Environmental group accuses PG&Eof Greenwashing Latino community
Energy producer PG&E has augmented their 'Let's Green This City' campaign by targeting San Francisco's Latino community. An environmental group accuses the companyof 'Greenwashing.'
By John Han
FogCityJournal.com
August 23, 2007
Despite PG&E's widely marketed campaign known as "Let's Green This City" launched earlier this year, members of a grassroots environmental group, Green Guerillas Against Greenwash (GGAG), say the company is "greenwashing" San Francisco.
'Greenwashing' is a term used to describe the actions of a company, government, or other organization that advertises positive environmental practices while acting in the opposite way. PG&E's campaign, as described by the company, is "an outreach initiative aimed at doing business while maintaining a healthy, sustainable relationship with our environment." Members of GGAG, however, point to PG&E's combined energy production portfolio that includes 65 percent of PG&E's energy being derived from burning carbon dioxide-producing fossil fuels and from nuclear power. Only 2 percent of PG&E's energy production portfolio comes from renewable energy sources, according to the LetsGreenwashThisCity.org website.
"PG&E is a nuclear and gas-powered company that has no intention of moving towards renewable energy policies," Aliza Wasserman of GGAG told Fog City outside a Mission District restaurant where PG&E staged their 'Verde' marketing campaign targeting the Latino community yesterday. "The City of San Francisco is considering a really radical and important policy called Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) that would break the contract with PG&E and move to 51 percent renewable energy by 2017," Wasserman stated. "It's a $17 million PR campaign. They're using all this money to target the Latino community to try to get the message out that they're environmentally friendly.
"I think they're trying to get community leaders to channel their attention to Climate Smart," Wasserman projected.
PG&E's Climate Smart program is a carbon-offset program introduced by the company in June. The voluntary program charges customers to have their carbon emissions footprint calculated. The revenue generated from the program is used to pay for clean air programs such as tree planting initiatives that PG&E says would offset carbon dioxide-generating emissions.
GGAG, however, is critical of the program saying customers should not have to pay into a program "so that PG&E can cover its tracks."
GGAG says the way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions is to increase clean renewable energy production while reducing dependence on non-renewable carbon dioxide-producing energy sources. PG&E environmental communications representative Melissa Mooney defended the Climate Smart program. "Those projects are certified by the California Climate Action Registry," Mooney told Fog City. She said the average residential customer would pay an additional $5.00 per month on their bill for Climate Smart.
Mooney estimates as many as two thousand PG&E residential and commercial customers have signed up for Climate Smart since the program's launch. There are approximately 15 million customers in PG&E's total service territory. "We're expecting the enrollments to increase exponentially," Mooney said.
PG&E spokeswoman Darlene Chiu said PG&E has the cleanest portfolio in the nation and is aggressively pursuing renewable energy from solar, wind, and hydroelectric sources. According to Chiu, PG&E derives 13 percent of its energy portfolio from renewable sources. "We are doing what we can and looking at every opportunity to increase our renewable energy portfolio," Chiu told Fog City. She said PG&E's solar farm is the largest in the country.
PG&E announced in July it would purchase 553 megawatts of solar power per year from a solar park in the Mohave Desert. The initiative is expected to bring PG&E's portfolio into compliance with the State of California's mandate of 20 percent renewable energy standard by the year 2010.
Wasserman accused PG&E of only striving to meet the bare minimum requirements noting that PG&E's claimed renewable energy portfolio is still less than half of what Community Choice Aggregation legislation is targeting.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Building greener neighborhoods and homes
Web sites that can help you go green in small ways
By Stephanie I. Cohen
Aug 26, 2007
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Being environmentally conscious and conserving energy doesn't have to mean radical lifestyle changes or saving a rain forest halfway around the world.
A number of creative Web sites are helping consumers take small steps locally -- in their neighborhoods and at home -- in an effort to promote energy efficiency and lower individual consumption of fossil fuels.
Neighborhoods that make it easy to go car-free
As oil and gasoline prices continue to push new highs, some city and suburban dwellers may consider trading in their car keys for walking shoes. A Web site that can tell you whether you live in a "walkable" community is www.walkit.com. See the site.
Entering your address pulls up a Google map of the neighborhood and highlights all of the stores, restaurants and businesses within walking distance. The site also gives the address a "walk score."
Peeping at your neighbors' solar system
Keeping up with the Jones' is getting easier in eco-conscious San Francisco. If you want the rundown on a neighbor's solar-energy system, sf.solarmap.org lets residents hone in on any residential solar system in the neighborhood. Check out the site.
An interactive map of the city highlights each home with a solar system and lets users click on individual addresses to get information on the size of the system along with the company that installed it.
