well, LEED gives points for building in denser areas, so I would think that LEED would approve, particularly if attention was paid towards reducing the amount of paving on the site (which is one of the primary generators of heat islands). Is this some sort of test? Not that I have anything against it, obviously since I'm an AP myself, but I'm curious why LEED has become this seeming standard of godliness to you?
My vision of LEED is more that it's a very useful tool for helping clients understand sustainability, and giving them a benchmark to shoot for, but that there is a whole world of sustainability beyond the parameters of LEED.
rationalist:
If the purpose of LEED is to inform the clients, who is complying and who is directing the design process.
LEED should become a stronger policing force in our profession to make this world greener. We need to reduce man's presence/impact on this Earth. Anti gravity backbacks would help.
I like your idea rationalist (re: tiny houses). I wonder how many could realistically fit on the average LA lot (let alone a few side by side lots). It could be a neat lifestyle especially with the sort of "public" garden/courtyard. Obviously, "multi-unit dwelling" zoning laws would create a huge headache for the developer, but it could be wonderful. I think the big hurdle would be parking w/ codes requiring a min. # spaces per unit.
I think we have to start to think about these options seriously and not only in respect to the green factor. How else are any young people going to afford to buy their first place? The only people I know that own in LA before age 30 had major help from someone. What do we do if we don't have wealthy parents?
well we as designers help our clients to comply, but the fact is that at any time they can say, "No, I don't want to do that." and if the item in question is a pre-requisite in the LEED points system, then the building will not be certified no matter how many other great things you are able to make happen with that building. And clients do this. Frequently. Which is why I feel that LEED can be a part of sustainability, but is certainly not the be-all and end-all.
Yes, we certainly need guidance from LEED and the AIA. We are lucky to have these entities in our system. They are most certainly lifesavers in this time of ecological struggle. With such guidance, we can all live in an ecologically guilt free environment. No system is perfect, but with the guidance of LEED and the AIA in all facets of the environment, we will be victorious in our righteous quest for total sustainablity. I sustain.
I'm sorry, the two halves of our conversation don't seem to be matching up. I respond to you, then your language indicates that you are responding to me, but you actually go off in a totally different direction.
I actually hope that LEED ceases to exist within the next ten years, because hopefully the things it outlines will simply become part of common practice and the need for such an organization will cease to exist. Plus its point system is arbitrary.
LEED is not the answer any more then NCARB has any intelligence. in an ecotopia, sustainability would be integrated into the architecture registration process retroactively - so all those dinosaurs like eisenman would be forced to get with program or stop accepting commissions. this will never happen as too many bucks stand to be made doing things the old fashion way.
r- I'm with you all the way...
onto brighter news, I got a business card from somebody today that stated 'LEED-AP™ v2.0'
that was really cool and old school green.
Recieved today from Brice Maryman via LARCH-L:
A group of landscape architects and affiliates have started a new wiki website that is concerned with the idea of green infrastructure, particularly in urban settings. While we are still building the website, we invite and encourage anyone to engage the project and add your built work to the case studies, or add their thoughts about the four thematic overlays that make up a city's green infrastructure (broader definition than some other authors) . . .
more wiki news from AIA-COTE and the prodigious Phil Henshaw:
I am developing a tiny Wiki with templates for my comprehensive sustainable design model. It's a model of a holistic learning process that can be adjusted to fit any kind of project. The shortest description of it is that at each stage of design - create emergence and integration for both the living and non-living systems involved by 1) searching and connecting the communities of interest in which the project is imbedded (look outward), 2) search and connect the interior interests (inward), 3) Creating 'bright green' features for fun and to express the vision (long reaches), 4) design from the project's total balance of impacts (make it whole) . The Wiki is very sketchy still, but the first big difference you'll notice is that it is actually comprehensive. I actually am talking designing from the total balance of a project's impacts, and have a good way to lay a foundation for that, using the $shadow concept. [http://www.synapse9.com/issues/dollarshadow.htm]...
[he continues on for another 4 paragraphs - if you can't get enough of his erudite verbosity, send me an email and I'll forward the entire message to you]
Phil Henshaw ¸¸¸¸.·´ ¯ `·.¸¸¸¸
I don't like when people destroy others property. If it is reversable, then great, I'm all for it. A garden planted in the bed would be funny, and such a great play on words. If it had been my hummer I would have reacted thusly..
