The Ground Floor

ULI Announces New Report of First Sustainable Development Advisory Panel

This post was written for The Ground Floor by Robert Krueger, communications associate at the Urban Land Institute.

This week, ULI released its first Sustainable Panel Report for Tradition.  This is the largest master-planned community under development in the state of Mississippi.  Tradition, located outside of Biloxi, has a vision of turning its 4,800-acre (1,943-ha) community into the national standard for sustainable development.

The publication marks a milestone at ULI, since the Sustainable Development Panel is the newest advisory services tool that will offer unbiased sustainable solutions to a project so that it will ensure a balance of economic, social and environmental components.

For those unfamiliar with ULI’s Advisory Services, it is a panel that provides strategic advice on land use and real estate development issues. The program was established in 1947, and since then has completed over 500 panels throughout the U.S., 12 countries, and four continents. 

The service is a fee-based program, which is paid for by cities, counties, nonprofits, and economic development groups. These sponsors usually share an interest in finding a practical solution to such issues as:  downtown redevelopment, brownfields redevelopment, workforce and affordable housing, urban design, transit-oriented development, evaluation of land potential, and many other land use matters.

The panel of advisors consists of ULI members who volunteer and are then chosen for each assignment based on their expertise with the panel subject.  Since the advisor is a volunteer position, they do not get paid for their time. The dynamics of the panel services is that the expertise of the developers, investors, architects, investors, planners, public sector members is objective and unbiased. ULI selects its panel members that have successful experience with the subject and also insures that there is no connection or financial interest with the sponsor of the panel members. In addition, panelists usually do not reside in the region where the panel takes place.

The new Sustainable Development Panel service builds on the 60-year tradition by integrating diverse sustainable development issues into their recommendations. The service looks to integrate smart growth, green infrastructure, green building, social capital, housing equity, and others to achieve the following goals:

• Positively contribute to their environment, region, and surrounding communities.
• Support an intergenerational and demographically diverse population.
• Achieve carbon neutrality at a minimum and carbon absorption at best.
• Create memorable and enduring places to live.
• Remain flexible and adaptable to changing markets, lifestyles, and trends.
• Promote economic vitality for residents, businesses, institutions, and their developer.
• Evolve their governance and leadership from the community base.
• Openly share their lessons, so that others can build on their success.

The introduction of this new advisory panel comes at a time when global concern continues to increase over how to reduce carbon emissions fight the future of global warming catastrophes.  The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said that we have a 7 to 10 year window to fix the problem; otherwise reversing the effects could then be out of our control.

The Sustainable Development Panels will focus on long-term integrated systems approach, the health of communities, and the quality-of-living for community residents.  ULI not only incorporates the economic (development) issues and sustainability issues, but also recognizes the importance of the local community through its recommendations and its dedication to supporting the sustainable community movement.

Beautiful and Sustainable at a Surprising Price

Buildings can be judged successful thanks to good architecture, sustainable design, or a positive social impact. San Francisco's Plaza Apartments is a rare example of one that succeeds at all three.

A nine-story mixed-use building near downtown San Francisco, the Plaza Apartments contains 106 rental housing units, 1,000 square feet (93 sq m) of retail space, and a 99 seat performing arts venue. Not a conventional urban apartment building -- all 106 units are reserved for the previously chronically homeless. Developed by the nonprofit Public Initiatives Development Corporation on a $22 million budget, the project also contains services for building tenants, which include on-site case managers, a psychiatrist, and a nurse practitioner.

The project is part of a nationwide trend of "housing first" when dealing with homeless. New approaches recognize that securing housing is the first step to independent living. Cities across the country are finding that providing housing first and then treating underlying causes -- such as mental illness or drug addiction -- reduces the overall costs to taxpayers and social service agencies. Tenants of the Plaza Apartments pay half their income in rent, $410 on average.

In addition to the social mission, the structure also features cutting-edge LEED Silver environmental design. The roof sports both a sundeck and 26-kilowatt photovoltaic system. The creative facade is fine-tuned to maximize winter sun on one side and provide summer shade on another. The San Francisco Chronicle raved that the "designers crafted a structure of lasting warmth and presence," concluding the design features a "creative depth you don't find in most residential projects, including condominium complexes stuffed with seven-figure units."

Although the project wasn't developed for a profit, it has taken over a hundred of formerly homeless off the street and improved the character of the neighborhood. With city residents and officials pushing hard for community benefits, particularly in return for allowing lucrative investments in urban neighborhoods, the Plaza Apartments could contain ideas useful elsewhere. Instead of writing a check to a faceless housing fund, a donation towards a facility like the one described here could improve the neighborhood and set formerly homeless people on a path to recovery.

A complete case study of this project can be found on ULI's Development Case Studies web site, which features detailed descriptions of urban development projects around the world updated each quarter.

Only subscribers can access the complete case studies, but short descriptions are available to all. The complete case study for Plaza Apartments includes floor plans, contact information of the development team, description of building features, and a summary of important lessons learned.

Greening of Land Planning

This post was written for The Ground Floor by Rick Abelson, ULI Member, and director at Online Land Planning in Redondo Beach, California.

Remember the first time seeing the master plan for Seaside, Florida?  The street patterns drew the question, "How does this community work?" Answers about front yard porches, a return to pedestrian scale, building setbacks, and history began to tell an "authentic story" of a slower and meaningful family lifestyle.

In the same spirit of ingenuity, land planners now have a chance to create land plans based on true green living. Like Seaside, it's easier to start from scratch on raw land to get the full power of the concept. But unlike the principles set forth in new urbanism, the green land plan's shapes and patterns will look unfamiliar based on locale. To make it ideal, land planners will need to string together a salient framework of green principles beyond the obvious solar orientation, water recycling, architecture, and technology. Where is the creativity?

George King, former director of the Energy Group at the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC), based in The Woodlands, Texas, believes that planners should look back at the Native American Indians to identify some of the "natural gadgets" that have little to do with modern technology, but rather the positioning of objects in the landscape.

