CitiesGoGreen - February 2009 - (Page 14) Living on One Planet An abandoned business park is being transformed into a carbonfree, resilient community of 5,000 residents by Susan Kraemer t would take five Earths to supply the American lifestyle to the world’s population. BioRegional is an independent environmental organization supporting the development of communities designed to live within the resources offered by our one Earth. Much more ambitious than LEED, the One Planet Certification process lays out detailed requirements for truly sustainable communities. Few communities measure up. Even their own first community, The Beddington Zero Energy Development, or BedZED, the UK’s largest eco-village, was dropped from BioRegional certification when it failed to meet ongoing zero carbon and sustainable water requirements. The district heating co-generation unit (combining heat and electric power) was to have 14 I used wood-waste fuel, but the contractor had technical problems and a natural gas system was used instead, which was no longer zero carbon. The water bioremediation unit also had a technical issue and will be taken over by the local water authority. Despite these problems, the former One Planet community is a huge success. Apartments in BedZED command a chunky 15% premium over comparable units in the real estate market. BioRegional aims to attract not merely the eco-elites in each community, but to convert average citizens into eco-citizens. In the case of BedZED, they do it with a well-designed education system and such easy-to-use separation bins that now formerly non-recycling Londoners separate, compost and recycle at a high level. Residents share weekly meals in the community centre, which include food from community gardens nourished by community compost. BioRegional’s test site was small—100 homes in less than an acre with zero-emission energy designed into its very fabric. The project moved ahead fast, turning up “hard knock” lessons that BioRegional teaches to other, would-be One Planet communities. With a goal of One Planet Communities worldwide, existing projects include Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, intended to be the world’s first carbon-free, wastefree, car-free city, Mata de Sesimbra in Portugal, which was initially certified in 2002 but is mired in red tape, planned or emerging communities in South Africa, February/March 2009 http://citiesgogreen.com/issues/february-2009/current-features/living-on-one-planet http://citiesgogreen.com/issues/february-2009/current-features/living-on-one-planet http://citiesgogreen.com/issues/february-2009/current-features/living-on-one-planet http://www.CitiesGoGreen.com
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