"what the...?" as I look puzzled at my Hummer. "Is that mine?" chrp chrp as I press the lock button on my key fob to make sure. "well Holy hell!" Then I call a few people, take some pictures, poke around the plantings. Hmm. Well I better go find a tarp to cover this dirt before I take off.
a hummer modified to biodiesel would be cool. i actually like their design. maybe we can start a campaign suggesting that hummers go diesel so that then we can campaign to popularize the biodiesel changeover > hummers COULD be a green symbol.
Oh I agree totally. And design assthetics should be part of the exam process also. Eiserman would be out in the cold for not being able to pass LEED and design assthetics exams. Good culling tool, imho.
I feel like we're really going to have to work to improve things like hummers- after all, if we just chucked them all, we'd have an indecent waste problem. There's a place in hollywood that converts older Beamers and Mercedes into bio-diesel, and I just wish there were more options like that available.
So I was watching this programme on BBC about the NICE car company, that claims to produce the zero CO2 immission car. And it made me think
So your end product doesn't create CO2 directly (great)
But in its process they've create green house gases through the manufacture of the plastic, metal works, assembly etc;
Similarly the cars are intended to be plugged in to conventional outdoor outlets - which rarely are supplied by sustainable sources. Whilst London claims to have plans to green their energy production much of it is still done by more conventional | dirty means
Is this just another saga laying in the middle between green washing and actually sustainability?
architechno > absolutely. It's such a conundrum too. Take PV panels for example: how are they produced? If you are manufacturing from scratch, you need traditional energy sources to power the machines that manufacture the new PV panels. Once you make enough you can use those to power the plant, sure, but you have to get there first.
Can you really consider this "greenwashing" though? There are so many green products emerging that are better than the alternative but many of us realize that the manufacturing hasn't caught up yet. Hopefully we'll get there.....
I saw your blog about Terrapass...bet you didnt know that Terrapass was Brooke's sister's boyfriend's senior thesis project at Wharton (he basicallly started the company)
That's pretty cool. I like how the little house advanced as it calculated.
I am going from an 89 in Cincinnati (an anomaly in this city for sure) to an 86 in Los Angeles (again, probably not normal). I knew it was basically a lateral move.
tumbles, um, what IS that thing? I mean I know it's a purse but of what/how exactly is it made?
I'm not sure if anyone has posted about this yet - so I appologize if they already have - but I just stumbled across it, and thought I'd share here. kind of fun. Trade your car for a bike
current walk score: 82
estimated future walk score: anywhere between 65 and 86, depending on which place I end up
I have to say, an 82 is pretty workable: I can walk to grocery shopping, drug stores, restaurants, bars, banks, theatres, most of the daily needs. This is a nice resource, as I'd like to keep living in similarly walkable areas, so if I remember, I should plug in each address of potential residence into the walk score to help with my decision. Although, on second thought I bet that's something I'll be able to tell just by taking a look around.
oh, and for comparison, and because I'm bored, my walkscore history:
early childhood home: 51
teenage home: also a 51 (what, is the whole city of Phoenix a 51?)
frat house in college:82
first apartment: 94!!! I knew there was a reason I loved it there
current: 82
Surely no bias in this article?
Funny that a study published in the International Journal of Nuclear Governance, Economy and Ecology, would find that only Nuclear energy is truly "green". Because there are never nuclear accidents or leaks right.
In college we had a lecture by Tom Fisher who tried to sum up true sustainability building and energy as being a relationship between mass and time. Excess in mass can be remedied by long life, and vice versa. The long period of containment necessary for nuclear waste undercuts the argument of its use of less mass (or space as argued in the article above). The cool thing about renewables is that the fuel source is the most efficient available, nuclear fusion, nicely contained millions of miles away.
jc - the idea that nuclear power plants leak doesnt make them any less green - just not safe to live/ or be around. One of the things that I find entertaining is how many people think that nuclear energy is man-made (enrichment is artificial though)
something else I'd like to ad, and its that anyone who drives an american brand vehicle and claims to be green should be ashamed of themselves. I just watched something on tv that says that the average US car/suv is likely to use 30 to 40% more fuel not because of technological inferiority but rather culture and the desire for more horsepower and bragging rights. Added that many SUV's (albeit a joke in themselves) and P'kups use less that 30% of their potential energy through the life of the vehicle.
