Planning Pool

This post was originally published on Itsgettinghotinhere.org on May 14, 2010. Its message of urgency regarding rebuilding America’s rail transportation seems even more relevant today given the worsening environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. What is the price of not acting to reduce America’s dependence on oil?

The Lower Parel train station on the Mumbai Suburban Railway in a rare quiet moment. Thanks to Rohan Shah on Flickr for licensing this great photograph with Creative Commons.

I am obsessed with trains.  There, I’ve said it. I would even go so far as to argue that I love trains more than Joe Biden does. When I was young, my father used to take me to the train station to watch trains. This is … Continue Reading

In planning news and in the blogosphere, this week brought two great stories from Boston, including a glimpse at the future of open transit data. Other stories address the challenging imperative of energy security, and mark without mourning the end of the public-private partnership that, until recently, operated London’s Underground.

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A small but important part of the ‘Greenest City Action Plan’, The City of Vancouver hopes to tackle the resource efficiency of existing buildings through a proposed amendment to our building by-law (VBBL) that would require green improvements along with the renovation of one and two family homes. Arguably, it might seem like this will have a small impact on the massive GHG goals taken on by the Province and City, however it is an essential step in any Green Building plan. Read more…

Catawba County and University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC) are collaborating on an eco-industrial park on the Blackburn Landfill in North Carolina.

Experiments are slated to start in a few months to test the site’’s integrated systems. The facility, named Catawba EcoComplex, hosts a number of facilities where the idea of “waste = food” reigns. In other words, wastes from some processes become feedstock for others.

Right now, the complex hosts a landfill, a landfill gas-to-energy facility, a lumber processor, a pallet manufacturer, sunflower and canola biofuels farms, and a cooperative farm. Catawba County is hoping to add a biosolids processing facility, a greywater processing system, waste-powered steam facility, plastics recycling facility, and an algae research center. The County also forsees developing a smart-grid education center, brick manufacturing, industrial composting, a greenhouse, anaerobic digester, and … Continue Reading

Solar Panel by Flickr user futureatlas.com

There are lots of reasons why we don’t use more renewable energy, like solar or wind power. A huge reason is cost – often a system can take 10 to 15 years to payback from energy savings. Another factor is regulatory. Sometimes, zoning laws don’t allow solar power or adding photovoltaic panels may require a construction permit.

Portland is trying to make it easier for homeowners to add solar panels to their houses. While Portland may not be solar power mecca, the city boasts a number of renewable energy firms and has a strong commitment to sustainability, hoping to reduce its carbon footprint by 40 percent before 2030 and 80 percent reduction by 2050 (see Portland’s Climate Action Plan). So, the … Continue Reading

The first morning of the Gaining Ground, Resilient Cities conference concluded with a presentation by Paul Hawken, renowned author of Natural Capitalism, the Ecology of Commerce, and Blessed Unrest. His remarks followed up on Mayor Gregor Robertson’s introduction of Vancouver’s Greenest City Initiative, so he opened by teasing Vancouver about our good-looking and charismatic mayor, whose work he takes seriously.

Creative Commons photo of Paul Hawken from 2007 by the Rainforest Action Network.

Hawken’s hopeful message is that resiliency is innate to cities, which are the most effective and natural epicenters of change. Humans’ most complex creations, cities are resilient for the same reason that ecosystems are resilient – with complexity comes efficiency. Culturally, … Continue Reading