One fascinating example is heat sink islands, which helped stem the amount of natural hot air that blows across the southwest landscape in a very predictable manner. According to King, the Native American Indians perfected the concept of planting very dense stands of trees in one-acre patches in the path of the prevailing winds to collect the heat and transfer it upwards -- away from their settlements.

This process, repeated several times within the primary breezeway often caused a "natural ventilation system" that could reduce the air temperature by as much as 20 degrees.  By using this exact same principle today as the backbone for a new community, electricity costs in some of the hottest areas of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and Southern California could be reduced significantly.

Will new community developers be brave enough to fully explore and dedicate property in a beneficial way to create a true green land plan? If so, a new paradigm will emerge that is both familiar and unusual -- like the first time you saw new urbanism.

If you are a ULI Member and would like to contribute to The Ground Floor, please send an email requesting writer guidelines.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, the Urban Land Institute.

A Nexus in the Nation’s Capital

This post was written for The Ground Floor by Marge Fahey, director of Media Relations at the Urban Land Institute.

Washington, D.C. is in the midst of a transformation to reduce its carbon footprint by promoting green building practices and greening its building codes, according to a panel of industry experts who spoke at ULI Washington’s meeting June 3.

"Mayor Fenty is making this a priority for 2008," said Cliff Makersik, program director, Institute for Market Transformation. "D.C. City Council has endorsed a package of green building amendments, which will be adopted quickly."

The District of Columbia Green Building Act of 2006, which went into effect last March, establishes green building standards for both public and private projects. (Washington, D.C. is the first major city to require Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED ) compliance for private projects. The Act also establishes a green building fund and a Green Building Advisory Council.

The top priority is to remove impediments to green building and require: improving energy efficiency by 30 percent in both commercial and residential buildings; improving water efficiency; requiring white or green roofs to reduce the heat island effect; and prohibiting recirculation of air vented from bathrooms and kitchens. The code will become mandatory one year after approval by City Council.

"What is happening in Washington is historic," said Sean Cahill, vice president of development, Louis Dreyfus Property Group. "Even in Washington, you have to transform the codes to transform the market."

Joan Kelsch, green building coordinator for Arlington County, remarked that Arlington County has a LEED project person, a green score card and green credits as well as a green building fund. "Projects without official U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) authorization contribute 3 cents per square foot."

She also noted that on a regional level, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments has intergovernmental rebuilding standards that promote green building uniformly, including:

• LEED standards
• Governments to lead by example in LEED Silver
• All private development achieve LEED certified
• LEED codes: stormwater management; heat island; energy efficiency; no recirculating of kitchen and bathroom air.

The Washington area has 60 LEED certified buildings and 300 registered buildings, Makersik commented.

Trumps seeks the other green

A newcomer to the Philadelphia market is chasing the green -- the LEED kind of green.

The new Trump Tower Philadelphia, which will sit on the Delaware River, is striving to achieve a LEED Silver certification. At 45 floors, the residential complex features 225 residences and 31 different floor plans.

Employing Philadelphia-based Alesker & Dundon Architecture, LLC, to design the sustainable features to meet LEED requirements, Trump has integrated several green roofs among standard amenities such as a tennis court, indoor and outdoor pool, fitness center, putting green, a business center, and a wine cellar and tasting room. Exempting the highest roof, most will be landscaped and will house recreation areas such as the swimming pool and serenity gardens, to make the building LEED worthy.

Rainwater catchments systems will be placed on the roofs allowing for self-irrigation of the plants. Condensate from the air conditioning system will also be collected and used for watering. Any excess rainwater that collects will be purified and released into the Delaware River.

In addition, the design team integrated living walls will help filter out fumes from the parking garage. In addition, the building is set on a former brownfield industrial site, and 35 percent of the land will remain undeveloped, leaving some open space.

Heat will also be recycled from the units’ kitchens and bathrooms and used to heat corridors and the lobby areas. Building materials will come from sustainable sources and local businesses, to reduce the effects of transportation.

Walking Through Walls

Recently, the Washington, D.C.-based National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) awarded 17 building industry professionals for excellence and innovation in green home building at the 10th Annual NAHB National Green Building Conference in New Orleans.

“These honorees are pioneers, artists and building scientists," said NAHB Sandy Dunn,president of NAHB and a home builder from Point Pleasant, West Virginia. "They've worked hard to bring sustainable building practices into the mainstream.  These winners are not afraid to put great ideas in motion."

Although not everyone in the industry can be recognized, there are companies not afraid to put great ideas into motion. According to the OPEN Prototype Initiative (OPI), the answer lies in the Open-Built® system of home construction.

For OPI, not all houses are created equal. OPI, a program of the MIT House_n Research Consortium, along with the help of Bensonwood Homes in Walpole, New Hampshire, and other industry partners, have set a goal to improve homebuilding across the country and to make homes more affordable, adaptable, and environmentally friendly. OPI developed a process that makes it possible to construct thousands of environmentally friendly Net-Zero homes, which produce as much energy as they consume).

"There are countless examples of green homes, but the industry has not developed a process to affordably mass produce these homes," said Kent Larson, director of the MIT House_n Research Consortium. "The OPEN Prototype Initiative has developed scalable processes, such as prefabrication and the separation of core services that, when followed, enable builders to create thousands of customizable Net-Zero homes that are being made more affordable right now."

Today's builders of tomorrow's homes are addressing a whole new reality: that to be truly durable and sustainable, houses should be able to adapt to homeowners' needs over time. A key ingredient that separates OPI’s homes and the building process from other green or prototype home projects, is the use of Open-Built(R) principles. Open-Built(R) thinking takes a layered approach to building, with each layer defined by its life span and anticipated need for future alteration.

Higher Learning

America's schools are registering at one school a day for the Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) LEED certification program for green schools, signaling their intent to build and operate schools that are more energy and water efficient.

Michelle Moore, senior vice president, USGBC, noted that there are about 100,000 public and private schools in the U.S., and that fully one-third of their facility costs are in heating/cooling buildings, providing water, electricity, and other energy/utility functions.

"Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Jersey, Oregon, and Virginia have the most LEED certified schools to date, and many local school districts and state departments of education are beginning to develop and implement policies that require schools to be built green," according to Moore.

As part of its school design standards, Ohio is one state that's leading the way with hundreds of new and renovated schools set to meet higher energy efficiency and environmental standards through the Ohio School Facilities Commission’s adoption of the LEED for Schools Rating System. When the Commission did the math, it determined it could save $1,415,529,914 in taxpayer money over the next 40 years by reducing the energy consumption of school buildings.

The newly-formed Green Schools Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives has lent a federal voice to the green schools agenda. Created by co-chairs Rep. Darlene Hooley, D-Ore.; Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas; and Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, the goals of the caucus are to raise awareness of the benefits of green schools, lead the policy discussion on the topic in various forums, create legislative opportunities for the collective efforts of the caucus members, and provide members of Congress with constituent outreach resources.

NYC and One Million Trees

MillionTreesNYC, a public/private partnership between the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and New York Restoration Project (NYRP), aims to plant and care for one million new trees in New York City by 2017.

Through a mix of public and private plantings, MillionTreesNYC, an important initiative of Mayor Bloomberg's PlaNYC, will expand New York City's urban forest by 20 percent. MillionTreesNYC partners and citizen volunteers are planting in places such as schoolyards and playgrounds, public housing campuses, business districts, commercial and residential developments, front yards, and other private lands.

During MillionTreesNYC Month in April, MillionTreesNYC launched a campaign encouraging all New Yorkers to "think globally and plant locally" enlisting community, corporate and youth volunteers from all five boroughs to roll up their sleeves and plant trees. Throughout the month, parks, New York Restoration Project, and MillionTreesNYC partners have hosted free citywide events for the public including tree education seminars, tree stewardship workshops, tree pruning instructional courses, Urban Park Ranger tree identification hikes, and large scale volunteer tree plantings.

Cities Strive to Lessen Environmental Impact

As cities continue to grow, so does its impact on the environment. In recognition of Earth Day today, the National Press Club hosted an event, "Protecting the Environment in Cities, the U.S., and the World," where Ben Grumbles, assistant administrator for water at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Richard Baier, the director of transportation and environmental services for Alexandria, Va., discussed how cities are tackling stormwater management and other infrastructure issues.

Grumbles informed attendees and other guest panelists about the EPA's recent efforts in green infrastructure and green transportation. Green infrastructure can be defined as management approaches and technologies infiltrate, evapotranspire, capture and reuse stormwater to maintain or restore natural hydrologies.

Of note, Grumbles detailed a recent initiative formalizing an effort among EPA, the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA), the Association of States and Interstate Water Pollution Control Administrators (ASIWPCA), the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and the Low Impact Development (LID) Center, in addition to over 50 companies who signed a statement of support, to assist state, city, and local governments in implementing and evaluating innovative and effective green infrastructure approaches.

Playing with Dirt

Tom Ward, a principal at Ward + Blake Architects in Jackson, Wyoming, is taking sustainable building a bit literally; he’s built a structure out of plain old dirt. Holding the patent to EarthWall, a seismically-stable rammed earth construction process for sustainable building.

In 1999, Ward recognized an opportunity during news coverage of the aftermath of an earthquake in Turkey, where some of the homes -- those built from the region's indigenous rammed earth technique -- sustained less damage than the structures built with more modern methods. Ward eventually developed an innovative method of stabilizing the earthen walls with reinforced steel rods in a "rational structural post tensioning system" -- that effectively creates earthquake resistance in rammed earth structures.

"Fifty percent of the world's population lives in earthen houses, many of them in seismically active parts of the world," says Ward.  "This strong, low-tech method could allow for the rebuilding of structures in areas ravaged by earthquakes -- or even for replacing existing structures to prevent future damage-without resorting to expensive, culturally foreign building systems."

Tests by the University of Wyoming's Civil Engineering Department confirmed that Ward’s technique worked as the first seismically stable rammed earth wall. In 2006, he received a patent on the eco-friendly building system that could help people in Third World countries construct earthquake-resistant homes. His innovative new-yet-old building technology won Ward + Blake a Newton Foundation research grant.

"The aspect that is most exciting to me," Ward adds, "is the potential for the worldwide application of EarthWall.  Perhaps if the process is one day adopted in Third World countries, it will save not only homes from collapsing -- but lives as well."

Using the EarthWall process, Ward + Blake designed a 3000-square-foot residence, called the TK Pad Residence, which combines the earthen process with natural materials, applying specific roof design, addressing water runoff issues, and the house's placement on the land.

The forms of the house are generated by the EarthWall rammed earth walls that utilize a unique system of post-tensioning steel that was patented by the architects. The base material for these walls is native soil and crusher fines cohesively joined with Portland cement. The walls are 18 inches thick, and provide passive thermal resistance as well as acoustic properties, tempering the house from cold as well as pervasive highway noise.

The envelope of the house is simple and natural. The concrete has no color while the earthen walls are unadorned, with the natural stratification as the only embellishment. Exterior and interior wood are native species, treated with water borne sealers only. Concrete interior floors and exterior patios are natural color, and control joints are strips of slate.

Validating Green

Confirming what the green building community has supported all along, studies released by the New Buildings Institute (NBI) in White Salmon, Washington, and CoStar Group in Bethesda, Maryland, prove that energy use of new buildings certified under the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED certification system are performing nearly 25 percent to 30 percent better than non-certified buildings, while Gold and Platinum LEED certified buildings show an average energy savings approaching 50 percent.

Likewise, Green Building in North America: Opportunities and Challenges, a report issued by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) based in Montréal, reiterated that it is common for advanced green buildings to routinely reduce energy usage by up to 50 percent over conventional buildings, with the most efficient buildings performing more than 70 percent better than conventional properties. However, today green buildings account for only 2 percent of the new non-residential building market, less than half of 1 percent of the residential market in the United States, Canada, and less than that in Mexico.