Anyhow food for thought; the show was on the history channel (PR)
I was joking about the leaking, although whether it is sustainable to cordon off areas in the hopes of containing any damage when the bad things do happen is always up for debate. The long time in which it takes to "clean" the waste it what disturbs me. The stuff doesn't go away. I am worried about creating waste that we can only contain. It can't be recycled (as far as I know) and will be around for thousands of years. By locating nuclear generators in obscure and isolated areas, we increase the amount of infrastructure required to get that energy into the places where they are used (although wind and solar are increasingly being treated the same way, to be fair.) I still personally prefer solar, being in a sunny state and all.
j
got my electric bill a few days ago- 869kwh for the past month.... I've already replaced as many incandescent bulbs with CFs, but my wife loves having the AC on at night, plus we got a bunch of fans blowing 24/7, dehumidifier in the basement and several bits of electronics on standby that I just don't seem to get around to shutting off the power strips. Ahh the joys of living in an older house, if you keep all the shades drawn it still gets hot, if you open all the windows, there isn't much relief.
Oh, I've been reading about herbicides and pesticides as methods of managing invasive species - so I'm living up to my nome de plume - not that I plan on using chemicals in my garden...
the walking score for the north woods house is 58
my LA pad is a respectable 82 (who says you can't walk in LA?)
life in philly was 82-88
billyburg comes in at 78
dubK- like the blog, you'll have fun exploring new brunch places in LA- many many more to choose from. an old school fave (no, not millies - their home fries are rubbery) is phillipes- home of the french dip in china town, coffee is only $.15/cup. but there are many many more- hope you have time to explore the scene once you arrive.
Architecture 2030 urges us to protect our efforts to reduce the green-house gases that are accelerating climate change against a slew of new coal power plants. The Happy Corp | Architecture2030
Just checking in. Glad to see everybody getting their walk scores. That tool is pretty cool.
architechno....the notion that "all american cars are inherently the opposite of green" is a little extreme in my opinion. My mom is planning on buying a Hybrid Ford Escape, and I really tried to steer her away from getting an SUV until I did some research and found that the Hybrid Escape is actually ranked quite well against other cars in its class.....in fact, its the best-rated SUV on the sustainability scale. It actually gets better gas milage than my current VW hatchback does! So I'm OK with it now.
tk, I'm glad you like the blog! I'm so easily amused, I have a feeling that a good majority of my posts will be related to sustainability but some of the others will be meandering in offbeat ways. We'll see.
I want you all to know that at my leaving party last night, despite the fact that I was fairly inebriated, I spent a good deal of time separating the recyclables out from the trash. We consumed roughly 5 green bins worth of beer! Not bad.
If I were up there already, I'd be there with bells on.... this directly affects the area that I hope to live in, and I'm definitely disappointed that the city would back out of putting a bike lane on what seems to be a key artery. I may make a point to ride Stone Way when I visit, just to get some perspective on how bad it really is.
On the other hand, while I definitely support the increased integration of bicycle lanes into city planning, it's honestly not likely to change the way I ride. In LA, I've had to get used to just being a part of traffic right in there with the cars. So while bike lanes are appreciated, the difference they make is a difference for other people, not for me personally, because I'll be out there, bike lane or no.
from the Telegraph
Last Updated: 1:48am BST 23/07/2007
Producing 2.2lb of beef generates as much greenhouse gas as driving a car non-stop for three hours, it was claimed yesterday.
Japanese scientists used a range of data to calculate the environmental impact of a single purchase of beef.
Taking into account all the processes involved, they said, four average sized steaks generated greenhouse gases with a warming potential equivalent to 80.25lb of carbon dioxide.
This also consumed 169 megajoules of energy.
That means that 2.2lb of beef is responsible for greenhouse gas emissions which have the same effect as the carbon dioxide released by an ordinary car travelling at 50 miles per hour for 155 miles, a journey lasting three hours. The amount of energy consumed would light a 100-watt bulb for 20 days.
Most of the greenhouse gas emissions are in the form of methane released from the animals' digestive systems, New Scientist magazine reported.
But more than two thirds of the energy used goes towards producing and transporting cattle feed, said the study, which was led by Akifumi Ogino from the National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science in Tsukuba, Japan.
Su Taylor, the press officer for the Vegetarian Society, told New Scientist: "Everybody is trying to come up with different ways to reduce carbon footprints, but one of the easiest things you can do is to stop eating meat."
