Formerly home to an abandoned factory, the site’s contaminated soil was remediated and recycled, as was existing concrete. Each house in the neighborhood has a high energy-efficiency rating and priority was given to non-toxic, locally sourced materials during construction. The competitively priced homes are connected by pedestrian-friendly streets and shared public spaces, though they also have private gardens, terraces, and roof gardens.
Source: TreeHugger.
The system includes 236 heating electrodes that heat soil and groundwater to the boiling point of water. The water and contaminants are then converted into a noxious gas that is pumped to the surface via 16 extraction wells and treated with granular activated carbon to remove the chemicals. There are 27 temperature-monitoring wells to monitor the below ground operations.
[Link to California Superfund First to Use 100% Solar Energy in Groundwater Cleanup]
This blog will follow U.S. local governments that are curbing greenhouse gas emissions, reducing energy consumption, utilizing renewable energy sources, adapting to the impacts of climate change, and developing more sustainably. It will showcase their challenges, accomplishments, innovations, strategies, and lessons learned.
ICLEI’s Local Action Blog launches to make available information on cities and counties on the front lines of climate, sustainability, and energy action.
A new swanky possibly the greenest building comes up in Athens:
The five-story structure in southern Athens produces zero emissions, uses no fossil fuel and meets virtually all its own energy demands — in winter and in summer — thanks to a computerized system that draws on both solar and geothermal sources. It even produces electricity on the side, some for selling back to the state [source]
I hope you didn’t imagine a building with terraced gardens.
We know that building environmentally-friendly buildings has finally come into vogue when you have more than one accreditation services. Earlier LEED was the gold standard for a building seeking to achieve a ‘green’ status. Well, it still is and thanks to its long-standing and stringent standards, it has gained more importance and credibility in spite of its steep costs [$3000 per home].
For anyone unsatisfied with LEED, the options for green-home ratings are proliferating. The National Association of Home Builders is starting a certification system. Randy Hansell of Earth Advantage, a Portland-based rating system launched in 1994, reckons that there are more than 60 green-building rating systems in the country, up from six or seven in 2000.
Some local programmes, such as Earth Advantage, are partnered with LEED—and most are cheaper. (Earth Advantage usually costs $500-800; the price depends in part on how far in the boonies a green home is located.) [via The Economist.]