CoStar’s study also proved that green buildings are sound financial investments. CoStar reported LEED buildings command rent premiums of $11.24 per square foot over non-LEED structures and have 3.8 percent higher occupancy. Rental rates in ENERGY STAR buildings command a $2.38 per square foot premium over comparable non-ENERGY STAR buildings and have 3.6 percent higher occupancy.

Institutional investors are being shown an eye-opening trend, ENERGY STAR buildings sell for an average of $61 per square foot more than their peers, while LEED buildings command a remarkable $171 more per square foot.

CoStar analyzed more than 1,300 LEED Certified and ENERGY STAR buildings representing about 351 million square feet in CoStar’s commercial property database of roughly 44 billion square feet, and assessed those buildings against nongreen properties with similar size, location, class, tenancy and year-built characteristics to generate the results.

Build Green Or Build Obsolete

ULI Chairman Todd Mansfield opened the ULI’s Fourth Annual Developing and Investing Green conference with an observation that sustainable development has "entered the mainstream" of the land use industry, and is no longer viewed as a "passing fad." His comments set the theme for a highly informative opening day of the two-day event, held April 7-8 in Charlotte, N.C.

Speaker after speaker conveyed the benefits of development that is not just environmentally sustainable, but sustainable from an economic, social, and green standpoint. Keynoter speaker Peter Calthorpe, principal of Calthorpe and Associates (and 2006 laureate of the ULI JC Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development) explained to roughly 700 attendees, "Where you choose to develop is more important than what you develop."

Compact Communities - Is Density Incompatible With Safety?

Reducing the carbon footprint of metropolitan areas will require making them more compact in order to reduce driving or vehicle miles traveled (VMTs). Forgive me for saying this (density being a four letter word) but this will require increasing the density of existing communities and building new ones with appropriate density. 

So what are the best ways to design compact, densely populated, walkable communities which are attractive, safe and lively? One thing clearly needed is enough housing so people live in the community; this is what creates the "24/7" communities which have been shown to be most successful over time. What are the best ways to do this while reducing crime and enhancing public safety?

How Housing Subsidizes Infrastructure and Why That Matters to Climate Change

You will hear a lot about ULI's three core issues in the weeks and months ahead, assuming you haven't already. They are workforce housing, infrastructure and climate change; they are each vitally important land use issues in and of themselves but even more important when understood together. They all interrelate.

For instance, if one objective is to reduce the amount of driving (vehicle miles travelled or VMTs) so that the greenhouse gasses cars emit can be reduced, the best way to do that is to build compactly, and to mix uses and incomes together in walkable communities. 

This means that housing needs to be provided that is affordable and appropriate to people of all incomes and stages of their lives. Why? Because anyone who can't live in this compactly designed community has to live away from it and drive to work and shop, emitting greehouse gasses all the way.

But this is hard to do because it is so expensive to build housing. And what is one primary culprit in the cost of housing? The subsidy that housing is required to pay to build the infrastructure.

Housing Prices at The Edges Falling Faster

It's always a (somewhat unexpected) pleasure when facts begin to support one's theories. So the report in the Sunday, January 20th Washington Post on their front page no less, was a welcome arrival. The headline of the report: Region's Home Prices Continue to Fall; Some Pockets Thrive.

Now before I'm accused of schadenfreude, and taking joy in falling home prices, let's be clear that I own a home as well, the price of which has fallen more than I care to say.  What was satisfying is that my theory about the greater volatility of home prices on the suburban edge appears to be reflected on the ground, at least in the Washington Metro region.

The Theory:

Even though regional development patterns have been the same in the past few years as the past few decades (since the late 1940's to be precise), and most housing has been built on the suburban edges, now some 50 plus miles from downtown, the market for this suburban edge housing is declining. This is due to a number of factors including:

• changing demographics (fewer households with school age kids),
• longer commute times due to growing traffic congestion,
• higher gas prices (and the growing realization that they will continue to rise for years to come),
• concern about the need to reduce driving and greenhouse gas emissions, and
• the growing desire to live in more urbanized settings among the Baby Boomers and their kids, the Echo Boomers, the two largest American demographics.

The Urban Health Advantage

A recent article in New York magazine by Clive Thompson called "Why New Yorkers Last Longer" pulls together some intriguing facts that anyone interested in walkable, mixed use, mixed income communities should consider. The article, as the title suggests, explores why the "average life expectancy" of New Yorkers has grown faster than that of the U.S. as a whole, especially in since 1990. Now it is 78.6, while the national average is 77.9; as recently as 1990, the average life expectancy of a New Yorker was three years shorter than the national average.

Certain factors may be unique to New York, such as the drop in the crime rate (New York is now the safest city in the U.S.) and new drugs that have extended the life of AIDS patients. But other factors are more generic to all urbanized areas.

Here are some excerpts:

Newark Redux?

The 21st century is the Century of Urbanization, and cities across the U.S. are gaining population and economic vitality. But will this new life come to all cities in the U.S.? Maybe not, but take a look at Newark, N.J., historically one of the poorest, toughest, most corrupt and crime ridden cities in the country.

Talk of a comeback for Newark is not new, to be sure. In fact it's part of every mayoral campaign and has yet to take hold. That said, there is no reason why Newark should not become a thriving satellite of New York City if several previously intractable challenges can be met -- and a couple of them look like they are on the way to being resolved, namely crime and corruption.

McKinsey and Co. Weighs in on Climate Change and Buildings

On November 29^th McKinsey and Co. issued a report called "Reducing U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions: How Much at What Cost?" (The report can be found on the McKinsey home page.) The report was underwritten by a coalition of major corporations. The Washington Post also reports that on the same day, a group of 150 major corporations issued a call for governments to enact mandatory reductions in greenhouse gasses. Clearly, the U.S. government is behind the climate change curve, whether the curve is measured by popular sentiment on the climate or the considered views of the major business community.

