CitiesGoGreen - November 2008 - (Page 8)

An Easy Fix: White Roofs Roofs make up 25% of the surface of most cities, and pavement about 35%. Replacing dark roofs and asphalt with white roofs and light colored paving such as concrete would cool buildings, lower temperatures in cities, reduce smog and lower energy needs. Hashem Akbari, a physicist with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, reports in a recent study that if all roofs and pavement were replaced with more reflective material in 100 major urban areas, 44 billion metric tons of CO2 would be offset, more than all the countries on earth emit in a year. Given that some three quarters of building stock in the US, at least, is predicted to be new or renovated by 2030, the usefulness of putting appropriate rules in place for new and renovated buildings is evident. The study will be published in the journal Climatic Change and was presented at the Climate Change Research Conference. Add your comments and ideas at CitiesGoGreen.com Newark’s Green Future Summit According to Mayor Cory Booker of Newark, New Jersey, “The American Dream is a green dream.” The city held a two-day brainstorming and planning session in September as a major step toward a sustainable future. A team effort by Mayor Booker and the Apollo Alliance, the Green Future Summit included national experts, local businesses and community members, who focused primarily on green market opportunities, construction of new green buildings and green renovation of old buildings (which would create jobs), and creating open spaces to manage storm water, decrease urban heat and encourage farming and gardening. Kate Gordon, co-director of the Apollo Alliance, said she believes Newark has the potential to serve as a national model for green urban revitalization. Adapting to More Bikes One good response to more bikes on the streets is “sharrows” painted on roads. They tell cyclists they are welcome to share the lane with cars and improve lane use by both motor vehicles and cyclists. Another tool is more bike safety courses. Local groups may offer them, with national resources available in both the US and Canada. Near the top of the infrastructure food chain is Tokyo’s robot bike parking garage near its busiest subway station. Holding thousands of bikes, it rePhoto courtesy Sam McNeil turns the correct one to a user in about ten seconds. Bike traffic has increased 20% since it opened. Finally, Dr. John Pucher shares dozens of effective ways to increase bike use in his Cycling for Everyone talk at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The video is available on the SFU website. Very high bike use is a matter of deliberate policy, he says. Solar Homes Sell Faster A nationwide homebuilding company and a solar systems manufacturer both recently reported that new homes fitted with solar panels outsell their non-solar competitors by about two to one. Woodside Homes says that since they began offering an energy-saving and solar package as standard for subdivisions in two Southern California cities, home sales have nearly doubled, from two or three a month to four or five. SunPower Corporation, a Silicon Valley manufacturer of solar equipment and supplier to several large homebuilders, including Woodside, reports similar results for solar-equipped, energy efficient homes. Besides liking the reduced energy bills, many buyers also seem to have climate effects in mind and appreciate the ability to reduce their environmental impact. November 2008 8 Photo courtesy Paul Shippee flickr.com ©Digishooter-fotolia.com http://flickr.com http://www.apolloalliance.org/bookersummit.php http://www.nj.com/newark/index.ssf/2008/09/could_newark_flower_as_ecocity.html http://www.springerlink.com/content/0165-0009 http://www.climatechange.ca.gov/events/2008_conference/ http://www.climatechange.ca.gov/events/2008_conference/ http://citiesgogreen.com http://citiesgogreen.com http://www.sfmta.com/cms/bproj/22747.html http://www.getaboutcolumbia.com/news/view/131/New symbols to share the road safely (7/18/08).html http://www.sfu.ca/city/city_pgm_video020.htm http://www.bikeleague.org/resources/better/index.php http://www.canadian-cycling.com/cca/education/canbike.shtml http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/30/AR2008083000632.html?referrer=facebook http://www.pe.com/business/local/stories/PE_Biz_S_green27.30cf8a0.html http://investors.sunpowercorp.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=318004 http://investors.sunpowercorp.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=318004 http://citiesgogreen.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CitiesGoGreen - November 2008

CitiesGoGreen - November 2008 Contents In Motion Disaster Housing for $200: The Hexayurt Coming Soon: A Code-Ready Green Building Standard from ASHRAE ICMA Embraces Sustainability Fort Collins, Colorado Interview: ClimateWise, Business Smart 12-for-1 Parking: Bike Corrals Fresno County More Biking and Walking for Better Communities

CitiesGoGreen - November 2008

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