Green Building Blog - Jetson Green

ECOBAY Focuses on Sustainability

One thing we're seeing for sure is an increasing amount of activity in the masterplanned, sustainable city area.  Last January, schmidt hammer lassen architects won an international competition to design ECOBAY, a new town situated on the Paljassaare peninsula near the Estonian capital of Tallinn.  In collaboration with Buro Happold Consulting Engineers and Møller & Grønborg, ECOBAY has been designed with everything one would need in close proximity: housing, schools, local shops, businesses, and other amenities -- all within walking or biking distance.  In addition, the town will utilize geothermal, small-scale wind, and surplus energy from the nearby wastewater facility. 

Green Community Spotlight: Pringle Creek

Pringle Creek Community is comprised of 32 acres of re-developed land, including protected wetlands, in Salem, Oregon.   The community boasts a wealth of sustainable features.   More than 80% of the existing trees have been preserved and the homes will be constructed using 100% FSC certified wood.  The streets in the community are narrow, allowing for more green space and their well-designed "green street" system means that 90% of the rainwater will filtrate through the soil, recharging the aquifer. 

Dubai's Xeritown Has Eco-City Aspirations, Too

The task of building an entire city from scratch isn't novel in Dubai -- it seems there's a new city announcement every half year or so.  Xeritown is one of the latest that I've learned about and it's planned for Dubailand.  The idea behind the 60-acre city is that it will be designed to accommodate the elements of the desert rather than overcome them.  The form of the city follows a north-south axis to take advantage of the cool breeze coming in from the sea.  The buildings, rather than artificial and water intense landscaping, provide shading and structure. 

Tragic Lag, Green Fast Tracking, Voices of Sprawl, Green Retailers, + Confused Offsets [WIR]

• Green buyers find prefab fabulous.
• Retail chains sold on green and energy efficiency.
• SLC Mayor proposes fast track approval for green projects.
• The tragic lag between what we know and what we do.
• Offsets present confused picture to consumers and businesses.
• Age of Transformation: suburbs becoming like city centers.
• Voices of Sprawl: now coming to a town near you (buy).

*WIR = Week in Review; a Saturday showcase of excellent links.

First Off-Grid Building in San Francisco Coming Soon!

Last month, Lorax Development broke ground on a building that's being billed as the first off-grid building in San Francisco.  At 1400 sf, The Eco Center is certainly an example of the future of green buildings -- buildings that are off-grid and sustainable.  The Eco Center is a $1.5 million environmental education center that will be located in McLaren Park.  Designed by Toby Long Design for the non-profit Literacy for Environmental Justice (LEJ), when it opens in the fall, it will be the first building in San Francisco, purportedly, to recycle its own wastewater.  Additionally, the off-grid center will have solar panels and an extensive green roof. 

Combating Climate Change by Tackling Sprawl

There's a lot of talk here on Jetson Green about the (adverse) impact that architecture and materials choice can have on the environment.  So it's nice to know that housing can actually be an essential factor in combating climate change according to a new study from Smart Growth America.

While attending the recent EcoCity World Summit in San Francisco, I heard panelist Reid Ewing, research professor at the National Center for Smart Growth, discuss urban development and its (negative and positive) effect on climate change.  The study, published by the Urban Land Institute, documents how key changes in land development patterns could help reduce vehicle greenhouse gas emissions. 

Earth Day 2008, This is How We Do It

Photo by JPhilipson

I've got an inbox full of cool announcements ready for Earth Day 2008, but to be honest, I'm not going to talk about any of them ... not today, at least.  Over the next week or so, I'll take some time to sift through the news and leak out the good stuff.  Today, though, I'm thinking, why not focus on the earth?  The best way I know how to do that is by sharing some earthy images from various, cool flickr folks.  Wear blue and enjoy the day ...

WORKac Vertical Farm Concept for NYC [S2]

New York asked four architects to generate ideas for an oddly shaped parcel of land at Canal and Varick Street in New York.  New York only requested that the ideas include a residential component and generally comply with zoning.  Of the four designs submitted, one of them caught my eye because it's of something that's being talked about more and more.  Vertical farms.  The design by WORKac entitled "Locavore Fantasia" features crops on each floor and four large water tanks for rainwater irrigation.  The idea here is just a concept, but it gets me thinking, which city will be the first to take the plunge on a vertical farm ...
 

Escraper, Imbuing Green in Vertical Design [S2]

Imagine you are tasked with creating an innovative skyscraper that takes into consideration historical and social context, the existing urban fabric, human scale, and the environment.  Your skyscraper design can take any height or shape on any site in the world, but it must be technologically feasible and environmentally responsible.  Any ideas?  Evolo Architecture held a skyscraper competition with the above constraints and announced three winners and six mentions.  Of those nine, Daekwon Park has received some attention in the last week.  It's a pretty interesting concept.  I also like the escraper by Sohta Mori and Yuichiro Minato. 

Escraper connects three twisted buildings in a modern, but natural way.  It has six major green spaces or parks, as well as a mini garden on each level. 

Popular Architecture's Mile High Eco Tower [S2]

This is a concept tower by Popular Architecture envisioned for Tower Hamlets in East London.  The design is a reaction, at least in part, to sprawl issues.  London is expected to need housing for 100,000 new people per year until 2016, and currently, most of housing that's being built is low-density projects in commuter towns.  Popular Architecture's Super Tower could house up to about 100,000 people with a seriously low site requirement (considering the number of people within the structure). 

The 1,500 meter tall tower would have about 500 floors.  You'd find floors or sections for needs such as a university, farmer's market, pubs, a town hall, sky gardens, etc.  Anything and everything would be in the building.  There's even a fire station on the 419th floor!  Which raises the question: what do you do if there is a fire above or below the 419th floor?