The site is a project of the San Francisco Department of the Environment. The city has set the goal of installing 10,000 solar rooftops city-wide by 2010.
Swapping a billion bulbs
For people who want to reduce the amount of energy they use and find a challenge to be the best motivation there is www.onebillionbulbs.com. The site is tracking, based on user input, the number of standard incandescent light bulbs that have been replaced in each state with energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs. The site let users scroll over a map of the U.S. and see how many light bulbs have been changed. Take a look.
Philips Electronics, a major manufacturer of compact florescent bulbs, is hosting a similar site -- www.asimpleswitch.com -- that tracks pledges. Visit the site.
At www.18seconds.org, users can see how many energy-efficient compact florescent lights have been purchased in each state and where a state ranks. Check it out.
Read more on the push to do away with incandescent bulbs.
Computer friendly
The site www.greenprint.com wants to help consumers save paper and eliminate all the unnecessary pages that are often printed out with a document. The software costs $35 but the company claims the average user saves $90 a year in paper and ink (and the software lets you track your savings). See the site.
If energy savings is a bigger concern and cost is an issue, www.localcooling.com offers free software to improve the energy efficiency of PCs. The site wants to eliminate the more than 30 billion kilowatt-hours of energy wasted by computers that remain on when they are not being used.
The software selects a more effective power-save mode for computers when they're not being used. The goal of the site is to have 100 million users download the software. Visit the site.
Web sites that can help you go green in small ways
By Stephanie I. Cohen
Aug 26, 2007
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Being environmentally conscious and conserving energy doesn't have to mean radical lifestyle changes or saving a rain forest halfway around the world.
A number of creative Web sites are helping consumers take small steps locally -- in their neighborhoods and at home -- in an effort to promote energy efficiency and lower individual consumption of fossil fuels.
Neighborhoods that make it easy to go car-free
As oil and gasoline prices continue to push new highs, some city and suburban dwellers may consider trading in their car keys for walking shoes. A Web site that can tell you whether you live in a "walkable" community is www.walkit.com. See the site.
Entering your address pulls up a Google map of the neighborhood and highlights all of the stores, restaurants and businesses within walking distance. The site also gives the address a "walk score."
Peeping at your neighbors' solar system
Keeping up with the Jones' is getting easier in eco-conscious San Francisco. If you want the rundown on a neighbor's solar-energy system, sf.solarmap.org lets residents hone in on any residential solar system in the neighborhood. Check out the site.
An interactive map of the city highlights each home with a solar system and lets users click on individual addresses to get information on the size of the system along with the company that installed it.
The site is a project of the San Francisco Department of the Environment. The city has set the goal of installing 10,000 solar rooftops city-wide by 2010.
Swapping a billion bulbs
For people who want to reduce the amount of energy they use and find a challenge to be the best motivation there is www.onebillionbulbs.com. The site is tracking, based on user input, the number of standard incandescent light bulbs that have been replaced in each state with energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs. The site let users scroll over a map of the U.S. and see how many light bulbs have been changed. Take a look.
Philips Electronics, a major manufacturer of compact florescent bulbs, is hosting a similar site -- www.asimpleswitch.com -- that tracks pledges. Visit the site.
At www.18seconds.org, users can see how many energy-efficient compact florescent lights have been purchased in each state and where a state ranks. Check it out.
Read more on the push to do away with incandescent bulbs.
Computer friendly
The site www.greenprint.com wants to help consumers save paper and eliminate all the unnecessary pages that are often printed out with a document. The software costs $35 but the company claims the average user saves $90 a year in paper and ink (and the software lets you track your savings). See the site.
If energy savings is a bigger concern and cost is an issue, www.localcooling.com offers free software to improve the energy efficiency of PCs. The site wants to eliminate the more than 30 billion kilowatt-hours of energy wasted by computers that remain on when they are not being used.
The software selects a more effective power-save mode for computers when they're not being used. The goal of the site is to have 100 million users download the software. Visit the site.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Moving people to suburbs doesn’t help Karachi traffic: study
Daily Times Monitor
KARACHI:
Transportation infrastructure in Karachi is mainly benefiting the high to middle class and moving people out to the suburbs doesn’t ease traffic congestion as their jobs are located in the middle of the city. These observations and others have been made in a paper titled ‘Urban transportation and equity: A case study of Beijing and Karachi’ by Intikhab Ahmed Qureshi, Lu Huapu and Yea Shi that was made available online Aug 7. Daily Times brings you some excerpts from the paper.
The dense structure of cities in China and Pakistan encourage the use of public transport and non-motorized transport (NMT). These are the most sustainable and affordable modes of transport for low income and urban poor. This would also suffice the requirement of about 10% and 22% of population in China and Pakistan, respectively, that are below the poverty line. In contrast to compact structure and mixed land use characteristics the cities in both countries are following the western model of urban sprawl and are modernizing their transportation infrastructure by developing highways, expressways and a rapid transit system.
