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Archive for the ‘Sustainability’ Category

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Guest on The Infra Blog: Kate Slevin, AICP, Executive Director, Tri-State Transportation Campaign

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
slevin-kate

Kate Slevin is an activist and urban planner who joined the Tri-State Transportation Campaign in 2002 as the organization’s spokesperson, moving to the position of associate director in 2003 and executive director in 2007. Under Kate’s direction, TSTC has increased its operating budget by 30%, catalyzed transportation reform in Connecticut, developed new programs to empower local communities in Newark, and helped pass legislation in New York State that led to $2 billion in new funding for public transportation. She is the editor of the acclaimed Mobilizing the Region blog which tracks regional transportation news and opinion.

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Posted in Bridges, Competitiveness, Funding, Guests on The Infra Blog, Local, Recovery, Roads, Sustainability, The Infra Blog, Transit, Urban Planning

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Thermal Renewable Energy and Efficiency Act of 2010: Economics and Impacts

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010
U.S. District Energy Fuel Consumption by Fuel Type

INTERNATIONAL DISTRICT ENERGY ASSOCIATION (IDEA)
Even if a U.S. climate bill is passed in 2010, it is likely to be many years before a cap-and-trade system has an impact on energy use. With continued uncertainties regarding U.S. climate legislation, it is now more essential than ever that the U.S. implements other policies that move us toward reduced fossil fuel consumption and lower greenhouse gas emissions. The Thermal Renewable Energy and Efficiency Act of 2010 will stimulate increased use of renewable energy sources to heat and cool buildings throughout the country.

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Posted in Clean Air, Climate Change, Energy, Environment, Funding, Green, Infra Views, Land Use, Local, National, Policy, Public Transportation, Smart Growth, Sustainability, Technology, Urban Planning

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Video: Green City, Clean Waters

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

When it rains in the City of Brotherly Love, problems soon follow because more than half the city has “combined” sewers – pipes that carry both storm water and sewage. When it rains, the system fills quickly. The surplus, which includes raw sewage and road oil, backs up into basements and gushes untreated into rivers through 164 overflow pipes.

Instead of going the route of many other cities and building miles-long, multibillion-dollar tunnels to hold storm-water overflows–and then pumping it back into the system when the rain stops–Philadelphia’s 20-year stormwater management plan is based on “green infrastructure” and offers benefits that can be appreciated above the ground.

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Posted in Aging Infrastructure, Drinking Water, Environment, Green, Inland Waterways, Land Use, Local, Policy, Show Us Your Infra, Smart Growth, Sustainability, Urban Planning, Wastewater, Water Treatment

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Solar and Nuclear Costs — The Historic Crossover: Solar Energy is Now the Better Buy

Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Solar-Nuclear Kilowatt-Hour Cost Comparison

NC WARN: WASTE AWARENESS & REDUCTION NETWORK

Solar photovoltaic system costs have fallen steadily for decades. They are projected to fall even farther over the next 10 years. Meanwhile, projected costs for construction of new nuclear plants have risen steadily over the last decade, and they continue to rise. In the past year, the lines have crossed in North Carolina. Electricity from new solar installations is now cheaper than electricity from proposed new nuclear plants.

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Posted in Energy, Funding, Infra Views, Local, National, Policy, Sustainability, Uncategorized

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Antarctica for wind AND solar energy

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
20100715_antarctica2_large

“While the Eastern Seaboard sears under triple-digit temperatures, clean energy systems certified by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory are supplying ice-bound research bases at the bottom of the world with critical power during the frigid darkness of the Antarctic winter.

Later this year, other systems being tested by the NREL engineering team are expected to generate power during the endlessly bright polar summer months.”

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Posted in Energy, Environment, Show Us Your Infra, Sustainability

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Bridges 2010 Conference: San Fran, November 17-19

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

“With more bridges being declared structurally deficient or obsolete, there is a need for immediate and novel engineering solutions in order to be well prepared for potential disasters and minimize future maintenance costs.”

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Posted in Aging Infrastructure, Bridges, Funding, National, Sustainability, The Infra Blog, Urban Planning

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Climate Change, Water, and Risk: Current Water Demands Are Not Sustainable

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
Water Shortages

NATIONAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL
This analysis shows that climate change will have significant impacts on water supplies throughout the country in the coming decades, with over 1,100 counties facing greater risks of water shortages due to the effects of climate change. While water management and climate change adaptation plans will be essential to lessen the impacts, they cannot be expected to counter the effects of a warming climate. One reason is that the changes may simply outrun the potential for alternatives such as modifying withdrawals, increasing water use efficiency, increased water recycling, enhancing groundwater recharge, rainwater harvesting and inter-basin or inter-county transfers to make up for water deficits.

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Posted in Aging Infrastructure, Climate Change, Drinking Water, Green, Infra Views, Inland Waterways, National, Sustainability

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An Alternative Development Scenario for San Diego County

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010
Infill Zones

CLEVELAND NATIONAL FOREST FOUNDATION
GREENINFO NETWORK

In order to protect natural systems and rural landscapes, as well as to ensure urban growth occurs primarily in incorporated areas, it is reasonable for the County of San Diego to consider a growth alternative in its General Plan process that reduces by approximately two-thirds the number of housing units current proposed for unincorporated areas and to re-allocate these units to cities within the County. Such a scenario would, by 2030, still leave substantial residential capacity in cities for future growth needs…The San Diego County proposed General Plan Update has been used, in consultation with CNFF, to determine what growth might be redirected. Data from the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), has been used to assess the feasibility of allocating that increment of growth to existing cities.

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Posted in Congestion, Environment, Equity, Funding, Infra Views, Land Use, Local, Policy, Private Investment, Sustainability, Urban Planning

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Bicycle Highways: Should cities build specialized roadways for cyclists?

Monday, July 12th, 2010

SLATE MAGAZINE
While the school of so-called “vehicular cycling” argues that cycles should be treated as cars and share the roads, this philosophy seems to be the result of (primarily American) cyclists adapting by necessity to their harsh surroundings rather than the sound basis of a widespread transportation shift. In the world’s top cycling cities, one finds not muscular riders harried and buffeted by passing cars, but all manner of people—young, old, carrying groceries, carrying kids—riding on networks that have been designed for them.

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Posted in Biking, Competitiveness, Congestion, Equity, Funding, Green, Infra Views, National, Policy, Public Parks & Recreation, Sustainability, Transit

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