The Green Element | Tangible Sustainability

It’s time to garden. A new report out by shows that greening your roof can help the environment even more than we originally thought. For quite some time now, we’ve known that green roofs help to reduce heating and air conditioning costs, retain stormwater, and absorb carbon dioxide. Adding green to your roof though can [...]

Sustainable home living is coming to Western Massachusetts thanks to Rural Development Incorporated (RDI) and the Franklin County Housing and Redevelopment Authority. Wisdom Way Solar Village is nearing completion, the end product will be 20 low- to moderate-income duplexes. These Zero Net Energy Homes are being built near the center of Greenfield each feature solar [...]

SINGLE speed DESIGN has turned the garbage from a big headache into an example of infrastructure reuse. The the construction of the Big Dig and the demolition of the old elevated highway through Boston, the state was left with a lot of material waste. Rather than pumping this back into the environment, SsD constructed an [...]

The neighborhood of Mueller in Austin, Texas, recently unveiled its part in going green. This mixed-use village is home to a new retail development that includes a surprising twist. In a nod to technology mimicking nature, Harries/Heder completed the installation of 15 flower-like solar photovoltaic panels. These “sunflowers” line a pedestrian/bike path by the retail [...]

This past July, residents in Seattle were invited to neighborhood meetings to help the Department of Neighborhoods and Department of Planning and Development develop and update the neighborhood plans for the city. While this process focused on areas that had light rail stations, the departments were also interested in the status of other neighborhoods based [...]

The City of Vancouver, Washington, is seeking to establish a Sustainable Neighborhood Demonstration Project. The project has two main elements: sustainable actions in the neighborhood such as improving energy efficiency, water conservation, and transportation solutions; creating green jobs to follow through with these initiatives. It’s a great melding of the need for new jobs as [...]

St. Louis is taking sustainability to the streets – literally. In a test program, the city redesigned the streetscape of six blocks on South Grand Boulevard. The redevelopment of the street is to create a more sustainable community – results benefitting the social, economy, and environmental character. The updates include: fewer lanes and shorter crosswalk [...]

There have been a flood of sustainable building and city concepts in recent years – brought on by increasing concern and sensitivity for the environment as well as respect for environmental form. These new concepts set the stage for new living standards and ways of life. From organic forms to lush gardens, the future looks [...]

Updating our homes, businesses, and cities using new sustainable elements and features is certainly a step in the right direction. But as Witold Rybczynski points out, the real change that is needed is a lifestyle change. He points out that while the LEED certification process certainly ensures certain qualities of a building are “green,” it’s [...]

As the federal government focuses on a “green economy” thanks to President Obama, many regions across the country are trying to determine what their role and effect will be in this new future. Along with this comes the uncertainty in the field itself – will it be profitable, will there be adoption, is it temporary. [...]

Geothermal has surpassed wind as the most efficient energy source, finds a recent NYU report. With 144 new geothermal projects underway, the technology is experiencing a 50% increase in projects and doubling of production doubling in just two years. Currently 14 states have geothermal projects underway, with California and Nevada topping out the list. This [...]

Plans are currently underway to establish large solar arrays in the African Sahara to create and transfer energy to Europe. One such plan has the potential of producing up to 15% of Europe’s energy needs – a significant chunk that could result in less environmental impacts. Hopefully the plans consider the social equity aspect. As [...]

The race to develop green technology and energy is not just one of ecological importance but also of economic. The contenders are Chinese-style capitalism and the market-oriented approach used by the United States and Europe. China is certainly putting up a good fight.
The Chinese are coming on strong…Beijing’s top leaders have made clear their intention [...]

Farming’s not just for the back country. Due to recent food scares as well as a trying economy, farming is taking hold throughout the U.S. in all parts including its urban areas. These “farms” range from small garden plots to small-scale farms. Citizens are utilizing abandoned and neglected land as well as under-utilized rooftops to [...]

The American Society of Landscape Architects has compiled an online resource guide on sustainable urban development. Put together by students and professionals, the guide contains lists of organizations, research, concepts, and projects related to sustainable urban development. There are six sections to the guide: 1. Fighting Sprawl, 2. Sustainable Zoning, 3. Reusing Brownfields, 4. Investing [...]

The sustainable city may be what saves humanity from itself. Contrary to stats from President Obama, Bill Clinton, and UN officials, city dwellers actually have a smaller carbon footprint that non-urban residents. Many who study urban development have understood this but now new statistics are proving it. With these new numbers showing that urban living [...]

San Francisco may soon be home to a global climate change think tank, pending a few hurdles. Mayor Newsom and the United Nations are in discussion to revitalize the highly-polluted Hunters Point Shipyard by building a conference center, UN office buildings and incorporate more than 2,000,000 square feet of commercial space. The site is currently [...]

UN’s Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon has announced that the theme of this year’s International Youth Day will be “Sustainability: Our Challenge. Our Future”. This reflects the belief that our societal, economic, and environmental issues most impact the young as they are the ones who will be affected by the actions for decades to come. They, however, [...]