In Karachi, planners are undertaking these glamorous projects while completely ignoring the local circumstances, feasibility, demographic facts and long-term effects of these projects. Such development favors a minority of premium mode users over a majority who prefer walking, biking and a conventional transit system and hence fails to meet the requirement of a sustainable and equitable transportation system. An equitable transportation system is one whose costs are paid by those who benefit and does not disproportionately favor or deny transportation improvements to certain demographic populations. Karachi’s population is only 9% of the national population but contributes a large proportion to the GDP. Over 70% of business services and about half of the retail trade and personal services are located in the Central Business District (CBD). About 50% of the employment in the wholesale trade and transportation sector is in the CBD.
Since 1947, Karachi has seen 35-fold increases in its population and almost 16-fold increases in spatial expansion. About 50% of the total population resides in slums. The urban transportation system of Karachi and Beijing is mainly road based. Karachi’s road network in 2004 was 7,400 km with 0.5 m/capita length of road. The increase in income, living standards and travel distance stimulates the desire for more comfortable, convenient and flexible personal vehicles (automobiles and motorcycles). In Karachi, total vehicles, automobiles and motorcycles are growing at an annual rate of 4.6%, 6.5% and 5.1%.
According to the State Bank of Pakistan banks have loaned and financed US$0.37 billion during the last half of 2004 for automobiles which is 2.5 times higher than the loans released for houses. As per one estimate the average travel time for work trips in Karachi is approximately over 45 min whereas in Beijing more than an hour is required to commute to work. In Karachi, though the total number of motorized trips generated increased the trip per person decreased by 38% between 1976 and 2004 along with a 10.3% decrease in the share of public transport and 14.3% increase in the share of private/para transit whereas the share of walk/bike has no statistical data.
The alarming law and order situation, absence of NMT environment and bad transportation system are some of the reasons for the declining trip per person. There was a time in Karachi when walking and cycling used to have a share of 60% in mode split and 40% out of them were related to work trips. Public transport’s share is decreasing but still maintains over 50% of the mode share, indicating that in the absence of NMT modes the low income group has no other option. This road-based public transport system is mostly in the hands of a private sector with very little public sector involvement. Buses/minibuses constitute only 2% of the total passenger vehicle fleet but serve more than half of the passenger demand. Nevertheless it receives no preferential treatment in terms of dedicated lanes or traffic management. The existing public transport system is not capable of meeting the increasing travel demand primarily because of infrequency of buses, limited hours of service and shortage of routes and vehicles. The number of vehicles and lines in operation are much lower than the actual demand. Out of 403 lines only 219 are functionally operating.
Moreover, the deficiency in vehicle fleet is due to the fact that a majority of Karachi’s urban public transport (69%) comprises low capacity (27/32 seater) mini buses/coaches. Due to this fleet deficiency, the ratio of available seat capacity on public transport to population in Karachi is 1:40 as compared to 1:12 in Mumbai.The low transportation expenses in Beijing supports the heavy reliance of residents on walking and biking, whereas in Karachi low income groups are the residents of peripheral slums and employed in the informal sector and mainly work at home, thereby fewer trips are made by public transit. The increasing urban sprawl makes walking and biking trips impossible. If all the 120 trips/household are to be made by public transport then the bottom quintile group of Karachi has to spend 17% of its discretionary income on public transit. The recent efforts to ease traffic congestion, by building wider roads, flyovers, elevated expressways, are unlikely to ease traffic congestion in the long run. Sustainable and equitable development of urban transportation needs to place a priority on the development of integrated urban transportation system with the public transport as the core.
Rapid transit system can not mitigate surface congestion and no where in the world that such transit system has eliminated the surface congestion at its own. Buses besides preferred by the most indigent segment still remain a very important mode of any large urban transportation system and carries invariably larger traffic load but despite that do not get the preferential treatment in investment, dedicated lanes and traffic management. What is required is to prioritize these buses by increasing their speed through dedicated lanes, priority at signals and by providing environmentally friendly buses coupled with reliability and quality. It is estimated that complete rehabilitation of the system by Pakistan Railways need an investment of US$0.092 billion and that too would be recovered within 30 years by offering a very reasonable and affordable fare of US$ 0.1–0.13 per trip.
In contrast if the same project is constructed on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis the cost of one trip would be US$ 0.27–0.33 which is beyond the affordability of the urban poor even if subsidized. The technologically advanced modes and infrastructures (rail based mass transit and bus rapid transit) though very efficient being high capacity and sustainable from energy and environmental point of view but are usually been developed by private consortium and the costs of these projects tend to be significantly higher and have to offer higher fare for quality operation and service. The most indigent segment of the society cannot afford to pay the cost of these premium modes. Without a major government subsidy, the fare will be much higher than that of bus transport, which is beyond the affordability of indigent segment. At one time non-motorised modes had a share of 60% in the mode split of Karachi.