This isn't a "don't eat meat" crusade, because I never push those beliefs on others, but I thought some of you might find this interesting. The major flaw I find with the study is that the analysis includes the entire process of beef production, but only the driving portion of vehicles. If you compared entire process to entire process, comparatively, the story wouldn't sound so alarming. Regardless, I think it goes back to consumption. "Living locally" would cut down on a lot of the emissions from both cars and cattle.
its funny because i'm reading the Rise of Sprawl, and am finding that the collision of many thoughts. Simply that living locally is definately the best idea but how is it possible to that in the city (which is supposedly the greener option anyhow) seems all a bit confusing and I'm still wrapping my brain/brian around it.
Why? It doesn't directly affect me as I live on small island with nearly zero agricultural production, and the definition of local 100 miles or less involves using up much more fuel (100 miles away covers 5 other islands - of which most of our fruits and vegatables come from)
I see what you're saying techno. I think the term "living locally" is an ideal that is obviously not completely attainable to all. I'm sure you still have options to use your islands resources, but nothing like my choices living in Los Angeles.
Are you reading "Suburban Nation"? I totally get how it would be difficult to grasp the wastefulness and need for urgency if you haven't lived in suburbia. Have you ever lived here? Even if everything you consume is imported, I'm sure it's nowhere near as wasteful as in typical American suburban household.
I think it's the idea of effort that's important. Will I go out of my way to read labels to see where things are produced? Buy fresh/ seasonal things from farmers markets instead of just grabbing what's cheapest and most convenient. Believe me- I'm a horrible offender, but am trying. Price and convenience are not easy things to give up.
From my limited experience with island life, it seems like there is a certain degree of sustainablity to things inherit there because of the import problem. Because it's such an incredible pain to import anything, they don't import everything, just what they need, and a few things they want, but nothing like the amount of pure crap that's available in the US. Also, because it's so hard to dispose of things, they work harder to fix things instead of throwing things away so easily. Not that there aren't problems, of course, but the same things which limit sustainability in certain aspects of life (the need to import food) are also working to help people be less consumer-oriented. At least that was my impression. That about jive with life for you, techno, or is it totally different over there?
I just thought this was an interesting little project: Victory Gardens, via, of course, treehugger. I've previously compared the need for environmental efforts today to the conservation efforts that supported WWII, and wondered whether Americans had the capacity to go there again. So while I know that there are plenty of businesses out there doing similar things, the name and spirit behind this one jumped out at me.
Thought you all might enjoy this, water conservation often seems to be the red-headed stepchild of all things "green." Nice to see my city doing something about it.
j
despite the fact that I was fairly inebriated, I spent a good deal of time separating the recyclables out from the trash
you're too dedicated wK, glad you had a great send off party!
On the local front, there is lots of good local Cali beer awaiting you. I feel guilty every time I pick up a six pack of Anchor Steam or Sierra Nevada when I have Bell's or another (almost as good) local brew here in MN.
joshcookie, that article is great but is water normally that expensive? I have never been a homeowner so I have no idea. And who the heck uses more than 150 gallons a day? Doesn't that seem high to you?
tk, thanks. I am looking forward to California's "freshness factor" all around. :o)
California is also well preserved... look at those hollywood women. Their youthful beauty is well sustained.
150 gallons/day includes watering the lawn, filling the swimming pool, washing the car, and washing clothes. that figure also includes all the behind the scene water uses like power generation, cooling buildings, making cement, fountains at the bellagio, and washing dishes at the olive garden.
so 150 isn't as high as it could be. florida is the the worst- I think they average 600 gallons/day (they aren't metered).
rationalist - you nailed it with the comment about importing just what's needed. Alot of it is controlled just by the costs of duty and shipping. This ultimately affects alot of daily activities, from what you drive to what you eat.
Green Thread Central
well, LEED gives points for building in denser areas, so I would think that LEED would approve, particularly if attention was paid towards reducing the amount of paving on the site (which is one of the primary generators of heat islands). Is this some sort of test? Not that I have anything against it, obviously since I'm an AP myself, but I'm curious why LEED has become this seeming standard of godliness to you?
My vision of LEED is more that it's a very useful tool for helping clients understand sustainability, and giving them a benchmark to shoot for, but that there is a whole world of sustainability beyond the parameters of LEED.
rationalist:
If the purpose of LEED is to inform the clients, who is complying and who is directing the design process.
LEED should become a stronger policing force in our profession to make this world greener. We need to reduce man's presence/impact on this Earth. Anti gravity backbacks would help.
