Beyond LEED: The Living Building Challenge

The Bullitt Center will be the greenest, most energy efficient commercial building in the world, firmly planting Seattle at the forefront of the green building movement. The vision of the Bullitt Center is to change the way buildings are designed, built and operated to improve long-term environmental performance and promote broader implementation of energy efficiency, renewable energy and other green building technologies in the Northwest.  The building is seeking to meet the ambitious goals of the Living Building Challenge, the world’s most strenuous benchmark for sustainability.  For example, a solar array will generate as much electricity as the building uses and rain will supply as much water, with all waste water treated onsite.

Living Building Challenge was endorsed by both the US Green Building Council and the Canada Green Building Council in 2006.  Living Building Challenge is a certification based on a demonstrated level of rigor: projects can be certified as "Living" if they prove to meet all of the program requirements after 12 months of continued operations and full occupancy. It is also possible to achieve Petal Recognition, or partial program certification, for achieving all of the requirements of at least three Petals when at least one of the following is included: Water, Energy and/or Materials.

The Living Building Challenge is premised on a belief that the 21st century will require a rapid, worldwide movement to ultra-high performance buildings. But for this movement to realize its full potential, these buildings must also be a source of beauty, joy, well-being and inspiration. They will marry architectural titan Louis Sullivan’s “form follows function” precept with the highest levels of efficiency currently achievable. Learning from nature’s preoccupation with maximizing return from scarce resources, they will also be beautifully functional.

2011 Sustainability & Innovation Global Executive Study Results

For the third consecutive year, MIT Sloan Management Review and the Boston Consulting Group have conducted a survey of managers and executives from companies around the world, asking how they are developing and implementing sustainable business practices.

More than 4,000 managers from 113 countries responded to the survey.  According to the respondents, 70% of companies have placed sustainability permanently on their management agendas.  Two-thirds of the resondents said that sustainability was necessary to be competitive in the marketplace.  And, many companies are increasing their commitments to sustainability inititiaves despite a lackluster economy.

On the other hand, respondents indicate that sustainability ranks eighth in importance among other management agenda items.  Economic growth continues to deplete the planet's stocks of natural capital, despite the efforts of many companies to minimize their impacts, decrease their carbon footprints, and cultivate closed-loop production systems.

The authors believe that these mixed results are overall positive, however.  They suggest that the sustainability movement is nearing a tipping point, at which a substantial portion of companies are seeing sustainable business practices as a necessity and are also deriving a financial benefit from sustainable activities.  Leading the charge are a group of organizations that are not merely implementing individual initiatives -- such as lowering carbon emissions and investing in renewables -- but are also changing their operating frameworks and strategies.  The report explores what sets these organizations apart and lessons that other organizations can take from these innovators.

Download the report here.

Is Environmental Contamination Responsible for Violent Crime?

America's Real Criminal Element: Lead
Kevin Drum, Mother Jones, January/February 2013 Issue

Across the US, violent crime peaked in the early 1990s and then began a steady and significant decline. Not unique to a particular city, this declining trend is seen nationwide, including in New York, Dallas, Los Angeles, Washington DC, and Newark.  This article explores the reasons behind this trend, and in the process, researched a myriad of criminology theories: crime goes down when the economy is booming and goes up when it's in a slump; crime drops in big cities are mostly a reflection of the crack epidemic of the '80s finally burning itself out; demographics (as numbers of young men increases, so does crime); prison expansion; guns and gun control; family dynamics; race; parole and probation policies; raw number of police officers; and legalized abortion.

The author found a growing body of research linking lead exposure in small children with complications later in life, including lower IQ, hyperactivity, behavioral problems, learning disabilities, and juvenile delinquency. A large body of evidence suggests that the use -- and discontinuation -- of tetraethyl lead in gasoline may explain as much as 90 percent of the rise and fall of violent crime over the past 50 years. And this relationship seems to hold true for cities of different sizes, both within the US and internationally.

Read the article here.

And several of the cited studies:
How Lead Exposure Relates to Temporal Changes in IQ, Violent Crime, and Unwed Pregnancy
Environmental Policy as Social Policy? The Impact of Childhood Lead Exposure on Crime
Understanding international crime trends: The legacy of preschool lead exposure
The urban rise and fall of air lead (Pb) and the latent surge and retreat of societal violence
Association of Prenatal and Childhood Blood Lead Concentrations with Criminal Arrests in Early Adulthood

EPA Recognizes Seven Communities for Smart Growth Achievement (including one in the Bay Area and one in LA County)

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized seven communities with its 2012 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement. The Smart Growth awards are given for creative, sustainable initiatives that better protect the health and the environment of our communities while also strengthening local economies.

