Green Building Elements

USGBC, the Hospitality Industry Network (NEWH) and the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) have admirably joined together to sponsor the Sustainable Suite Design Competition. The goal of this hospitality design contest is to help drive green design practices within the hotel industry.

This competition provides an ideal platform for professional (and student) teams internationally to present their ideas and approaches to green hotel room interior design. Read the rest of this entry »

Have you heard about NRDC’s Smarter Cities?

“When thinking about the urban environment, more often than not problems come first to mind.  Less commonly thought about is the potential presented by cities, potential to rethink and reshape their environments responsibly.

Today urban leaders—mayors, businesses and community organizations—are in the environmental vanguard, making upgrades to transportation infrastructure, zoning, building codes, and waste management programs as well as improving access to open space, green jobs, affordable efficient housing and more. If they succeed in making their cities more efficient, responsible and sustainable, what will result will be smarter places for business and healthier places to live.”

Find out what is smart and green near you. Join the team and start reporting the success of your city! Read the rest of this entry »

New York City plans to train one thousand superintendents on green buildings this year. City managers of commercial and high-rise residential buildings now have the chance reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the city on a sky high level.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg took part in the program, “One Year, One Thousand Green Supers” which was also approved by the U.S. Green Building Council and the Building Performance Institute. It’s also made possible by the Thomas Shortman Training Fund. This is part of NYC’s huge goal to reduce their building-generated carbon footprint. Read the rest of this entry »

City Dirt is a brilliant urban gardening blog. The founder will be publishing the book A Little Piece of Earth this coming winter. Don’t wait to start planting some seeds now and have fun experimenting with growing food in small spaces. It is truly possible! Read the rest of this entry »

There is a brilliant sustainability series on urban gardening (Alive Structures and roof garden tutorials will be featured) in New York City this summer put on by a non-profit called New York Restoration Project. There will be four talks, every other Thursday from 7 pm to 8 pm, in NYPC’s Toyota Children’s Learning Garden. All of them are open to the public. 

Where? Toyota Sustainable Summer Series Toyota Children’s Learning Garden 603 East 11th Street, New York, NY

When?  July 30, 2009 from 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

What? Sarah Seigal, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates.  She will give a short garden tour and speak about the garden design, specifically the shade tolerant planting palette she created for this garden. 

What else? Refreshments at the end of each event.

NYRP works exclusively in New York City managing community gardens to help ensure their liveliness in each community. Keep reading for more details on the series in August and beyond… Read the rest of this entry »

Whenever I see my friend James D’Addio, the architectural photographer, I ask him about which new green buildings he’s been shooting. Not surprisingly, in a city with dedicated green building blogs and the NYC Department of Design & Construction’s award-winning programs, NYC may be the greenest city in the United States.  Here two projects in NYC that exemplify where green building is going.

It seems like if a building is going up, its just as likely as not to be green. McGraw-Hill research tells us that 53% of building professionals expect to be dedicated to green on over 60% of their projects in the next five years. It seems like there is ample opportunity for innovation in the building industries despite a downturn in overall building. I guess NYC is as good a place as any to lead the charge.

Norman Foster’s Hearst Tower, which sits atop a 1928 landmark building in Manhattan is engineered to use 25% less energy than required by code and boasts the world’s largest “air conditioner.” The two-story, stepped waterfall is also a huge radiant cooling system that along with other measures saves 1.7 million gallons of water every year. Other interesting facts about the building include:

Read the rest of this entry »

I recently had the opportunity to compare a walkable urban city with my own Silicon Valley suburb. I have read about the environmental benefits of the “New Urbanism“. On a recent visit to Washington, D.C., I observed the health benefits of an urban lifestyle. I was surprised that residents of Washington, D.C. appeared more trim and physically fit than my health-conscious California neighbors.

Read the rest of this entry »

With the economy in turmoil, a real estate prices dropping, green communities and green building will become more important. It’s easy to see how broken our current community model is in terms of the urban sprawl; the average American commute continues to grow longer. Between 1969 and 2001, the number of vehicle miles traveled for commuting jumped from 4,180 to 5,720.

The Sierra Club notes that today’s average American driver spends what amounts to 55 eight hour workdays behind the wheel every year. Gas won’t stay at the current level so we need to look at developing more sustainable communities.

San Francisco area architect Michelle Kaufmann & Kelly Melia-Teevan came up with a top 10 (sorry Letterman) EcoPrinciples for Communities.

Read the rest of this entry »

A new study in the December 2008 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine suggests that an increase of green space in a neighborhood may decrease the chance for childhood obesity among neighborhood children.

In the study, researchers from the University of Washington, Indiana University-Purdue University and Indiana University School of Medicine followed more than 3800 children aged 3 to 16 over a two year period. Using satellite imagery, the researchers found that of the predominantly African-American and poor children studied, those who lived near greater concentrations of green space had a greater chance of lower body mass index (BMI.) Children whose activities were limited to streets and sidewalks faced greater risk of childhood obesity than those who had access to open spaces such as yards, parks, or vacant lots.

This study finds that what is good for adults may not be good for children. A previous study done by the same researchers found that higher urban concentrations led to less driving and more walking by adults, and a corresponding drop in BMI. Read the rest of this entry »

In August, Seattle’s Queen Anne/Magnolia neighborhood Design Review Board approved a proposal for Seattle’s first prefabricated apartment building. Known as “inhabit”, conceptualized by Unico Properties and designed by architectural firms Mithun and HyBrid Seattle, the structure will be comprised of factory-built, wood-frame modular units.

Two of the prototype models were put on display on the base of Unico’s Rainier Tower last fall. But inhabit’s first permanent installation, at Dexter Avenue North (in West Lake Union), will consist of 62 units that will be manufactured in Idaho, shipped to Seattle, and stacked in groups of 3 and 4 atop a concrete base. The base will also accommodate parking and live-work units. Each prefabricated module will be either a 450 sq. ft. studio apartment, or a 525 sq. ft. one-bedroom unit. It is hoped that the first tenants will move in by May. Read the rest of this entry »