Daily Times Monitor
KARACHI:
Transportation infrastructure in Karachi is mainly benefiting the high to middle class and moving people out to the suburbs doesn’t ease traffic congestion as their jobs are located in the middle of the city. These observations and others have been made in a paper titled ‘Urban transportation and equity: A case study of Beijing and Karachi’ by Intikhab Ahmed Qureshi, Lu Huapu and Yea Shi that was made available online Aug 7. Daily Times brings you some excerpts from the paper.
The dense structure of cities in China and Pakistan encourage the use of public transport and non-motorized transport (NMT). These are the most sustainable and affordable modes of transport for low income and urban poor. This would also suffice the requirement of about 10% and 22% of population in China and Pakistan, respectively, that are below the poverty line. In contrast to compact structure and mixed land use characteristics the cities in both countries are following the western model of urban sprawl and are modernizing their transportation infrastructure by developing highways, expressways and a rapid transit system.
In Karachi, planners are undertaking these glamorous projects while completely ignoring the local circumstances, feasibility, demographic facts and long-term effects of these projects. Such development favors a minority of premium mode users over a majority who prefer walking, biking and a conventional transit system and hence fails to meet the requirement of a sustainable and equitable transportation system. An equitable transportation system is one whose costs are paid by those who benefit and does not disproportionately favor or deny transportation improvements to certain demographic populations. Karachi’s population is only 9% of the national population but contributes a large proportion to the GDP. Over 70% of business services and about half of the retail trade and personal services are located in the Central Business District (CBD). About 50% of the employment in the wholesale trade and transportation sector is in the CBD.
Since 1947, Karachi has seen 35-fold increases in its population and almost 16-fold increases in spatial expansion. About 50% of the total population resides in slums. The urban transportation system of Karachi and Beijing is mainly road based. Karachi’s road network in 2004 was 7,400 km with 0.5 m/capita length of road. The increase in income, living standards and travel distance stimulates the desire for more comfortable, convenient and flexible personal vehicles (automobiles and motorcycles). In Karachi, total vehicles, automobiles and motorcycles are growing at an annual rate of 4.6%, 6.5% and 5.1%.
According to the State Bank of Pakistan banks have loaned and financed US$0.37 billion during the last half of 2004 for automobiles which is 2.5 times higher than the loans released for houses. As per one estimate the average travel time for work trips in Karachi is approximately over 45 min whereas in Beijing more than an hour is required to commute to work. In Karachi, though the total number of motorized trips generated increased the trip per person decreased by 38% between 1976 and 2004 along with a 10.3% decrease in the share of public transport and 14.3% increase in the share of private/para transit whereas the share of walk/bike has no statistical data.
The alarming law and order situation, absence of NMT environment and bad transportation system are some of the reasons for the declining trip per person. There was a time in Karachi when walking and cycling used to have a share of 60% in mode split and 40% out of them were related to work trips. Public transport’s share is decreasing but still maintains over 50% of the mode share, indicating that in the absence of NMT modes the low income group has no other option. This road-based public transport system is mostly in the hands of a private sector with very little public sector involvement. Buses/minibuses constitute only 2% of the total passenger vehicle fleet but serve more than half of the passenger demand. Nevertheless it receives no preferential treatment in terms of dedicated lanes or traffic management. The existing public transport system is not capable of meeting the increasing travel demand primarily because of infrequency of buses, limited hours of service and shortage of routes and vehicles. The number of vehicles and lines in operation are much lower than the actual demand. Out of 403 lines only 219 are functionally operating.
Moreover, the deficiency in vehicle fleet is due to the fact that a majority of Karachi’s urban public transport (69%) comprises low capacity (27/32 seater) mini buses/coaches. Due to this fleet deficiency, the ratio of available seat capacity on public transport to population in Karachi is 1:40 as compared to 1:12 in Mumbai.The low transportation expenses in Beijing supports the heavy reliance of residents on walking and biking, whereas in Karachi low income groups are the residents of peripheral slums and employed in the informal sector and mainly work at home, thereby fewer trips are made by public transit. The increasing urban sprawl makes walking and biking trips impossible. If all the 120 trips/household are to be made by public transport then the bottom quintile group of Karachi has to spend 17% of its discretionary income on public transit. The recent efforts to ease traffic congestion, by building wider roads, flyovers, elevated expressways, are unlikely to ease traffic congestion in the long run. Sustainable and equitable development of urban transportation needs to place a priority on the development of integrated urban transportation system with the public transport as the core.