I like your idea rationalist (re: tiny houses). I wonder how many could realistically fit on the average LA lot (let alone a few side by side lots). It could be a neat lifestyle especially with the sort of "public" garden/courtyard. Obviously, "multi-unit dwelling" zoning laws would create a huge headache for the developer, but it could be wonderful. I think the big hurdle would be parking w/ codes requiring a min. # spaces per unit.
I think we have to start to think about these options seriously and not only in respect to the green factor. How else are any young people going to afford to buy their first place? The only people I know that own in LA before age 30 had major help from someone. What do we do if we don't have wealthy parents?
well we as designers help our clients to comply, but the fact is that at any time they can say, "No, I don't want to do that." and if the item in question is a pre-requisite in the LEED points system, then the building will not be certified no matter how many other great things you are able to make happen with that building. And clients do this. Frequently. Which is why I feel that LEED can be a part of sustainability, but is certainly not the be-all and end-all.
rationalist:
Yes, we certainly need guidance from LEED and the AIA. We are lucky to have these entities in our system. They are most certainly lifesavers in this time of ecological struggle. With such guidance, we can all live in an ecologically guilt free environment. No system is perfect, but with the guidance of LEED and the AIA in all facets of the environment, we will be victorious in our righteous quest for total sustainablity. I sustain.
I'm sorry, the two halves of our conversation don't seem to be matching up. I respond to you, then your language indicates that you are responding to me, but you actually go off in a totally different direction.
I actually hope that LEED ceases to exist within the next ten years, because hopefully the things it outlines will simply become part of common practice and the need for such an organization will cease to exist. Plus its point system is arbitrary.
cf-
LEED is not the answer any more then NCARB has any intelligence. in an ecotopia, sustainability would be integrated into the architecture registration process retroactively - so all those dinosaurs like eisenman would be forced to get with program or stop accepting commissions. this will never happen as too many bucks stand to be made doing things the old fashion way.
r- I'm with you all the way...
onto brighter news, I got a business card from somebody today that stated 'LEED-AP™ v2.0'
that was really cool and old school green.
Recieved today from Brice Maryman via LARCH-L:
A group of landscape architects and affiliates have started a new wiki website that is concerned with the idea of green infrastructure, particularly in urban settings. While we are still building the website, we invite and encourage anyone to engage the project and add your built work to the case studies, or add their thoughts about the four thematic overlays that make up a city's green infrastructure (broader definition than some other authors) . . .
1) Habitat
2) People Places
3) Natural Drainage
4) Healthy Connections
check it out at greeninfrastructurewiki.com
more wiki news from AIA-COTE and the prodigious Phil Henshaw:
I am developing a tiny Wiki with templates for my comprehensive sustainable design model. It's a model of a holistic learning process that can be adjusted to fit any kind of project. The shortest description of it is that at each stage of design - create emergence and integration for both the living and non-living systems involved by 1) searching and connecting the communities of interest in which the project is imbedded (look outward), 2) search and connect the interior interests (inward), 3) Creating 'bright green' features for fun and to express the vision (long reaches), 4) design from the project's total balance of impacts (make it whole) . The Wiki is very sketchy still, but the first big difference you'll notice is that it is actually comprehensive. I actually am talking designing from the total balance of a project's impacts, and have a good way to lay a foundation for that, using the $shadow concept. [http://www.synapse9.com/issues/dollarshadow.htm]...
[he continues on for another 4 paragraphs - if you can't get enough of his erudite verbosity, send me an email and I'll forward the entire message to you]
Phil Henshaw ¸¸¸¸.·´ ¯ `·.¸¸¸¸
I am a rabid environmentalist but I am also a pacifist so stories like this make me sad:
Washington, DC Hummer vandalized
If I had been charged with "making a statement" about his Hummer, I think I would have planted a garden in his truck bed.
I don't like when people destroy others property. If it is reversable, then great, I'm all for it. A garden planted in the bed would be funny, and such a great play on words. If it had been my hummer I would have reacted thusly..
"what the...?" as I look puzzled at my Hummer. "Is that mine?" chrp chrp as I press the lock button on my key fob to make sure. "well Holy hell!" Then I call a few people, take some pictures, poke around the plantings. Hmm. Well I better go find a tarp to cover this dirt before I take off.
a hummer modified to biodiesel would be cool. i actually like their design. maybe we can start a campaign suggesting that hummers go diesel so that then we can campaign to popularize the biodiesel changeover > hummers COULD be a green symbol.
Ok, I looked, and I can't find the fuel milage on the Hummer website. Its aggrevating.