The McKinsey report lists 250 options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions which, if all were implemented, would reduce emissions to between 7% and 28% of 2005 levels. A good start, to be sure, but not yet to the levels called for by most scientists -- 80% to 90% of 1990 levels by 2050.

A New Take on Green Rehabbing Homes

The U.S. has some 115 million homes today, and heating and cooling them results in the emission of 11% of all U.S. CO₂, the primary greenhouse gas. Important as it is to find better ways to heat and cool the 1.3 to 1.5 million new homes built each year so they use fewer carbon based fuels (oil, gas or electricity produced by oil and gas), reducing the carbon fuels used by existing homes is even more important -- for the next 20 to 30 years, there will be more of these existing homes than all the new homes yet to be built.

The first time this issue surfaced in a major way was during the 1970s when the price of oil was driven up by OPEC. At the time I worked at the Maine State Housing Authority and we began a program to help moderate-income homeowners improve the insulation in their homes. I remember going around to homes with an infrared camera and looking at pictures of heat leaking out around windows, doors and even through walls with little insulation. The fix we funded was to blow in insulation and to lay extra bats of fiberglass in the attics. That program and the many like it around the U.S. helped, and per unit residential energy use dropped through the 1980s, despite ever larger homes.

Today, there are few homes without insulation, so reducing the energy use of existing homes presents a new challenge. It is hard and expensive to add insulation to an existing home, especially if it is already insulated. The new "low hanging fruit," according to Richard Burbank, president of Evergreen Home Performance, LLC in Rockland, Maine, is to seal up the multitude of air leaks found in most homes. The quick pay back is air flow, not insulation, in most cases and much easier to fix. So many large buildings and older homes leak air like sieves.

Energy News from California (again)

This just in from Architecture 2030:

"On October 18th, 2007, the California Public Utilities Commission adopted a decision requiring California's investor-owned utilities to prepare a single, statewide Energy Efficiency Strategic Plan for the years 2009-2020. This plan will be developed collaboratively with input from the California Energy Commission, Regional Air Quality Management Districts, publicly-owned utilities, the private sector, research institutions, and other key stakeholders. A draft plan will be filed on February 1st, 2008 and a final plan on May 15th, 2008.

"The decision, setting in motion the planning process, adopts aggressive targets for new residential and commercial buildings in California. It states that all new residential buildings and all new commercial buildings in the state shall be zero net energy by 2020 and 2030 respectively. (Emphasis added).

"For details on how to participate in the development of the California Energy Efficiency Strategic Plan please, see www.californiaenergyefficiency.com."

Looking for the Holy Grail -- the PassivHaus

With oil hitting a new high of $97 a barrel today, and increasing urgency over climate change and the need to reduce emissions of CO₂ and other greenhouse gasses, the search for the zero carbon home grows ever more important. Add to this the fact that the Conference of Mayors and the AIA, among many others, have adopted the 2030 Challenge, which calls for all new homes to emit zero carbon by 2030. Can we build such a home in the U.S., and if we can, will the market accept it?

The answer to the first question is yes, we can build it today. As to the market, that may take some time to accept though these homes provide a very high quality of life.

What is a zero carbon home? Well, it is not exactly zero carbon, but close. Why not zero? Because there is carbon emitted during manufacture of the materials that go into a home and during its construction. The lifecycle of a home can be anything from 20 to 30 years to over 200 years in the U.S. (like our first home in Maine, which was built before 1790 -– though it did need some work); and a lot longer in the U.K. and Europe. Most of the energy used by a home during this lifecycle is used while people are living in it, used for heating, cooling, cooking, and all the things we plug in to the wall sockets.

So zero carbon generally refers to homes which use no carbon energy to live in and operate. This can eliminate up to 80% or more of the total carbon released by a home into the atmosphere, especially if the home generates its own energy with solar photovoltaics or wind.

Going Green: Not a Question

At ULI's recent fall meeting, nearly every real estate session involved some discussion of "sustainability" and "green." The consensus: Concerns over environmental preservation -- reinforced by climate change -- have made building green a competitive essential in most markets. There was widespread concurrence among meeting attendees that development that is both energy efficient and land efficient can help offset the impact of greenhouse gas emissions that are warming the climate, thus positioning the land use industry as a problem solver, rather than a problem maker.

In one session, ULI Senior Resident Fellow Tom Murphy pointed out that the land use industry is "at the nexus" of several factors involved in the climate change dialog -- 1) a sizeable share (by some estimates, at least 30 percent) of carbon emissions coming from vehicular traffic in urban areas; and 2) another chunk (at least 40 percent) coming from commercial buildings. Reducing carbon emissions related to land use will entail major public policy changes at all levels of government, from local zoning changes that permit denser, less auto-dependent development to shifts in federal funding that focuses more on transit systems. Given the environmental legislative activity currently underway that involves some aspect of land use, "the development community must be part of this conversation," Murphy said.

Reid Ewing, principal author of Growing Cooler: The Evidence on Urban Development and Climate Change, noted that one of the best ways to reduce vehicle travel is to build places where people can accomplish more with less driving. The report warns that if sprawling development continues to fuel growth in driving, the projected 59 percent increase in the total miles driven between 2005 and 2030 will overwhelm expected gains from vehicle efficiency and low-carbon fuels.

The Fire Next Time

The San Diego and Los Angeles areas are hit by a raging series of high-impact wildfires -- the worst in the state's history. Many of the blazes coincide with areas already scorched in 2003 by fires that themselves were declared California's worst ever.

But is there any move to move homes away from the areas where a century of firefighting has left many forests choked and overgrown, thick underbrush creating tinder-box conditions? Apparently not. Most homeowners vow that they'll stay in the fire-prone areas, or return to rebuild on the charred foundations of their former homes.

-- Nationally syndicated columnist Neal Peirce

There is one lesson all major disasters teach us -- the first and strongest reaction of local residents is to rebuild what was lost in the same way and the same place. Look at New Orleans: residents of the city's low lying areas that flood frequently have raised such a firestorm of protest at the mere suggestion that New Orleans's land use plan might be rethought after Katrina that rational discourse has been impossible.

