energy

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The Eco-Efficient City

Cities and regions will move from linear to circular or closed-looped systems, where substantial amounts of their energy and material needs are provided from waste streams. Eco-efficient cities will reduce their ecological footprint by reducing wastes and reducing resource requirements.
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The Photosynthetic City

The potential to grow energy and provide food and materials locally will become part of urban infrastructure. Photosynthetic processes in cities will reduce their ecological impact through replacing fossil fuels and can bring substantial ecological benefits through their emphasis on natural systems.

The Distributed City

The seven key innovations of resilient cities are set as city models (being detailed over the next several weeks here at “Eco-Compass”). While no one city has shown innovation in all seven areas, some are quite advanced in one or two. The challenge for urban planners will be to apply all of these city characteristics together, to generate a sense of hope through a combination of new technology, city design and community-based innovation, which together will create the Resilient City.

Can Americans Learn To Share?

It would be an interesting exercise to inventory the "things" we have in our homes and offices—the objects, the equipment, specialized things, electronic and otherwise, that occupy space. Along with this accounting, might be some estimate of how recently the thing has actually been used, and how frequently. My hunch is that much of our home "inventory" consists of things that are used rather infrequently, if ever.
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Jerry Yudelson: Top Ten Green Building Trends for 2009

Green building consultant Jerry Yudelson has published his "Top Ten" list of green building trends for 2009. Yudelson says that green building will continue to grow in spite of the global credit crisis and the ongoing economic recession in most countries."What we're seeing is that more people are going green each year, and there is nothing on the horizon that will stop this trend. In putting together my Top Ten trends for 2009, I'm taking advantage of conversations I've had with green building leaders in the U.S., Canada, Europe and the Middle East over the past year," said Yudelson.
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The Renewable Energy City

The seven key innovations of resilient cities are set as city models, which will be detailed over the next several weeks here at "Eco-Compass." While no one city has shown innovation in all seven areas, some are quite advanced in one or two. The challenge for urban planners will be to apply all of these city characteristics together, to generate a sense of hope through a combination of new technology, city design and community-based innovation, which together will create the Resilient City. The first is city model is the Renewable Energy City.
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Will Obama take on food?

In the months leading up to the election, food activists (see the video by The White House Organic Farm Project, a.k.a. TheWhoFarm.org below) have been salivating over the possibility that they could convince the next president to turn up some sunny expanse of White House lawn and put in a lush and leafy organic farm. The bounty of veggies could feed not only the first family but also Washington's needy and fresh-food-deprived school children.
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Resiliant cities and the crash

The financial crash is developing a whole industry of responses that can tell us where we went wrong and what we must do to make our future more resilient, especially in our cities where so much of the crash is hurting. Finance and economics dominate this discussion. We believe that a better understanding of what makes cities work will help in this debate, especially how urban transport and energy are fundamental to how the urban economy works or doesn't. What caused the crash?
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Last minute Bush Administration actions

On November 4, from the White House to state houses and the unsung offices of Soil & Water Conservation and Public Utility Districts, American voters elected what is likely an unprecedented number of pro-environment candidates.
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Solar, the benefits are big but the funding is not

In the green world, the "benefits of solar" is bandied about as dogma. But exactly what kind of benefits are we talking about? Economic? Environmental? Social? All of the above?

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