Steven, I like that idea. Don't hate the product, improve it.
burry:
Oh I agree totally. And design assthetics should be part of the exam process also. Eiserman would be out in the cold for not being able to pass LEED and design assthetics exams. Good culling tool, imho.
I feel like we're really going to have to work to improve things like hummers- after all, if we just chucked them all, we'd have an indecent waste problem. There's a place in hollywood that converts older Beamers and Mercedes into bio-diesel, and I just wish there were more options like that available.
not sure if it has been covered, but TreeHugger posted a video from Postopolis! regarding sustainable design.
the panel included TreeHugger's Graham Hill, Metropolis' Editor Susan Szenasy, Jill from Inhabitat and Allan Chochinov from Core77.
So I was watching this programme on BBC about the NICE car company, that claims to produce the zero CO2 immission car. And it made me think
So your end product doesn't create CO2 directly (great)
But in its process they've create green house gases through the manufacture of the plastic, metal works, assembly etc;
Similarly the cars are intended to be plugged in to conventional outdoor outlets - which rarely are supplied by sustainable sources. Whilst London claims to have plans to green their energy production much of it is still done by more conventional | dirty means
Is this just another saga laying in the middle between green washing and actually sustainability?
architechno > absolutely. It's such a conundrum too. Take PV panels for example: how are they produced? If you are manufacturing from scratch, you need traditional energy sources to power the machines that manufacture the new PV panels. Once you make enough you can use those to power the plant, sure, but you have to get there first.
Can you really consider this "greenwashing" though? There are so many green products emerging that are better than the alternative but many of us realize that the manufacturing hasn't caught up yet. Hopefully we'll get there.....
PS. Don't miss this great article about green cities in Grist that AP posted a news item about.
Remarkable.
as seen on BLDG BLOG's Flickr page
DubK
I saw your blog about Terrapass...bet you didnt know that Terrapass was Brooke's sister's boyfriend's senior thesis project at Wharton (he basicallly started the company)
hi mdler!
I didn't know that. Good for him! How random.....
thought this might be interesting on this thread (if not mentioned previously):
walk score
(91 for me)...
hmm...my score is going from 54(LA) to 92(philly). Cool, but I'd argue my current score is more like 4, not 54.
That's pretty cool. I like how the little house advanced as it calculated.
I am going from an 89 in Cincinnati (an anomaly in this city for sure) to an 86 in Los Angeles (again, probably not normal). I knew it was basically a lateral move.
tumbles, um, what IS that thing? I mean I know it's a purse but of what/how exactly is it made?
I'm not sure if anyone has posted about this yet - so I appologize if they already have - but I just stumbled across it, and thought I'd share here. kind of fun.
Trade your car for a bike
...tw..., I'd like the tote.
+ wk, scroll down for explanation...
walk score:
currently I'm a 69 - when I move in a month I'll be a 91! nice.
current walk score: 82
estimated future walk score: anywhere between 65 and 86, depending on which place I end up
I have to say, an 82 is pretty workable: I can walk to grocery shopping, drug stores, restaurants, bars, banks, theatres, most of the daily needs. This is a nice resource, as I'd like to keep living in similarly walkable areas, so if I remember, I should plug in each address of potential residence into the walk score to help with my decision. Although, on second thought I bet that's something I'll be able to tell just by taking a look around.
oh, and for comparison, and because I'm bored, my walkscore history:
early childhood home: 51
teenage home: also a 51 (what, is the whole city of Phoenix a 51?)
frat house in college:82
first apartment: 94!!! I knew there was a reason I loved it there
current: 82
Surely no bias in this article?
Funny that a study published in the International Journal of Nuclear Governance, Economy and Ecology, would find that only Nuclear energy is truly "green". Because there are never nuclear accidents or leaks right.
In college we had a lecture by Tom Fisher who tried to sum up true sustainability building and energy as being a relationship between mass and time. Excess in mass can be remedied by long life, and vice versa. The long period of containment necessary for nuclear waste undercuts the argument of its use of less mass (or space as argued in the article above). The cool thing about renewables is that the fuel source is the most efficient available, nuclear fusion, nicely contained millions of miles away.
j
jc - the idea that nuclear power plants leak doesnt make them any less green - just not safe to live/ or be around. One of the things that I find entertaining is how many people think that nuclear energy is man-made (enrichment is artificial though)
something else I'd like to ad, and its that anyone who drives an american brand vehicle and claims to be green should be ashamed of themselves. I just watched something on tv that says that the average US car/suv is likely to use 30 to 40% more fuel not because of technological inferiority but rather culture and the desire for more horsepower and bragging rights. Added that many SUV's (albeit a joke in themselves) and P'kups use less that 30% of their potential energy through the life of the vehicle.