Rapid transit system can not mitigate surface congestion and no where in the world that such transit system has eliminated the surface congestion at its own. Buses besides preferred by the most indigent segment still remain a very important mode of any large urban transportation system and carries invariably larger traffic load but despite that do not get the preferential treatment in investment, dedicated lanes and traffic management. What is required is to prioritize these buses by increasing their speed through dedicated lanes, priority at signals and by providing environmentally friendly buses coupled with reliability and quality. It is estimated that complete rehabilitation of the system by Pakistan Railways need an investment of US$0.092 billion and that too would be recovered within 30 years by offering a very reasonable and affordable fare of US$ 0.1–0.13 per trip.
In contrast if the same project is constructed on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis the cost of one trip would be US$ 0.27–0.33 which is beyond the affordability of the urban poor even if subsidized. The technologically advanced modes and infrastructures (rail based mass transit and bus rapid transit) though very efficient being high capacity and sustainable from energy and environmental point of view but are usually been developed by private consortium and the costs of these projects tend to be significantly higher and have to offer higher fare for quality operation and service. The most indigent segment of the society cannot afford to pay the cost of these premium modes. Without a major government subsidy, the fare will be much higher than that of bus transport, which is beyond the affordability of indigent segment. At one time non-motorised modes had a share of 60% in the mode split of Karachi.
The green city of Jakarta
Nirwono Joga
Jakarta
A metropolitan city, as a man-made environment, is one of the biggest contributors to carbon-dioxide (C02) -- the gas causing global warming -- as a result of traffic congestion, urban exhaust gas emission and the narrowing of the green open space. Ironically, a coastal city like Jakarta will in fact receive the biggest adverse impact of this global warming phenomenon.
Luckily, the awareness shared by the government, property developers, planners and city residents has led to a commitment to integrate a sustainable development policy in all their operational activities. Global warming has prompted green cities to compete throughout the United States and elsewhere in the world. In Indonesia, we are familiar with Adipura, the award given to the cleanest and greenest city.
Jakarta must become a green city. Right now this city is in "suicidal" mode, ecologically and urban-wise. Jakarta is marked by a degradation of its environment including coastal abrasion, sea water intrusion to buildings and roads, a clean water crisis, ground water contamination, and soil subsidence. The city undergoes chronic traffic congestion and thick air pollution. Fire accidents in densely populated residential areas reach their apex during the dry season.
Flooding will (surely) drown the city.
Experts on disaster mitigation and city planners have again sounded their warning our city's spatial layout design is yet to take disasters into account. As a result, a disaster will claim a lot of lives and inflict great material losses. With reference to Law No. 24/2007 on Disaster Management and Law No. 26/2007 on Spatial Layout Design, a city must be designed to be "disaster alert".
This refers to a city's ability to anticipate and mitigate various natural disasters (flooding, earthquake, tsunami) and non-natural disasters (fires, clean water crisis, sea water intrusion, soil subsidence, environmental pollution). A disaster policy makes a priority of urban development and how to overcome environmental quality degradation.
Disaster management is a cycle of sustainable activities rather than post-disaster recovery plans. Disaster management makes green open space the backbone of a disaster-alert city.
A green city is supported by a structured green open space network system and includes home parks/gardens, environment parks, urban parks, sports grounds, cemeteries, urban forest/botanical gardens and water-catchment areas (man-made and natural lakes and dams). To be a green city, Jakarta must be reformed so that it will be more transparent and more accountable.
The mission is simple: "If you go out of your house, you will be in a park." This mission will be spelled out in greater detail in the master plan of green open space. With reference to Law No. 26/2007 on Spatial Layout Design and Regulation of Home Minister No. 1/2007 on green open space in urban areas, the green open space of a green city must make up at least 30 per cent of the total area of a city (20 per cent of public green open space and 10 per cent of private green open space).
The establishment of new green open space areas will be necessary to significantly augment the city's "lungs" and water catchment areas. Eco-drainage and ecotourism involving man-made lakes and mangrove forests must be revitalized and developed as water catchment areas. Hardened neighborhood parks (sports ground, neighborhood security system checkpoints, parking grounds for local residents) should be better managed. The yards of schools and office buildings should be made green with grass and trees. And all green areas should ensure a better water absorption capacity. Once these steps have been implemented, those responsible should enjoy government incentives (relief in tax payment).
The green belts on free plots of land on river banks and on either side of railway lines, open space under bridges and flyovers and high-voltage channels should be restored to their original function and be freed from illegal settlers in a humane and comprehensive manner. As a result of limitation in the availability of land, the government must encourage the public to (voluntarily) live in high-rise buildings or apartments so there can be more green open space.
