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CLIMATE ACTION NOW
Last week in Tackling Climate Change we took a reality check on the level of challenge embodied in established targets for reducing emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.
This week, we're announcing a new call to action for architecture firms across the United States and around the world. — Published 2008.0430
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TACKLING CLIMATE CHANGE
Just about a year ago, Al Gore rocked the national AIA Convention in San Antonio with a climactic final keynote address, and received a prolonged standing ovation from thousands of architects who had lined up for hours to get in.
Gore expressed the compelling case on global climate change, anchoring the powerful presentation with this silver spur to action for design professionals: — Published 2008.0423
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PHOTOVOLTAIC HOME SYSTEM
Installing a full-scale intertie photovoltaic (PV) system on a home is the king of solar investments. To allow good time for decision-making, expect the entire process to take 90 days or more. With a really serious focus on conserving and altering energy consumption patterns, expect the process to take six months.
Here's a list of the things that need to be done: — Published 2008.0220
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REBUILDING BEAUFORT
Just north of London, off the M25 highway, a single large wind turbine reaches into the air and turns steadily above the bucolic English countryside. The turbine serves to generate power, and also as an emblem of the headquarters of the wind energy company Renewable Energy Systems (RES), set among the hedge rows and rolling hills of Hertfordshire. — Published 2008.0116
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MILWAUKEE'S URBAN ECOLOGY CENTER
The Urban Ecology Center in Milwaukee simply radiates with a special kind of beauty, from the inside out. It's a charming, efficient, respectful, and delightful structure, and more. It's a community building whose building has helped build a community. — Published 2007.1128
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GREENER GREEN ROOFS
The sedum roofs of today symbolize performance-oriented green roof design. Like fine-tuned engines, they run on leaner artificial substrates with almost no organic matter; volcanic rock or expanded shale, baked at 2000 degrees Fahrenheit (1093 degrees Celsius), make the substrates lighter and soil depths as thin as possible. They seem to be race cars in the fleet of green roofs — maximum performance paired with minimum weight. The simple soil mixtures and roof sections of the early days of green roofs developed into multilayered complex systems supporting the homogenous surface of succulents. The unkempt and rough gave way to the groomed and cultivated, reminiscent of the unrelenting beauty of agricultural fields. — Published 2007.1024
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ALDO LEOPOLD LEGACY CENTER
"That land is a community is the basic concept of ecology, but that land is to be loved and respected is an extension of ethics." — Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, 1949 — Published 2007.1003
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PLATINUM B-SIDE
Natural daylight, cooling and ventilating efficiencies, and low-impact material selections helped add up to a USGBC LEED Platinum certification for Building B of the new Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University (ASU). The first LEED Platinum building in Arizona joined the elite green ranks of fewer than 60 LEED Platinum-certified buildings worldwide. — Published 2007.0919
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ELECTRIC SHED
Coney Island's Stillwell Avenue Terminal is the largest above-ground station in New York City's subway system. After years of deferred maintenance, the 90-year-old station was redesigned by New York City Transit's in-house design staff. The resulting station, completed in 2006, is about 50 percent new construction, including a new train shed that covers the station's four platforms and eight tracks. — Published 2007.0822
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SEEKING GREEN NORMAL WITH THE CEC
With a total population of over 400 million, North America is the largest free-trade zone in the world, thanks to the North American Free Trade Agreement approved by the United States, Canada, and Mexico in 1994. When NAFTA was finalized, the three governments also agreed on a side accord, the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation, in order to address concerns about unequal environmental regulations in the three countries. — Published 2007.0725
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