Anyhow food for thought; the show was on the history channel (PR)
I was joking about the leaking, although whether it is sustainable to cordon off areas in the hopes of containing any damage when the bad things do happen is always up for debate. The long time in which it takes to "clean" the waste it what disturbs me. The stuff doesn't go away. I am worried about creating waste that we can only contain. It can't be recycled (as far as I know) and will be around for thousands of years. By locating nuclear generators in obscure and isolated areas, we increase the amount of infrastructure required to get that energy into the places where they are used (although wind and solar are increasingly being treated the same way, to be fair.) I still personally prefer solar, being in a sunny state and all.
j
got my electric bill a few days ago- 869kwh for the past month.... I've already replaced as many incandescent bulbs with CFs, but my wife loves having the AC on at night, plus we got a bunch of fans blowing 24/7, dehumidifier in the basement and several bits of electronics on standby that I just don't seem to get around to shutting off the power strips. Ahh the joys of living in an older house, if you keep all the shades drawn it still gets hot, if you open all the windows, there isn't much relief.
Oh, I've been reading about herbicides and pesticides as methods of managing invasive species - so I'm living up to my nome de plume - not that I plan on using chemicals in my garden...
the walking score for the north woods house is 58
my LA pad is a respectable 82 (who says you can't walk in LA?)
life in philly was 82-88
billyburg comes in at 78
dubK- like the blog, you'll have fun exploring new brunch places in LA- many many more to choose from. an old school fave (no, not millies - their home fries are rubbery) is phillipes- home of the french dip in china town, coffee is only $.15/cup. but there are many many more- hope you have time to explore the scene once you arrive.
From the news:
http://archinect.com/news/article.php?id=61799_0_24_0_M
Protect Your Efforts Against Coal Power Plants
Architecture 2030 urges us to protect our efforts to reduce the green-house gases that are accelerating climate change against a slew of new coal power plants. The Happy Corp | Architecture2030
Hiya everybody....
Just checking in. Glad to see everybody getting their walk scores. That tool is pretty cool.
architechno....the notion that "all american cars are inherently the opposite of green" is a little extreme in my opinion. My mom is planning on buying a Hybrid Ford Escape, and I really tried to steer her away from getting an SUV until I did some research and found that the Hybrid Escape is actually ranked quite well against other cars in its class.....in fact, its the best-rated SUV on the sustainability scale. It actually gets better gas milage than my current VW hatchback does! So I'm OK with it now.
tk, I'm glad you like the blog! I'm so easily amused, I have a feeling that a good majority of my posts will be related to sustainability but some of the others will be meandering in offbeat ways. We'll see.
I want you all to know that at my leaving party last night, despite the fact that I was fairly inebriated, I spent a good deal of time separating the recyclables out from the trash. We consumed roughly 5 green bins worth of beer! Not bad.
Back to packing....
rationalist (and other seattle-ites)
there's a protest ride this wednesday
background
because mayor nickels and suzie burke are blowhards that never practice what they preach.
i'm having serious issues w/ seattle's pretending to be a "green"-er city, doing only enough to keep up appearances.
If I were up there already, I'd be there with bells on.... this directly affects the area that I hope to live in, and I'm definitely disappointed that the city would back out of putting a bike lane on what seems to be a key artery. I may make a point to ride Stone Way when I visit, just to get some perspective on how bad it really is.
On the other hand, while I definitely support the increased integration of bicycle lanes into city planning, it's honestly not likely to change the way I ride. In LA, I've had to get used to just being a part of traffic right in there with the cars. So while bike lanes are appreciated, the difference they make is a difference for other people, not for me personally, because I'll be out there, bike lane or no.
from the Telegraph
Last Updated: 1:48am BST 23/07/2007
Producing 2.2lb of beef generates as much greenhouse gas as driving a car non-stop for three hours, it was claimed yesterday.
Japanese scientists used a range of data to calculate the environmental impact of a single purchase of beef.
Taking into account all the processes involved, they said, four average sized steaks generated greenhouse gases with a warming potential equivalent to 80.25lb of carbon dioxide.
This also consumed 169 megajoules of energy.