The awareness of the public, particularly in disaster-prone locations, must be raised so they will voluntarily move to apartments in the city and give more room for evacuation.
It is now time for the government to provide a (flyover) disaster evacuation park measuring some 500 square meters in areas crowded with people and buildings -- the places hurt most when disasters strike. In a normal situation throughout the year, the parks will serve their functions, including ecological, economic, educational and conservation functions (solar energy, biogas), as well as their esthetic function (environmental cleanliness and beauty).
Planting large trees in a great number in all corners of the city will make the city's air fresh and cool. These large trees will absorb water and provide shade to pedestrians and cyclists. They also reduce solar radiation (the greenhouse effect) and lend softness to the buildings and the city landscape.
A green city will give a number of advantages and lead to environmentally friendly and sustainable development, productivity and the culture of high competition. The city is supported by proper facilities and infrastructure, public transportation and employment opportunities. The city is geared towards being a healthy city that is energy-efficient and environmentally friendly and marked with the culture of sustainability.
The writer is chairman of Jakarta's landscape architecture study group.
Nirwono Joga
Jakarta
A metropolitan city, as a man-made environment, is one of the biggest contributors to carbon-dioxide (C02) -- the gas causing global warming -- as a result of traffic congestion, urban exhaust gas emission and the narrowing of the green open space. Ironically, a coastal city like Jakarta will in fact receive the biggest adverse impact of this global warming phenomenon.
Luckily, the awareness shared by the government, property developers, planners and city residents has led to a commitment to integrate a sustainable development policy in all their operational activities. Global warming has prompted green cities to compete throughout the United States and elsewhere in the world. In Indonesia, we are familiar with Adipura, the award given to the cleanest and greenest city.
Jakarta must become a green city. Right now this city is in "suicidal" mode, ecologically and urban-wise. Jakarta is marked by a degradation of its environment including coastal abrasion, sea water intrusion to buildings and roads, a clean water crisis, ground water contamination, and soil subsidence. The city undergoes chronic traffic congestion and thick air pollution. Fire accidents in densely populated residential areas reach their apex during the dry season.
Flooding will (surely) drown the city.
Experts on disaster mitigation and city planners have again sounded their warning our city's spatial layout design is yet to take disasters into account. As a result, a disaster will claim a lot of lives and inflict great material losses. With reference to Law No. 24/2007 on Disaster Management and Law No. 26/2007 on Spatial Layout Design, a city must be designed to be "disaster alert".
This refers to a city's ability to anticipate and mitigate various natural disasters (flooding, earthquake, tsunami) and non-natural disasters (fires, clean water crisis, sea water intrusion, soil subsidence, environmental pollution). A disaster policy makes a priority of urban development and how to overcome environmental quality degradation.
Disaster management is a cycle of sustainable activities rather than post-disaster recovery plans. Disaster management makes green open space the backbone of a disaster-alert city.
A green city is supported by a structured green open space network system and includes home parks/gardens, environment parks, urban parks, sports grounds, cemeteries, urban forest/botanical gardens and water-catchment areas (man-made and natural lakes and dams). To be a green city, Jakarta must be reformed so that it will be more transparent and more accountable.
The mission is simple: "If you go out of your house, you will be in a park." This mission will be spelled out in greater detail in the master plan of green open space. With reference to Law No. 26/2007 on Spatial Layout Design and Regulation of Home Minister No. 1/2007 on green open space in urban areas, the green open space of a green city must make up at least 30 per cent of the total area of a city (20 per cent of public green open space and 10 per cent of private green open space).
The establishment of new green open space areas will be necessary to significantly augment the city's "lungs" and water catchment areas. Eco-drainage and ecotourism involving man-made lakes and mangrove forests must be revitalized and developed as water catchment areas. Hardened neighborhood parks (sports ground, neighborhood security system checkpoints, parking grounds for local residents) should be better managed. The yards of schools and office buildings should be made green with grass and trees. And all green areas should ensure a better water absorption capacity. Once these steps have been implemented, those responsible should enjoy government incentives (relief in tax payment).
The green belts on free plots of land on river banks and on either side of railway lines, open space under bridges and flyovers and high-voltage channels should be restored to their original function and be freed from illegal settlers in a humane and comprehensive manner. As a result of limitation in the availability of land, the government must encourage the public to (voluntarily) live in high-rise buildings or apartments so there can be more green open space.
The awareness of the public, particularly in disaster-prone locations, must be raised so they will voluntarily move to apartments in the city and give more room for evacuation.
It is now time for the government to provide a (flyover) disaster evacuation park measuring some 500 square meters in areas crowded with people and buildings -- the places hurt most when disasters strike. In a normal situation throughout the year, the parks will serve their functions, including ecological, economic, educational and conservation functions (solar energy, biogas), as well as their esthetic function (environmental cleanliness and beauty).