Now those who have been burnt out in the San Diego fires vow to rebuild despite the obvious danger that the fires will return once again. Their losses have been tragic, but their commitment to return may be more tragic still.

Insights from a Master Place Maker

"Great spaces make great cities. They make our lives more enjoyable. Without them, our lives in cities would not be full." So says master place maker Sir Stuart Lipton, 2007 laureate of the ULI J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development.

Lipton, deputy chairman of Chelsfield Partners in London and one of that city's most respected and influential developers, shared his insights on the energizing quality of public space during a keynote presentation Wednesday afternoon.  (Throughout his many projects in London -- including Stockley Park, Chiswick Park and Broadgate -- his devotion to the public realm is evident; his office developments have become well-known destinations for recreation and entertainment.)

Lipton realized early in his career the economic value and social value of places that instill civic pride. While he never wavered from his commitment to place, his journey in building places has, over the years, "been a lonely one," he said. "I've felt the highs and lows of the process emotionally and financially. I've learned that great projects don't always produce the most money."

Mazria Challenges ULI to Help Combat Climate Change

This post was written by The Ground Floor contributor and ULI media relations director, Marge Fahey.

"The future of the planet is in your hands," said Ed Mazria, founder of the Architecture 2030 challenge, during yesterday morning's general session. "It is a huge responsibility, but a huge historic opportunity to change the world. Today, I am issuing the 2030 challenge for ULI."

The challenge issued by Mazria is to make all new buildings carbon neutral by 2030. "We can’t make it without the ULI; too big a piece of the puzzle. Unless you take action, it's going to be very difficult to get anywhere," he remarked.

The building industry is critical in addressing climate change, as buildings produce 43 percent of carbon dioxide emissions and consume 48 percent of the energy produced, noted Mazria. Of all the energy produced by coal plants, 76 percent is used to operate buildings. Mazria noted that his comments are based on scientific evidence by such entities as the National Oceanic Atmospheric Agency, NASA, Scripps Research Institute, Department of Energy, Defense Intelligence Agency Energy Information Administration and the national laboratories. "Scientists give us 10 years," Mazria emphasized. Unless we take action to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the damage will be irreversible.

Mixed income is a key to green development

Often lost in the growing discussions about the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, redevelop infrastructure and improve transportation is the notion that what is built and where it is built are at the heart of the matter. Compact development is key to green development, yes, but what kind of compact development.

A well designed mix of homes, stores, schools, offices and industrial buildings, along with parks, libraries, theaters, and other public spaces is needed. Too often, however, what is missing is talk of what the mix of housing needs to be.

Good, green compact development requires housing that is affordable to all who work in the area for the simple reason that otherwise they wind up "driving until they qualify." Housing is needed for teachers and police, hotel and restaurant workers, young families and seniors. There should be high end homes along with smaller, affordable workforce housing and housing for those who take care of lawns, paint homes, and empty bed pans.

The challenge of sustainable green development and infrastructure is inextricably linked to the need for workforce and affordable housing. None of these issues can be solved separately as we have tried to do in the past. The result of solving these problems in silos is having everyone live all over the place and then spending billions to enable them to drive all day.

So how can ULI most effectively link its workforce housing initiatives in with its Infrastructure Initiative and its new Energy, Land Use and Climate Change Initiative?

The Solar Decathlon

Last week's posting was about a new zero carbon multifamily development by the name of Solara. This week there is an exciting event on the Mall in Washington demonstrating how single family homes also can be zero carbon. It is the Solar Decathlon, currently running on the Mall in Washington, D.C., through October 20^th, 2007.

First, a word about what zero carbon means. It is shorthand, and in fact no building can be zero carbon. What they can be is buildings that use energy during their operations that is produced from renewable, carbon free sources and thus release no greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.

Several people asked about the comment on a building's life cycle energy usage. During the life of a building from the time it is built, through the time it is used to the time it is demolished it uses energy. It is generally assumed that of all the energy that it takes to build, operate and demolish a building, 12% or so is used during its construction.  This is the energy used to make obtain the raw materials, transport them, turn them into building materials, and then transport them again to the building site and construct the building.

A Rejoinder to How Green Should Green Be

This post was written by The Ground Floor contributor and ULI senior resident fellow, Bill Hudnut.

Yes, John, the Solara project is most interesting, unique and exemplary, and it does seem to be true that green housing design and construction can reduce carbon emissions to almost zero. You state the case well that it is affordable and doable.

But let's cut the Danish economist, Bjorn Lomborg, a little slack! While it may be true, as you asseverate, that he and his allies are "simply wrong" about cutting carbon emissions being expensive and achieving little, I think he makes a larger point, and is right on target, when he encourages us to reduce the cost of cutting carbon emissions, wherever and whenever. He states the case for "dramatically increase(ing) spending on research and development of low-carbon energy" to make carbon emissions cuts "much easier." He says: "If we invest in R&D, we'll do some real good in the long run, rather than just making ourselves feel good today."

Well, I believe in the efficacy of the little good, and the good we are doing today, as in Solara, can add up to a big good. But we also need the long range commitment to renewable energy and more energy efficiency, which seems to me to be sorely lacking today.

Finally, I like Lomborg's appeal to "rediscover the middle ground." That is to say, a balance between complacency and hysterical reaction, as well as a balance between short term and long term solutions to global warming. Truth often can be found in the viable middle. Thus, as Lomborg points out, "We must accept that climate change is real and that we've helped cause it. There is no hoax. But neither is there a looming apocalypse."

(John McIlwain responds: Bill, To balance Bjorn Lomborg I recomend reading George Monbiot's Heat: How to Stop the Planet From Burning.)

How Green Should Green Be?

This post was written by The Ground Floor contributor and ULI senior resident fellow, John McIlwain.

What's the goal of "green housing"? Put another way, how green should green be? There is a rule of thumb which holds that a building uses 80% of its life-cycle energy during its operational life. How much of these carbon emissions can be eliminated?

