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Saturday, October 17, 2009
New book tells inside story of Civano development in Tucson
“Inside the Civano Project: A Case Study of Large-Scale Sustainable Neighborhood Development” is the first book in ages to tell the inside story of a “bottoms up” effort by activists in Tucson to create an energy and water-efficient community with a New Urbanist flavor, with a special focus on using the abundant solar energy of the Sonoran desert. What makes the book especially interesting is the extensive interviews with the participants. The effort succeeded: today Civano is the largest sustainable mixed-use community in the country and a great model for others to visit. What’s also interested is that the development’s 60 percent reduction in heating and cooling energy and 55 percent reduction in potable water use is documented each year. And, what I find even more unusual, in Civano’s first phase, there are only two private pools for 600 homes, with everyone else using the two easy-to-walk-to community pools. Even in the current marketplace for home sales, Civano’s build-out continues, as more people are drawn to its community feeling.
Posted by Jerry on 10/17/2009 at 10:56 AM
This entry has been viewed 115 times.
Green Building News • (0) Comments • PermalinkGerman green home wins Solar Decathlon
German’s PV-covered home won this year’s competition by producing twice as much energy as it used using the Net Metering final phase of the competition. The U.S. Department of Energy supported the contest and announced the final results. Why can’t every home produce more energy than it uses? It’s time for a wholesale rethinking of “traditional” home design to a “new normal” design that makes every home a net contributor to the electric grid.
Posted by Jerry on 10/17/2009 at 10:27 AM
This entry has been viewed 123 times.
Green Building News • (0) Comments • PermalinkFriday, October 16, 2009
Green Building Home Certifications Continue to Grow
Clearly, the housing slowdown has affected the move toward green homes. While LEED has almost tripled the number of certified homes (through September) from year-end and has increased new home registrations by 50%, the overall numbers are still disappointing, given that the program has been around for more than two years. It certainly appears that the more mainstream NAHB National Green Building Program, announced to great fanfare in February 2008, has yet to gain any significant traction among the nation’s homebuilders. One would have to conclude that the ENERGY STAR program is still the most viable and most used new home rating system in the U.S., with 17 percent market share of all new homes in 2008 and more than 20 percent in 15 states, according to the US EPA.
Posted by Jerry on 10/16/2009 at 10:03 AM
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Green Building News • (0) Comments • PermalinkWednesday, June 10, 2009
Learning from European Green Buidings
You’ll have to buy a copy of the ULI Green magazine, but there are a lot of good articles in the issue. My article, Learning from Europe, showcases a wonderful project by Behnisch Architekten, from Stuttgart, Germany, the renovation of an aging health spa in a small town in Bavaria. European designers, planners, developers and builders are aggressively pushing the envelope on low-carbon buildings. My forthcoming book, Green Building Trends: Europe, highlights much of what is happening today. You can order it now from Island Press; should be available in 3 to 6 weeks.
Posted by Jerry on 06/10/2009 at 10:57 AM
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Green Building News • (0) Comments • PermalinkPage 1 of 21 pages 1 2 3 > Last »
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