Planting large trees in a great number in all corners of the city will make the city's air fresh and cool. These large trees will absorb water and provide shade to pedestrians and cyclists. They also reduce solar radiation (the greenhouse effect) and lend softness to the buildings and the city landscape.
A green city will give a number of advantages and lead to environmentally friendly and sustainable development, productivity and the culture of high competition. The city is supported by proper facilities and infrastructure, public transportation and employment opportunities. The city is geared towards being a healthy city that is energy-efficient and environmentally friendly and marked with the culture of sustainability.
The writer is chairman of Jakarta's landscape architecture study group.
New town to boast 16,000 energy-efficient homes
Independent.ie
August 24 2007
A NEW 'green' town to include 16,000 homes is planned for the Irish capital. The new suburb will be in Clonburris and Liffey Valley, and will offer new residents a direct rail link to the city centre. The houses will also be among the 'greenest' ever built here, with builders using the most environmentally friendly products available.
South Dublin County Council has developed a masterplan for the area between Lucan and Clondalkin, which sets out how the town will be developed. Clonburris has joined nearby Adamstown in being designated a Strategic Development Zone, meaning the community facilities and public transport links will be built in tandem with the new homes. Landowners will be asked to help pay for rail links and essential infrastructure for the new town.
The council are already developing a new town in nearby Adamstown, also a Strategic Development Zone, and developers involved in this scheme have helped pay for infrastructure. And the public are being asked to give their views on the massive development planned for the south west of the city. The site lies west of the M50 motorway, and the Dublin-Kildare railway line bisects it with the Grand Canal bordering its southern end.
The Clonburris area covers 265 hectares, and the new district of eight new neighbourhoods will be based around a new Main Street adjacent to the rail and metro station at Fonthill Road. It will include "significant" shopping and employment floorspace, between 11,800 and 16,000 new homes, and a range of community and other facilities such as schools and parks to support the new community.
New bridges will be built across the canal and railway to provide good public transport links, while a "sustainability toolkit" sets out standards that new development will need to meet. This includes "A" rated energy-efficient new homes and and the use of renewable energy sources. The proposed Local Area Plan for the Liffey Valley Centre covers 64 hectares and provides a high quality mixed use urban centre, based on upgraded public transport and urban design. The new town centre will incorporate retail, commercial, residential, recreational, community and cultural activities.
It promises "innovative" buildings and a network of urban squares and streets. A new bus/taxi interchange, with possible future Luas, will be provided at the heart of the new town centre. The public consultation period on both plans runs until October 1 next, and the public are asked to make written submissions. The plans can be inspected at council offices.
Independent.ie
August 24 2007
A NEW 'green' town to include 16,000 homes is planned for the Irish capital. The new suburb will be in Clonburris and Liffey Valley, and will offer new residents a direct rail link to the city centre. The houses will also be among the 'greenest' ever built here, with builders using the most environmentally friendly products available.
South Dublin County Council has developed a masterplan for the area between Lucan and Clondalkin, which sets out how the town will be developed. Clonburris has joined nearby Adamstown in being designated a Strategic Development Zone, meaning the community facilities and public transport links will be built in tandem with the new homes. Landowners will be asked to help pay for rail links and essential infrastructure for the new town.
The council are already developing a new town in nearby Adamstown, also a Strategic Development Zone, and developers involved in this scheme have helped pay for infrastructure. And the public are being asked to give their views on the massive development planned for the south west of the city. The site lies west of the M50 motorway, and the Dublin-Kildare railway line bisects it with the Grand Canal bordering its southern end.
The Clonburris area covers 265 hectares, and the new district of eight new neighbourhoods will be based around a new Main Street adjacent to the rail and metro station at Fonthill Road. It will include "significant" shopping and employment floorspace, between 11,800 and 16,000 new homes, and a range of community and other facilities such as schools and parks to support the new community.
New bridges will be built across the canal and railway to provide good public transport links, while a "sustainability toolkit" sets out standards that new development will need to meet. This includes "A" rated energy-efficient new homes and and the use of renewable energy sources. The proposed Local Area Plan for the Liffey Valley Centre covers 64 hectares and provides a high quality mixed use urban centre, based on upgraded public transport and urban design. The new town centre will incorporate retail, commercial, residential, recreational, community and cultural activities.
It promises "innovative" buildings and a network of urban squares and streets. A new bus/taxi interchange, with possible future Luas, will be provided at the heart of the new town centre. The public consultation period on both plans runs until October 1 next, and the public are asked to make written submissions. The plans can be inspected at council offices.