The answer: for newly built multifamily housing, virtually all of it. At the annual ULI Shaw Forum (endowed by the late Charlie Shaw) held last week, Solara, an affordable housing development in San Diego with 56 units and a 2,100 square foot community center, was showcased; its operating carbon footprint has been reduced by 95%.

It is both the first apartment complex in California fully powered by photovoltaics (PV) and the first to be a Zero Energy New Home (ZENH). (The ZENH Program was developed by the California Energy Commission to find ways to reduce the state’s peak energy demand.) It's likely that Solara is also the first zero energy multifamily building in the U.S.

Going Green: How to Do It Responsibly and Profitably

Deloitte conducts a series of webcasts on a variety of issues and industries, including real estate. Today's webcast, entitled "Going Green: How to Do It Responsibly and Profitably", was insightful and useful and included a discussion of the following topics:

1. Sustainability and the Value Chain
2. Property and Facility Best Use
3. High Performance ("Green") Buildings
4. Asset Optimization
5. Tax Incentives and Credits
6. A Preview of the USGBC Green Retrofit Return on Investment Study

The webcast lasts about one hour and uses a slide show format; the slides may be downloaded and saved for future reference.

Climate Change: What Can the Land Use Industry Do?

This post was written by The Ground Floor contributor and ULI media relations director, Marge Fahey.

"Climate change will be defining issues in the next decade," says Reid Ewing, research professor at the University of Maryland’s National Center for Smart Growth. Ewing made his remarks September 20 at a press conference announcing the release of a new book, Growing Cooler: The Evidence on Urban Development and Climate Change, which is being published by the Urban Land Institute.

The publication was co-authored by Steve Winkelman, director of the Transportation Program at the Center for Clean Air Policy (CCAP) in Washington, D.C.

The authors point out that the land use industry can be part of the solution to climate change by building higher-density compact development in walkable communities with a mix of uses and transit. This form of development will help alleviate the need for automobile use thus curbing greenhouse gas emissions. The authors suggested changes in habits and planning to accomplish the reduction of emissions:

• reducing vehicle miles traveled (one-third of CO₂ emissions are from vehicles);
• changing the way we plan (more compact development in master-planned communities with transit); and
• requiring carbon footprints in the approval process by planning departments.

Winkelman noted that by 2030, there will be a 40 percent increase in emissions from vehicles and a 60 percent increase in miles traveled. "You can no longer ignore vehicle miles traveled and the land use that drives it," he said. "The U.S. must cut greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050 to keep temperature increases to 2 degrees to 3 degrees Centigrade. By 2020, we need to cut emissions by 15 percent to 30 percent below 1990 levels."

Thinking Outside the Land Use Box

This post was written by The Ground Floor contributor and ULI senior resident fellow, Bill Hudnut.

How about some thinking outside the box...about how to solve some of our serious land use problems? Here are a few suggestions:

• To create more funds for affordable housing, and enable millions of Americans to claim a tax benefit for home mortgage interest for the first time, which would make owning a home more affordable, follow the advice of President Bush's Advisory Panel on Tax Reform, reporting in the fall of 2005, and replace the mortgage interest deductibility on first homes with a "home credit" in the amount of 15 percent of the interest paid on mortgage debt for that home (no credit or interest deductions would be allowed for second homes or home equity loans);
• To fund infrastructure improvements and new construction at the local and state levels, employ more user fees on the assumption that those who use should pay; and at the national level, establish an infrastructure improvement bank backed by a stable revenue source, i.e., an excise tax on automobiles, a national lottery, or government bonds;
• To do a better job with planning for land use and transportation in a metropolitan area, either sunset Metropolitan Planning Organizations and let the states develop new regional authorities, such as Georgia’s Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA) for the 14 counties around Atlanta, or give the states more responsibility for land use planning and more teeth to enforce their plans, even though "all zoning is local;
• To re-use dead retail space, convert obsolete malls into urban villages;
• To curtail sprawl and address escalating energy costs, create higher density development, especially around transit
• To promote sustainable development, find a market for rehabbing and retrofitting buildings with higher energy efficiency, and create "green" infrastructure, particularly on the fringe; and
• To move beyond outmoded Euclidian (single use) zoning toward more flexible regulations, utilize performance based zoning.

Just some ideas. Some may fly, others may not, but we need to begin thinking creatively about the impact of the changing metropolitan form on the way we develop the land and respond to challenges surfacing today.

Las Vegas: A Dryer Future?

This post was written by The Ground Floor contributor and ULI senior resident fellow, Ed McMahon.

Las Vegas, America's fastest growing city, and site of ULI's Fall Meeting, was built on big dreams, cheap land, cheap gas and abundant water. So an article in yesterday's Washington Post caught my eye. The article, "Warming May Exacerbate Global Water Conflicts," made several key points: First, global warming will intensify droughts. And it will intensify flooding, but in totally different places.

According to Stephen Schneider, editor of the journal Climatic Change and a lead author of the authoritative Intergovernmental Panel in Climate Change (IPCC), in places "where the atmosphere is configured to have high pressure and droughts, global warming will mean long dry periods." According to the IPCC, that means drying out in areas such as the Middle East, North Africa, South Australia and the U.S. Southwest.

These will not be small droughts. Richard Seager, a senior researcher at the Lamont-Dougherty Earth Observatory at Colombia University says that "19 different computer models of future trends, predict that sometime before 2050, the Southwest will be gripped in a dry spell akin to the Dust Bowl drought," which lasted through most of the 1930s.

Green Neighborhood Program Launched

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) recently announced the participants in their new program to rate the sustainability of neighborhoods.

The creators of the popular Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program for green buildings have launched a new LEED for Neighborhood Development program to provide "independent, third-party verification that a development's location and design meet accepted high standards for environmentally responsible and sustainable development." The initial list of 238 pilot projects ranges from developments of less than one acre to the 12,800-acre Village at Galisteo Basin Preserve in New Mexico.

