Vancouver has become the latest city to commit to running on 100% renewable energy...The city’s ambition is to be the world’s greenest city by 2020 despite the fact Canada has had one of 'the most environmentally irresponsible national governments' for the last 10 years, [said Vancouver deputy mayor Andrea Reimer.] — The Guardian

Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), the Pacific gateway to the United States, has achieved LEED Gold certification for its new Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT), the crown jewel of the Bradley West renovation. This makes the 1.25-million-square-foot facility the largest LEED Gold airport terminal in the United States. Designed by Fentress Architects, TBIT is not only sustainable, it is America’s most technologically-advanced airport to date. — Fentress Architects

Scientists and politicians the world over are looking for ways to halt or reverse [climate changes], a task that is fraught with difficulties in a world hooked on fossil fuels. One option increasingly discussed is terraforming—deliberately altering the environment in a way that cools the planet... Instead of creating global engineering projects, why not create life forms that do a similar job instead... — MIT Technology Review

For every barrel of oil Chevron produces in its Kern River oil field, another 10 barrels of salty wastewater come up with it. So Chevron is selling about 500,000 barrels of water per day...back to...the local water district that delivers water to farmers within a seven-mile slice of Kern County...But it’s a risky dance; over time, high sodium can change the properties of the soil, making it impermeable, unable to take in any more water...Eventually, the soil becomes barren. — Newsweek

Even on a dry day, tens of millions of gallons of dirty water dumps into the ocean through the region’s vast storm drain system. The 3,500-mile network was designed and built to empty streets of rainwater, but tons of litter also flow into the ocean through the intricate system of curbside drainages, underground channels, pumps and creeks. Stormwater pollution puts beach swimmers at risk, particularly after it rains. Marine animals and plants can also get sick or die — LA Times

Though New York City is expected to surpass its 2020 population projections this year, rest assured that there’s plenty of space for all of these folks—and then some. An amusing and quite informative experiment conducted by Tim Urban takes a look at just how much space you would need to fit the world’s population comfortably—for the most part. The investigation, which puts 7.3 billion folks cozily shoulder to shoulder, hinges on the assumption that you can fit ten humans into a square meter. — 6sqft

...Fernando Casado and Paula García, the founders of the Towards the Human City project, [are] travelling the world to find how cities are trying to be more people-oriented...Trends like smart cities make us believe that large structures are needed to change urban spaces, yet there are countless examples of transformative bottom-up initiatives that have come from a simple idea and flourished without public money. It is this citizen-led type of urbanism that they hope to highlight and champion. — The Guardian

Because of its size and intense radiation, Texas leads the nation in solar energy potential, but the solar industry has long struggled to get a foothold in the state... and solar energy currently makes up a tiny percentage of the state’s energy portfolio. That’s beginning to change. Improving technology has driven down the price of solar power, making it more competitive with other resources­ — even without incentives, developers say. — The Texas Tribune

Paris wants to consume 25% less energy and emit 25% less emissions by 2020. Paris is also the site of this year’s major United Nations conference on climate change. While France currently gets about 80% of its electricity from nuclear energy, and has lagged behind other European countries like Germany and Denmark in developing green technologies, it certainly seems to have some momentum headed into the important November conference. — Quartz

“There was a time when you could not be poor enough, or rural enough, to want to live in a bamboo house,” says Ibuku founder Elora Hardy.

A former print designer for Donna Karan, Hardy now leads an Indonesian firm that creates innovative, luxurious structures out of cheap, sustainable, plentiful bamboo. In a talk at the TED conference last week, Hardy wowed the audience with spectacular images that defy traditional notions of house shapes and construction. — qz.com

When construction’s done in 2016, Teachers Village will consist of eight, low-rise buildings housing three charter schools and a daycare facility, 65,000 square feet of retail, and 205 residential units designed by the world-renowned Richard Meier, Newark’s native son and architect of the Getty Center in Los Angeles and the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art in Spain. — Politico

It's a special building because it lives, grows, breathes and changes over time. Its terraces are dotted with 150 tall trees which together with 50 plants in the court produce about 150,000 liters per hour of oxygen, at night absorbing about 200,000 liters of carbon dioxide per hour. Also slashing particulate matter caused by cars, protecting from noise, following the natural cycle of the seasons, growing day by day, creating an ideal microclimate. — Divisare

As difficult as it may be to face, the simple fact is that California is running out of water — and the problem started before our current drought. NASA data reveal that total water storage in California has been in steady decline since at least 2002... Right now the state has only about one year of water supply left in its reservoirs, and our strategic backup supply, groundwater, is rapidly disappearing. California has no contingency plan for a persistent drought like this one... — LA Times