The 2012 award winners are being recognized in four categories: Overall Excellence in Smart Growth, Equitable Development, Main Street or Corridor Revitalization, and Programs and Policies. This year’s winners and honorable mentions were selected from 47 applicants from 25 states. The winning entries were chosen based on their effectiveness in creating sustainable communities; fostering equitable development among public, private, and nonprofit stakeholders; and serving as national models for environmentally and economically sustainable development.  Specific initiatives include improving transportation choices, developing green, energy-efficient buildings and communities, and providing community members with access to job training, health and wellness education, and other services.

The 2012 winners are:

Overall Excellence - Winner
BLVD Transformation Project, Lancaster, California
The redesign of Lancaster Boulevard helped transform downtown Lancaster into a thriving residential and commercial district through investments in new streetscape design, public facilities, affordable homes, and local businesses. Completed after eight months of construction, the project demonstrates how redesigning a corridor guided by a strategic vision can spark new life in a community. The project has generated almost $300 million in economic output and nearly 2,000 jobs.

Equitable Development - Winner
Mariposa District, Denver, Colorado
The redevelopment of Denver’s historic and ethnically diverse La Alma/Lincoln Park neighborhood is turning an economically challenged area into a vibrant, transit-accessible, district. The community’s master plan preserves affordable housing while adding energy-efficient middle-income and market-rate homes. Because of extensive community engagement, development will include actions to improve the health of residents, reduce pollution, and control stormwater runoff.

Main Street or Corridor Revitalization - Winner
The Cooperative Building, Brattleboro, Vermont
The Brattleboro Food Co-op, the town’s only downtown food store, made a commitment to remain at its downtown location by constructing an innovative, four-story green building on Main Street with a grocery store, commercial space, offices, and affordable apartments. The Main Street location provides healthy food, new jobs, and housing within walkable distances of downtown businesses and public transit.

Programs and Policies - Winner
Destination Portsmouth, Portsmouth, Virginia
The city of Portsmouth revised its comprehensive plan and undertook a broad review of its development and land use regulations. As a result, Destination Portsmouth prepared a package of new plans, zoning ordinances, and other development policies in collaboration with community stakeholders. The overhaul of the city’s codes encourages development in targeted growth areas and helps businesses to locate in the city while also protecting the character of Portsmouth’s historic neighborhoods.

Equitable Development - Honorable Mention
Northwest Gardens, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Through safer streets, job training and education programs, and high-quality, affordable homes, the once struggling Northwest Gardens neighborhood is rapidly becoming a model for economic, environmental, and social sustainability. The redesigned neighborhood offers a range of energy-efficient, affordable housing choices and is one of the first communities in the nation to receive LEED for Neighborhood Development certification. A local housing authority program also provides disadvantaged youths with construction training as they complete their GEDs.

Main Street or Corridor Revitalization - Honorable Mention
Larkin District, Buffalo, New York
Community organizations and a local developer partnered with the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning to help revitalize the Larkin District, an old manufacturing district located one mile from downtown Buffalo. Architectural students worked with the developer and the city to create a master plan for an urban village that now features new office space, restaurants, apartments, parks, and plazas. New sidewalks, lighting, crosswalks, bicycle lanes, and bus shelters reduce pollution from vehicles by making walking, biking, and public transit more appealing.

Programs and Policies - Honorable Mention
Bay Area Transit-Oriented Affordable Housing Fund, San Francisco, California
The Bay Area Transit-Oriented Affordable Housing Fund is providing loans for developers to build affordable homes near public transportation. At this point, the fund has provided loans for a 153-unit high-rise for low-income families located two blocks from a major transit station, and for a 64-unit building for seniors close to a light rail station that will provide free transit passes for all residents.

More information: http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/awards.htm

July 15-17 2011 "Carmageddon" Immediately Improves Air Quality 83%

An eye-opening glimpse of what the future could be like if we can move away from combustion engines
Matt Stevens, Los Angeles Times, September 28, 2012

Los Angeles shut down a 10-mile stretch of one of its busiest highways, the 405, for a weekend in July 2011. Drivers stayed away in dramatic numbers – not only from the 405, but also throughout the entire region.

Last Friday, Suzanne Paulson and Yifang Zhu of UCLA's Institute of the Environment and Sustainability released their research on air pollutants measured during "Carmageddon 2011".

Air quality near the closed 10-mile portion of the 405 freeway reached levels 83% better than typical weekends. Elsewhere in West Los Angeles, the improvement was equally dramatic. Air quality improved by 75% in parts of West Los Angeles and in Santa Monica, and by 25% throughout the entire region, suggesting that large numbers of residents stayed off the road in those areas as well.

The researchers found that particulate matter dropped significantly within minutes of the road closure (accordingly, it ramped back up the moment traffic resumed). There's little heavy industry around this stretch of the 405 freeway, underscoring that changes in transportation policy or vehicle technology could yield significant air quality improvements.

Read the complete article here, and another take here.