The criteria for certification are organized into categories: smart location and linkage, neighborhood pattern and design, green construction and technology, and innovation. The nine "prerequisites" are mostly under the smart location category, and include basic farmland and wetlands conservation and a compact design. Interestingly, only "construction activity pollution prevention" is required in the building section, and including LEED certified buildings in the project is only one of many ways to earn points, rather than a required element.

In Washington, D.C., pilot projects include the Parkside development along the Anacostia River, as well as the entire NoMA (North of Massachusetts Avenue) neighborhood.

The USGBC has continued to refine their LEED program for buildings, partly in response to critics. Most recently, the program has been changed to contain a stronger emphasis on energy efficiency. The ratings system also takes into consideration access to transit, bicycle storage, recycled materials, and stormwater design.

Universities Going Green

More and more universities here and abroad are taking action on climate change, reflecting a growing interest in environmentally conscious activities by their students, faculty, alumni, and donors.

The latest: A university in the United Kingdom, the University of East Anglia, is creating a masters of business administration degree in carbon management, to teach students how to manage businesses in a low carbon economy. The university claims this degree is the first of its kind globally, but it's a safe bet that it won't be the last. It's definitely a sign of a new economy and new business operations for the 21st century.

In addition, in the United States, 329 colleges and universities -- from the University of Pennsylvania to the University of California -- have signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, which binds the institutions to develop a plan for being carbon neutral within 2 years of signing the agreement.

Among the steps in the agreement: requiring all new school buildings to have at least a LEED silver certification; purchasing only Energy Star-rated appliances, providing access to public transit for all faculty, visitors and students; offsetting car emissions generated by air travel by institution representatives; and establishing a committee that supports climate and sustainability shareholder proposals at companies where the institution’s endowment is invested.

Very interesting and encouraging steps from the higher education community, which reinforces what we all know -- the green movement is here to stay.

Learning from Lady Bird

This post was written by The Ground Floor contributor and ULI senior resident fellow, Ed McMahon.

Lady Bird Johnson, a force for conservation as well as a former first lady passed away last week. Some may think that her efforts to curb billboards and plant wildflowers were somehow prissy or lightweight, but those that think that clearly don't understand the economic, aesthetic and environmental necessity of protecting the American landscape.

Clean air, clean water and healthy natural systems are all critical to the health and well being of American communities, but as Mark Twain once said, "We take stock of a city like we take stock of a man. The clothes or appearance are the externals by which we judge." In other words, community appearance is also important. Unfortunately, many American communities have gotten used to ugliness, accepting it as inevitable to progress. Just look around: billboards, cluttered commercial strips and look-alike fast food restaurants follow us everywhere.

Walk Like an Ecotopian

In a recent issue of the Wall Street Journal, a column under the heading "Cars" was, ironically, about  finding ways to get people out of their cars. "An Ecotopian View of Fuel Economy," (subsc. req'd) authored by Joseph B. White, profiles attempts in Portland, Ore., to "green" the city by curbing sprawl and promoting transit-oriented development. Such efforts, he says, are "Ecotopian," referring to the term for environmental utopia, "Ecotopia," so named by writer Ernest Callenbach.

Viewing what's going on in Portland, White says, gives him a different perspective on the standoff between U.S. carmakers and U.S. lawmakers regarding fuel economy standards. Fuel economy, he writes, "is really a code word for a more fundamental debate about the way Americans live."

So true! Making cars more fuel efficient is an important part of reducing carbon gas emissions and protecting the environment. But it's only one part. The bigger picture involves how people get from one place to another, giving them more options to walk and leave cars behind altogether.

While Portland still has its share of traffic woes and auto-dependent development, the progress it has made with mixed-use development connected by light rail makes the city "feel like a super-sized college town, not a city as I know it," White writes.

"In this Ecotopian lifestyle," he continues, "the car becomes an occasional means of escape to adventure, not a daily commuting appliance. So are we ready, as a nation, to live like Ecotopians? How many of us could do so, even if we wanted to try?"

Those are very good questions. The answers will determine whether America is really ready to go green.

Green: The New Black

In the land use industry, whether to design and develop green buildings is no longer a question. Rather, the relevant question is how -- How to build structures that use less energy, release fewer carbon emissions, and make a positive contribution to the surrounding environment. That was the underlying message at ULI’s Developing Green Conference, held this week in Pittsburgh, the former steel mill hub that is now at the forefront of environmentally conscious redevelopment.

Speaker after speaker offered examples of a paradigm shift within the development community toward green and sustainable practices aimed at achieving economic, social and environmental benefits. Topics as diverse as trading energy consumption certificates, or "green tags," to decorating with flowers made from plastic bags all drove home the point: Green is here -- get on board or get out of the business.

What is driving this trend? Participants cite several factors, including 1) growing concern over global climate change; 2) rising energy prices; 3) growing public demand for products and services that promote health and wellness; and 4) mounting proof that green building does not cost significantly more to build, and in fact generates energy savings that quickly offset upfront costs.

Earth Day Webcast Links Land Use and Climate Change

Earth Day is drawing near, and with all the recent buzz about climate change, it makes sense to explore the connections between land use patterns and global climate change. On Sunday, April 22, from 1:30 until 3:00 p.m., Pacific Time, New Orleans Recovery Chief and Lincoln Institute Lead Fellow on Global Warming Ed Blakely will speak on the "Global Warming Impact on Land Use Planning," at a symposium in Corona, California. The symposium will be webcast live on the Green Institute for Village Empowerment Web site. The good folks over at the SE Corporation (developers of Corona's Dos Lagos master-planned community, where the symposium will be held) alerted us to the webcast, and also tell us that Web viewers will be able to pose questions to Dr. Blakely during the Q&A section of the symposium by E-mailing their questions to ed@giveforthefuture.org.

Check out the webcast on Sunday afternoon, and then come back here to share your thoughts in the comments.

The Point Has Tipped

We have to applaud the folks over at Sports Illustrated for making climate change their cover story this week. There is a terrific set of articles in the current issue, many of which are related to land use (and some only available in the print issue) about the impact global warm