Green ArchiTEXT

The Plan to Decarbonize Chicago's Central Loop

Renowned architecture firm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill (AS+GG) recently completed the investigation phase of a massive plan to “decarbonize” Chicago’s Loop. The firm’s goal was to assess variables such as the age, use, condition, and energy consumption of the 500 buildings in this central core area of the city. Carried out in cooperation with the Chicago Climate Action Plan, the monumental project calls for a retrofit of half the city’s commercial and residential buildings to result in a 30% reduction in energy use by 2020. AS+GG took on this tall order with very well thought-out, research based, holistic ideas that beg to be implemented.

via www.inhabitat.com

Defining a ‘Carbon Neutral’ City

What does carbon neutral even mean? A critical first step in pursuing ‘carbon neutrality’ is defining it. Of the many considerations that go into defining carbon neutrality for a city the size of Seattle, a few stand out for their significance.

1. How does carbon neutrality relate to the global limits that scientists warn us we must not exceed – 350 ppm CO2 (or 2 degrees C over pre-industrial levels)?

2. Would a city have to actually quit emitting greenhouse gases, or could it use offsets (purchase carbon credits) to reach its goal?

3. Are we trying to account for only emissions that occur within city limits, or all emissions for which Seattleites are responsible?

This is wonky stuff; catnip for the carbon emissions accounting crowd (yes, they exist, and yes, there are technically enough of them to constitute a crowd…).

via www.worldchanging.com

Austin's ZeroHouse is designed to be the greenest of them all

It looks like it could take off. And the two Austin architects developing a prototype for an off-the-grid house designed to save as much energy as it consumes hope their project does just that, figuratively speaking.

Trademarked as the ZeroHouse, Scott Specht and Louise Harpman's compact modular structure shouts "futuristic," from the composting unit beneath it to the solar panels on the roof. It looks as if it could be housing for space pioneers, but Specht and Harpman have their sights set on planet Earth for its first occupant.

The ZeroHouse design is on the cutting edge of the green building movement: so-called net-zero houses that generate as much energy as they use over the course of a year and handle all or most of their own water and wastewater needs. They are built with renewable materials and advanced energy- and water-conservation features.

via www.statesman.com

First Net-Zero Neighborhood in the U.S. Being Built in Boulder

A new development in the north of Boulder, CO stands to be the first completely net-zero neighborhood in the U.S. Dubbed SpringLeaf Boulder, the project aims to bring net-zero homes “to the masses” by streamlining green technologies and driving down costs. The twelve homes are designed for LEED Platinum certification, will be fully powered by photovoltaic systems, and are very close to shops and restaurants, creating a little eco-community within Boulder.

via www.inhabitat.com

Dallas Creating a Carbon-Neutral Urban Block

Dallas aims to take a vacant inner-city block behind City Hall and transform it into a carbon-neutral, sustainable community.

Urban Re:Vision- Dallas and the Central Dallas Community Development Corp. have chosen a design for the community.

Dubbed “Forwarding Dallas,” the city block aims to run off the grid, reports PegasusNews.

via www.environmentalleader.com

How Many Solar Panels Does It Take to Power the World?

That’s essentially the question put forth by the Land Art Generator Initiative and then illustrated in “Total Surface Area Required to Fuel the World With Solar”. The map (pictured here) estimates that 496,805 square kilometers would be needed worldwide by the year 2030 to supply 678 quadrillion Btu, using solar panels alone and producing zero carbon emissions.

Their assumptions:

“According to the US Department of Energy (Energy Information Administration), the world consumption of energy in all of its forms (barrels of petroleum, cubic meters of natural gas, watts of hydro power, etc.) is projected to reach 678 quadrillion Btu (or 7.15 exajoules) by 2030 – a 44% increase over 2008 levels (levels for 1980 were 283 quadrillion Btu and we stand at around 500 quadrillion Btu today).

I wonder what surface area would be required and what type of infrastructural investment would be required to supply that amount of power by using only solar panels. To create fuel that can be used in vehicles and equipment I am assuming that some of the electricity generated would be used to create hydrogen. We should all start wondering about these things since we will have really no other choice by the turn of the next century.”

Interesting concept, based on dividing these arrays among 5,000 super-site installations around the world – equaling a land area roughly the size of Spain. Read more here.

North America's First Carbon Neutral Financial Institution

Vancity, Canada's largest credit union, becomes the first North American-based financial institution to become carbon neutral. This goal, set voluntarily by the Vancity group of companies for 2010, was achieved early through a rigorous emissions reduction program focusing on energy use, staff travel, paper consumption and waste.

Formed in 1946, the Vancouver City Savings Credit Union today has $14.1 billion in assets, 2,000 employees and 59 branches throughout Greater Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and Victoria.

Over the last 10 years Vancity has cut its energy use in half and its paper consumption by 30 percent, saving well over $2 million in energy costs alone. The remaining carbon was offset through investments in high-quality, verified emission reduction projects in British Columbia and elsewhere.

David Suzuki joined Vancity’s CEO and others to make the announcement April 9 in this video.

Zerofootprint Cities

WorldChanging.com recently highlighted the work of Zerofootprint, a Canadian not-for-profit that works with large organizations – cities, multinational corporations, universities, schools and multinational communities – to help them create the infrastructure to measure, aggregate, track and manage their individual and combined footprints.

