(908) 766-0622, ext. 509

Getting Green at MCC

It looks like there will soon be a LEED Silver building nearby at Middlesex County College, designed by DMR Architects. Today's Home News and Tribune looks at multiple efforts on the MCC campus to promote more sustainable activties, including courses for green-collar workers and working 4-day work weeks during the summer to save energy. The article quotes the Sierra Club's omnipresent Jeff Tittel as saying that this will be an important economic area of growth: "We expect in New Jersey over the next 10 years 150,000 jobs in the clean energy sector alone.''

Green Roof photos

National Geographic's photos of green roofs are much, much nicer than mine.

Quote of the Day

"We shall never achieve harmony with land, any more than we shall achieve absolute justice or liberty for people. In these higher aspirations the important thing is not to achieve, but to strive."

- Aldo Leopold

Stamp Out Carbon Emissions at Rutgers

Contest to Stamp Out Carbon Emissions at Rutgers 

The Rutgers Energy Institute will offer four awards ($2,500 for first place, $1,500 for second place, $1,000 for third place, and a $1,000 for the Video category) to students or teams who develop the best plans to reduce student energy consumption and promote eco-friendly practices throughout the New Brunswick Campus.

For more information, visit the official contest website.

Rutgers Gardens Sustainable Building Design Competition

RUTGERS GARDENS SUSTAINABLE BUILDING DESIGN COMPETITION  

The Rutgers Energy Institute will offer an award of $750 to the team of students who design the best environmentally  sustainable visitor's center at the Rutgers Gardens. 

Teams of enrolled undergraduate students in the specified discipline area on the New Brunswick Campus are eligible. Students are encouraged to consult with faculty advisers in various departments to help form teams and develop designs.

For more information, visit the official competition website.

Live Blog: Potential for LEED-ND to Curb Sprawl in NJ

Exploring the Potential for LEED-ND to Curb Sprawl in New Jersey
The Spring 2009 Environmental Geomatics Lecture
John Hasse, PhD
Rowan University

Part I: Patterns of Land Development in NJ

How do you know sprawl when you see it?
One person's sprawl is another person's American Dream.
Most densely populated state
Still increasing population, but the rate is slowing down a little
Does that mean that development is slowing down?
Using Google Earth, Dr. Hasse illustrated land use change patterns and showed that new development in a 16 year period was equal to the total land area of Bergen, Hudson, Passaic and Essex Counties combined.

He projects that in August 2008 we crossed the line where forest was the largest land use in NJ, to where Urban is now the largest!

The basic numbers on loss of forests and wetlands and gains in development are on the CRSSA Landscape Change web page.



He encouraged students to go to the NJ State Atlas website to get some other ways to look at the landscapes of New Jersey.


Part II: Can LEED-ND help with NJ Sprawl?

LEED-ND is the USGNC's new LEED measure for Neighborhood Development. While LEED has been around for buildings (like the Comcast building in Philly - the world's tallest green building) it is pretty new for developments. It includes firm requirements, like not building on wetlands, and some things you can do to get points, like affordable rental housing. It also requires at least 7 houses per acre and rewards transit, energy efficient buildings.

Dr. Hasse used Rowan Boulevard in Glassboro as a case study. This is a redevelopment of a deteriorating town center driven by the school, meant to help the town. Technically it would be ineligible because of an existing stream. But he proceeded to explore some other measures. The site avoided T&E species habitat, had more than 55% of front doors within a walking distance of a bus stop, connected to a bike path, and had dwelling units close to schools.

Water expert to speak at Alexander Library

The spillover from environmental issues into other areas is becoming much more widely recognized, as you can see with this announcment of a relatively high-profile talk on campus.

The connections between access to water, gender, security, environment and human rights will be the subject of a talk by Dr. Peter H. Gleick on Thursday March 26^th in the Rutgers University Libraries.

Dr. Gleick is the president and co-founder of the Pacific Institute in Oakland, CA. The institute monitors the quality of the world's water supply and its effect on health, climate change, industrialization, and international relations. The work of the Pacific Institute has been cited by government officials and/or community activists in South Africa, India, the United Nations Global Compact, and the State of California.

Dr. Gleick's talk is supported by a grant from the School of Arts and Sciences International Programs office and is part of the office's year long series of events to mark the 60^th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights.

The talk will be held in the Scholarly Communication Center, on the 4^th floor of Alexander Library in New Brunswick, starting at 6:00 pm.

In December Dr. Gleick spoke with National Public Radio's The Takeaway show about "What President-elect Obama needs to know about water." To hear Dr. Gleick's comments, visit: http://www.thetakeaway.org/stories/2008/dec/22/page-americas-briefing-book-water/.

Majora Carter

The NY Times calls her the green power broker and talk about the fact that some environmentalists might not appreciate the fame she is getting.