That means that 2.2lb of beef is responsible for greenhouse gas emissions which have the same effect as the carbon dioxide released by an ordinary car travelling at 50 miles per hour for 155 miles, a journey lasting three hours. The amount of energy consumed would light a 100-watt bulb for 20 days.
Most of the greenhouse gas emissions are in the form of methane released from the animals' digestive systems, New Scientist magazine reported.
But more than two thirds of the energy used goes towards producing and transporting cattle feed, said the study, which was led by Akifumi Ogino from the National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science in Tsukuba, Japan.
Su Taylor, the press officer for the Vegetarian Society, told New Scientist: "Everybody is trying to come up with different ways to reduce carbon footprints, but one of the easiest things you can do is to stop eating meat."
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This isn't a "don't eat meat" crusade, because I never push those beliefs on others, but I thought some of you might find this interesting. The major flaw I find with the study is that the analysis includes the entire process of beef production, but only the driving portion of vehicles. If you compared entire process to entire process, comparatively, the story wouldn't sound so alarming. Regardless, I think it goes back to consumption. "Living locally" would cut down on a lot of the emissions from both cars and cattle.
its funny because i'm reading the Rise of Sprawl, and am finding that the collision of many thoughts. Simply that living locally is definately the best idea but how is it possible to that in the city (which is supposedly the greener option anyhow) seems all a bit confusing and I'm still wrapping my brain/brian around it.
Why? It doesn't directly affect me as I live on small island with nearly zero agricultural production, and the definition of local 100 miles or less involves using up much more fuel (100 miles away covers 5 other islands - of which most of our fruits and vegatables come from)
I see what you're saying techno. I think the term "living locally" is an ideal that is obviously not completely attainable to all. I'm sure you still have options to use your islands resources, but nothing like my choices living in Los Angeles.
Are you reading "Suburban Nation"? I totally get how it would be difficult to grasp the wastefulness and need for urgency if you haven't lived in suburbia. Have you ever lived here? Even if everything you consume is imported, I'm sure it's nowhere near as wasteful as in typical American suburban household.
I think it's the idea of effort that's important. Will I go out of my way to read labels to see where things are produced? Buy fresh/ seasonal things from farmers markets instead of just grabbing what's cheapest and most convenient. Believe me- I'm a horrible offender, but am trying. Price and convenience are not easy things to give up.
From my limited experience with island life, it seems like there is a certain degree of sustainablity to things inherit there because of the import problem. Because it's such an incredible pain to import anything, they don't import everything, just what they need, and a few things they want, but nothing like the amount of pure crap that's available in the US. Also, because it's so hard to dispose of things, they work harder to fix things instead of throwing things away so easily. Not that there aren't problems, of course, but the same things which limit sustainability in certain aspects of life (the need to import food) are also working to help people be less consumer-oriented. At least that was my impression. That about jive with life for you, techno, or is it totally different over there?
I just thought this was an interesting little project: Victory Gardens, via, of course, treehugger. I've previously compared the need for environmental efforts today to the conservation efforts that supported WWII, and wondered whether Americans had the capacity to go there again. So while I know that there are plenty of businesses out there doing similar things, the name and spirit behind this one jumped out at me.
Thought you all might enjoy this, water conservation often seems to be the red-headed stepchild of all things "green." Nice to see my city doing something about it.
j
you're too dedicated wK, glad you had a great send off party!
On the local front, there is lots of good local Cali beer awaiting you. I feel guilty every time I pick up a six pack of Anchor Steam or Sierra Nevada when I have Bell's or another (almost as good) local brew here in MN.
joshcookie, that article is great but is water normally that expensive? I have never been a homeowner so I have no idea. And who the heck uses more than 150 gallons a day? Doesn't that seem high to you?
tk, thanks. I am looking forward to California's "freshness factor" all around. :o)
T-minus 5 days until departure.
California is also well preserved... look at those hollywood women. Their youthful beauty is well sustained.
150 gallons/day includes watering the lawn, filling the swimming pool, washing the car, and washing clothes. that figure also includes all the behind the scene water uses like power generation, cooling buildings, making cement, fountains at the bellagio, and washing dishes at the olive garden.
so 150 isn't as high as it could be. florida is the the worst- I think they average 600 gallons/day (they aren't metered).
I found this wicked image over at treeghugger that beautifully illustrates...well everything.
here is the link to the previously posted image.
rationalist - you nailed it with the comment about importing just what's needed. Alot of it is controlled just by the costs of duty and shipping. This ultimately affects alot of daily activities, from what you drive to what you eat.
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