Zerofootprint also provides links to a whole range of carbon offsets and zero footprint calculators, publications and carbon-neutral services.

In "Zerofootprint Cities", Ron Dembo of Zerofootprint explains the concept of the groups "Cities" initiative"

"Imagine a tool that could link the citizens of large world cities around issues involving climate change. Imagine further that these citizens could be mobilized to reduce their environmental footprint and their collective actions could be measured and celebrated.

...

Imagine that we could motivate millions of citizens of many cities around the world to measure their footprint. In doing so, we would build up a picture of where their footprint originates and would understand where the biggest opportunities were to reduce their collective impact. Using the Internet and appropriate software, we could track and report changes, encourage and report pledges, and help individuals understand the relative benefits of their various actions. We could launch initiatives and understand how well they worked in short order. We could discover what concerned citizens most and where they would be most willing to act. We could go further and use the tremendous buying power of large groups of citizens to create the economies of scale needed to reduce the “price of green”. And, all of this does not need a willing President or Minister of the Environment to decide on policy or the World Trade Council to come up with new rulings. Nor does it need a tortuous set of discussions over 10 years to reach a new Kyoto accord, with all its watered-down language to satisfy the all the political constraints of the countries involved."

Read his full essay here.

2030 Blueprint

The 2030 Blueprint is the latest from Ed Mazria’s 2030 Challenge initiative. This new study illustrates how an investment of just $21.6 billion towards building energy efficiency would replace 22.3 conventional coal-fired plants, reduce CO2 emissions by 86.7 MMT, save 204 billion cubic feet of natural gas and 10.7 million barrels of oil, save consumers $8.46 billion in energy bills and create 216,000 new jobs.

You may recall the 2030 Challenge was launched in January 2006, outlining a measurable, achievable strategy to reduce global GHG emissions and fossil-fuel consumption in the building sector by the year 2030. The 2030 Blueprint now provides a comparative analysis of three distinct approaches to addressing climate change: building energy efficiency, ‘clean’ coal (with carbon capture and sequestration) and nuclear power.

Mazria and and his co-author Kristina Kershner conclude in the 2030 Blueprint:

“There is a clear, simple, realistic and achievable solution to climate change that also offers significant additional benefits: building energy efficiency. Of the energy and climate change solutions proposed today, building energy efficiency is the one that can be implemented immediately, costs the least and offers the greatest benefits to both the planet and the economy. With a single action, the U.S. can begin replacing coal, reduce CO2 emissions, strengthen the U.S. economy, save consumers billions of dollars and create jobs.”

Read the full report here.

"Primary Victory", by Suzanne LaBarre for the April 2008 issue of Metropolis Magazine, details Ed Mazria's unrelenting push to make the 2030 Challenge a reality. She writes:

"On December 19, 2007, President Bush signed into law a sweeping energy bill that, among other things, handed down the stiffest green-building standards in U.S. government history. It was heralded in the popular press as a momentous leap forward: 'From Bulbs to Cars, This Bill Will Change Your Life,' the Houston Chronicle crowed. 'More than we’ve ever done,' effused a Democratic senator to Newsweek.com. And from the New York Times: 'Its passage is one of the largest steps on energy the nation has taken since the oil crises of the 1970s.' Going by the articles, you’d think Bush approved the environmental equivalent of universal health care.

So why hasn’t Ed Mazria – the New Mexico architect who propelled the bill’s green-building regulations to the fore – declared victory? Five years ago Mazria floated the seemingly incredible notion that the nation’s biggest greenhouse-gas emitter isn’t transportation or industry; it’s the building sector. Before long, he and a cohort of fellow architects were hawking statis t ics on Capitol Hill. The legislation that resulted requires federal facilities to eliminate carbon emis sions by 2030, regulates home appliances, and offers some financial incentives for sustainable design. (Not even Al Gore can claim such rapid head way.) Still, Mazria says, these provisions represent a sliver of what could have been. Bowing to political pressure, congressional leaders scotched key language that would have slashed dependence on fossil fuels, though they managed to improve energy conservation in public and private buildings. 'The building sector is the 800-pound gorilla in the closet you have to deal with,' Mazria says. 'We’re moving quickly, but we still have a long way to go.' The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, as it was optimistically dubbed, was in-deed the nation’s largest step on energy since the 1970s and the largest step on green building ever. Maybe that was part of the problem."

Dell Headquarters Is 100% Green Powered

With its Austin, Texas headquarters now 100 percent powered by renewable energy, Dell has achieved a major milestone in its bid to make all company-owned and -leased facilities “carbon neutral” in 2008. The global campus is home to more than 10,000 employees. According to GreenBiz.com:

“Energy from wind and landfill gas sources now completely powers Dell Inc.'s 2.1 million square foot headquarters in Austin, Texas, the computer maker said Wednesday. 

Dell's announcement of a deal with Waste Management and TXU Energy Wind Power is part of its bid to achieve carbon neutrality at its owned and leased facilities this year.

Waste Management's Austin Community Landfill gas-to-energy facility will supply about 40 percent of the power needs at Dell’s headquarters, with the remainder coming from existing wind farms in the state through TXU Energy.”

Read more of “Dell's HQ Switches to 100 Percent Renewable Energy”.

More on Dell’s strategy to improve energy efficiency in its operations and Green Power plans is available here.