Bikes on BART

BART releases bike pilot survey results

A rider survey about BART’s commute period bike pilot, when blackout restrictions were lifted on five Fridays in August, found varied results.

Riders responding to the survey were equally split on what to do: 37% wanted to keep the blackouts; 37% wanted to end them; and 25% favored reducing the blackout periods to one hour from two. Other data from the survey suggest similarly divided feelings.

90% of respondents aware of the pilot who rode during the commute reported they did not personally experience any problems related to it. (Of the 10% who did experience problems, the most commonly cited problems were bikes blocking aisles, doorways and seats; bikes entering crowded trains; and bikes running into or brushing up against people.)

Asked how lifting the blackout affected their BART trip, 17% said it made their trip worse. (9% said it made their trip better, and 74% said it had little or no effect.).

The public will have an opportunity to discuss the results when the BART Bicycle Task Force has a meeting on Monday, Oct. 1, at 6 pm.

Additional details available on the BART website.

Treasure Island Radioactive Waste Investigation Expands into Yards and Homes

Treasure Island Health Study Planned
Matt Smith, Bay Citizen, September 26, 2012

Navy contractors have been searching for and removing low-level radioactive waste at the former Treasure Island Naval Station since 2003, the legacy of an atomic warfare school and a warship repair yard.

But recently, the Navy has had to broaden its efforts after state health officials said military contractors had misidentified and mishandled potential radioactive waste sites.

Officials with the Navy and the state Department of Toxic Substances Control assured residents that they would have suffered no health effects from radioactive material. 

Steve Woods, a radiation specialist with the state Department of Public Health, offered a slightly different message. He said that even though findings so far do not suggest there is a health risk, more studies are warranted.  San Francisco health officer Tomás Aragón said his agency may step into the breach by collecting available health information about Treasure Island residents.

Read the complete article here, and the Bay Citizen's coverage of Treasure Island here.

The Social Cost of Carbon

Joanna M. Foster, NY Times, September 18, 2012

In 2010, 12 government agencies working in conjunction with economists, lawyers, and scientists, agreed to develop a common standard for the social cost of carbon. The reason was that, in calculating the costs and benefits of pending policies and regulations, the Department of Transportation was assuming that a ton of emitted carbon dioxide imposed a $2 cost on society while the Environmental Protection Agency plugged 10 times that amount into its equations.

Instead, they decided that all agencies would use the same baseline of $21 per ton as the standard in monetizing the social costs of the seven-plus billion tons of carbon generated by US power plants, vehicles, and factories each year.

But a new paper published in the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences concludes that the costs of carbon pollution and related climate change are vastly greater — possibly two to 12 times as much. The authors argue that the federal government is not adequately taking into account the impacts of climate change on future generations.

At the heart of this debate is a disagreement about how to apply an economic concept known as the discount rate. Simply put, the discount rate is based on how much it is worth to us now to prevent that future damage. The governmental agency group looked at discount rates of 2.5, 3, and 5 percent, ultimately settling on 3 percent and putting the cost of one ton of carbon at $21. But the new study opts for discount rates of 1, 1.5, and 2 percent, ultimately putting the cost of one ton of carbon at anywhere from $55 to $266.

Read the complete article here.

Vulnerability & Adaptation to Climate Change in California

The California Natural Resources Agency and the California Energy Commission have jointly released "Our Changing Climate 2012", the State’s third major assessment on climate change.  This report highlights California's specific vulnerabilities, few of which will be a surprise to anyone:

• The state’s electricity system is more vulnerable than was previously understood.
• The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is sinking, putting levees at growing risk.
• Wind and waves, in addition to faster rising seas, will worsen coastal flooding.
• Animals and plants need connected “migration corridors” to allow them to move to more suitable habitats to avoid serious impacts.
• Native freshwater fish are particularly threatened by climate change.
• Minority and low-income communities face the greatest risks from climate change.

The report maintains that there are effective ways to prepare for and manage climate change risks, but local governments face many barriers to adapting to climate change.

Read the complete report here.

Stop Traffic Before It Starts

Found via the Daily Good...

Christian Brüggemann, 25, and two of his friends, all of them students at universities in Germany, have created a Windows Phone app called Greenway that aims to prevent traffic jams and get you from Point A to B in the shortest amount of time.

While existing mapping apps such as Waze and Google Maps show their users traffic jams and hazards and offer alternate routes, Greenway hopes to prevent backups from occurring in the first place by using software to predict where drivers are heading. The approach is part of a broader trend that has, for example, seen some insurers offer rates tailored to a person's driving habits—after tracking their movements via a GPS unit attached to the car.

The Greenway app, which is being tested by dozens of smartphone users around Munich, Germany, has already gained some recognition by clinching an environmental sustainability award (and a $10,000 prize) at Microsoft's annual Imagine Cup student technology competition in July. The Greenway group is now trying to secure funding to bring its app to iPhone and Android smartphone users.

Read the complete story here.