Mithin says that private enterprise has done a fairly good job of pushing green building standards on their own, driven by the economic incentive. But if there is plenty of cheap land and little regulation, business lack that incentive.
Andres Duany Uncovers Landscape Urbanist Takeover (Planetizen)
Andres Duany Uncovers Landscape Urbanist Takeover (Planetizen)
Duany (the famed architect and one of the founders of New Urbanism) reports that much of the Harvard Graduate School of Design is embracing the concept -- even as they rebrand it "ecological urbanism"
Lookotels Seeks to Roll Out Prefabricated Capsule Hotels in Spain (inhabitat)
Lookotels Seeks to Roll Out Prefabricated Capsule Hotels in Spain (inhabitat)
Capsule hotels are all the rage in Japan, and now Lookotels is aiming to bring the prefabricated modular building trend to Spain. The company has envisioned a 100-room hotel composed of factory-built capsules that could be constructed in less than 6 months. Lookotels coined the term “lowxurious” to describe their budget hotels, which are energy-efficient, low-cost, and low-maintenance.
Co-operative Housing Federation to manage Parcel 2 in Olympic Village/Southeast False Creek (State of Vancouver)
Co-operative Housing Federation to manage Parcel 2 in Olympic Village/Southeast False Creek (State of Vancouver)
The city has chosen the Co-operative Housing Federation of B.C. to manage the one building it actually bid on, Building 2, the mostly market-rental building, for 60 years.
Rail and District Energy: Streets paved in better then gold (Sustainable Industries)
Rail and District Energy: Streets paved in better then gold (Sustainable Industries)
Combining efforts to lay tracks for rail transit and at the same time put in the underground pipes for conveying district energy could leapfrog all of our sustainability efforts.
Help the planet: Stop Wasting food (LA Times)
Help the planet: Stop Wasting food (LA Times)
Producing it and then getting rid of leftovers require a lot of fossil fuel. Just taking a few simple steps can ease the problem.
Epic Bus ride: You can get from here to there on public transit (Crosscut)
Epic Bus ride: You can get from here to there on public transit (Crosscut)
Destination: Chile. Via public transit. Link by link, fans of ultra-cheap travel are using modern technology and old-fashioned patience to figure out how to get from, say, Seatac to San Diego and beyond.
Three different kinds of cyclists (Ashland Daily Tidings)
Three different kinds of cyclists (Ashland Daily Tidings)
The study's researchers found there are three types of cyclists in Ashland, as in Portland and many other cities nationwide, according to the Oct. 14 study by Kittelson & Associates Inc.
Making Cities Smarter and More Connected (Planetizen)
Making Cities Smarter and More Connected (Planetizen)
Singapore, Masdar, Songdo City- each of these municipalities are creating "systems of systems", integrating their data from water, electrity, waste, etc. to make smarter decisions.
Guangzou abandons free fare experiment (Humantransit)
Guangzhou, the southern Chinese megacity that is to host the 2010 Asian Games this month, has abandoned a plan to offer free public transit while the Games are on.
Real bike paths for real bike transportation (Grist)
Guangzou abandons free fare experiment (Humantransit)
Guangzhou, the southern Chinese megacity that is to host the 2010 Asian Games this month, has abandoned a plan to offer free public transit while the Games are on.
Real bike paths for real bike transportation (Grist)
Shared-use paths result in inevitable conflict between cyclists and pedestrians.
Renters looking for a suite over a garage in Richmond right now would have to settle in the city centre. But they may have more choices down the road if the city decides to allow coach houses in its residential neighbourhoods.
Apple invests in public transit (Switchboard)
Apple invests in public transit (Switchboard)
Check out the spiffy new subway station in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. Pretty nice, don’t you think? It’s actually not new but a thorough makeover, and a substantial upgrade from what it used to look like. It was funded with private money, by the Apple corporation, in conjunction with the company’s construction of a new retail store on adjacent property.