CitiesGoGreen - Promotional Issue - (Page 10)

Flyby continued v Set increasingly energy-efficient standards for new and renovated buildings, reaching carbon neutrality by 2030. This article explores how cities can do this. Measure, measure, measure Information base j Buildings are responsible for 48% of greenhouse gas emissions. k 76% of US electrical production goes to the building sector. l Three quarters of US built space will be new or renovated by 2030. Higher standards can make a large difference. m Highly efficient buildings are practical with current technology at little to no extra cost, and large benefits. n Cities save significant money by implementing climate protection measures. o Building is essentially local. Cities can educate, encourage, inspire and require so at to make the 2030 Challenge goals feasible. Resources u Face It: The facts and analysis leading to the 2030 Challenge. Engaging, potentially worldview-altering. 30 minute video. v High Performance Building Perspective and Practice: Thirteen projects: the people, buildings, costs, benefits, and the bottom line. 30 minute video. Can you think of green building as a fad or frill after watching this? With matching case studies. w Further ahead of the curve: Rocky Mountain Institute’s Cooling the Warming examines perverse incentives built into the building industry, how to overcome them, and the practicality of extraordinarily efficient buildings. Going further Visit CitiesGoGreen.com for all links and more resources. Urban Facts and Figures Seventy-five percent of the world’s energy is consumed in urban areas. Together, greenhouse gas emissions from the 10 largest U.S. cities account for 10 percent of total U.S. emissions. Source: Pewclimate.org (pdf) builders and developers. He Toderian notes that cities seri- also says such actions need to ous about reaching environ- be matched with stricter codes mental goals must be willing and regulations to achieve the to talk about The greatest barriers to constructing where they are now, not just low-energy buildings are lack of how green they practical guidance and the are. He pointed out that while limited skill set of design and Vancouver, BC, construction teams. is one of the greenest cities in North America, it is still using 2030 goals in time. Santa Barresources at a rate four times bara and Austin, for example, greater than is sustainable on are actively implementing one planet. It’s clear that to 2030 Challenge targets into him, the ecological footprint is their official building codes. a metric that matters. Portland’s Anderson warns Clear metrics let you see against an overly regulatory where you are, define where approach, and Antupit says you intend to go, and comsimply piling on regulations municate how you’re doing can make the situation more along the way. costly, complicated, and time Metrics are also a base for consuming. Yet Toderian sees incentives. The Getting to Fifty government leadership as a summit participants stressed must. In his view, incentives the importance of financial are not enough and the marincentives scaled to mea- ket has led the way too long. sured performance. Buildings He urges cities to set direction. exceeding efficiency expectations should earn higher Educate incentives, but only for meaIn the 2007 Getting to Fifty sured performance, not simply Summit, 60 experts agreed building design. (pdf) that the greatest barriers to low-energy building are not Develop appropriate codes and lack of technical information incentives or cost, but lack of practical Susan Anderson says good guidance and the limited skill policy early on is a large part set of design and construction of Portland’s success. Portland teams. and Seattle were among the first If builders are not properly trained, cities in the US to adopt formal and if city officials don’t know how to local ordinances perform proper inspections, it doesn’t requiring that all new construc- matter what the building code says. tion for city facilities be LEED Seattle offers technical ascertified. The Portland Development Commission now re- sistance to builders on a casequires all commercial buildings by-case basis. Mazria suggests receiving incentives from the cities institute training programs for staff and contractors city be LEED certified as well. Most cities both regulate to increase understanding and reward. Mazria encour- and integration of sustainable ages traditional incentives to building standards. 0 0 .com .com April 2008 http://www.architecture2030.org/2030_challenge/index.html http://www.betterbricks.com/DetailPage.aspx?Id=158 http://www.architecture2030.org/faceit/index.php http://www.architecture2030.org/faceit/index.php http://bet.rmi.org/video http://www.newbuildings.org/gtf/index.htm http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/energy/electric/energy+efficiency/ee+workshops/gt50+summit+final+report.pdf http://bet.rmi.org/video http://bet.rmi.org/our-work/ http://bet.rmi.org/our-work/ http://www.citiesgogreen.com http://www.dsireusa.org/Index.cfm?RE=0&EE=1 http://www.dsireusa.org/Index.cfm?RE=0&EE=1 http://pewclimate.org/docUploads/Climate101-FULL_121406_065519.pdf http://www.citiesgogreen.com

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CitiesGoGreen - Promotional Issue Contents In Motion Conversations with Mayors Feature Article: How Can Cities Respond to the 2030 Challenge? Fast Forward

CitiesGoGreen - Promotional Issue

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