Shanghai's booming subway
Mitchell Landsberg
Los Angeles Times
August 25, 2007
Shanghai
In 1990, four years after Los Angeles broke ground on its Red Line subway, Shanghai began to build a subway system too.
Los Angeles was one of the richest cities in the world, with an extensive freeway network, top-notch engineers and serious congestion problems. Shanghai was poor, a decaying post-colonial metropolis shaking off decades of economic stagnation. Its streets were congested too -- with bicycles.
Most Los Angeles residents know the story of what happened to the Red Line, which was designed to carry passengers from Downtown to the sea but hasn't quite gotten there. Only recently have planning discussions seriously revived to add a rail line extending farther west.
Shanghai? It is well on its way to building the largest urban rail mass transit system in the world. You can't walk very far in a straight line in Shanghai these days without coming across construction of a new subway line or station. Already, Shanghai has opened five subway lines and 95 stations serving 2 million people a day, and as many as six more lines are scheduled to open in the next couple of years. Sometime in the next decade, its subway system probably will surpass the world's largest and busiest systems, those in New York, Moscow and Tokyo.
In fact, transit experts say, only one thing short of a cataclysmic disaster could conceivably prevent Shanghai from winding up with the world's largest subway system. That is the very real possibility that another Chinese city -- specifically, Guangzhou, Beijing or Chongqing -- could build an even larger system. In all, 36 Chinese cities are in the midst of building rail-based public transit systems, said Zhang Jianwei, president of Bombardier China, the Chinese arm of the Canadian company that has supplied rail cars to a number of Chinese cities.
What explains this sudden frenzy of infrastructural one- upmanship? It's simple, experts say. China's economy is booming. Its people are moving from the countryside into cities as part of the greatest human migration in history. Car ownership is growing explosively. And the government has decided that it needs to do something about congestion before its busiest cities grind to a standstill.
China seems little hindered by the pressures that plague transit projects in the West. Financial woes sandbagged New York's Second Avenue subway for about 80 years until ground was broken this spring. L.A.'s subway system, whose westward march was halted at Western Avenue in 1996, has been constricted by environmental, political and financial pressures.
In China, labor is cheap, the land belongs to the government, air pollution is the primary environmental concern, and political pressure moves largely in one direction -- from the Communist Party leadership on down. "If the government wants to do something, even if the conditions are not ready for it, it will be done," said Zheng Shiling, an influential Chinese architect who teaches at Tongji University in Shanghai.
At the risk of only slight oversimplification, the system works like this: Planners draw subway lines on a map. Party officials approve them. Construction begins. If anything is in the way, it is moved. If they need to, Chinese planners "just move 10,000 people out of the way," said Lee Schipper, a transport planner who has worked with several Chinese cities in his role as director of research for EMBARQ, a Washington-based transportation think tank. "They don't have hearings."
Schipper recalled consulting with one Chinese metropolis whose ancient city wall stood in the way of a transportation project. "One of the members of the People's Committee said, 'Oh, I know how we'll solve the problem. We'll move the historic wall.' " It was, he said, as if a planner in Washington proposed moving the Potomac River to make way for construction.
Yu Jifong understands all this from personal experience. For 25 years, the bubbly Shanghai native lived in an apartment that sat on the site of a future subway station, part of what will be Shanghai's 10th subway line. Not long ago, she got notice that she would have to move. Last month, she was settling into a new apartment miles away from the old one, in a new development housing more than 1,100 families displaced by the construction of Line 10. Many others accepted compensation that would help them buy apartments elsewhere.
What is striking in Shanghai is how few people seem to mind this upheaval, in part because the city has dramatically improved the compensation it provides to dislocated people and businesses, and in part because residents seem to accept the idea that the subway represents the greater good for the city.
Mitchell Landsberg
Los Angeles Times
August 25, 2007
Shanghai
In 1990, four years after Los Angeles broke ground on its Red Line subway, Shanghai began to build a subway system too.
Los Angeles was one of the richest cities in the world, with an extensive freeway network, top-notch engineers and serious congestion problems. Shanghai was poor, a decaying post-colonial metropolis shaking off decades of economic stagnation. Its streets were congested too -- with bicycles.
Most Los Angeles residents know the story of what happened to the Red Line, which was designed to carry passengers from Downtown to the sea but hasn't quite gotten there. Only recently have planning discussions seriously revived to add a rail line extending farther west.
Shanghai? It is well on its way to building the largest urban rail mass transit system in the world. You can't walk very far in a straight line in Shanghai these days without coming across construction of a new subway line or station. Already, Shanghai has opened five subway lines and 95 stations serving 2 million people a day, and as many as six more lines are scheduled to open in the next couple of years. Sometime in the next decade, its subway system probably will surpass the world's largest and busiest systems, those in New York, Moscow and Tokyo.
In fact, transit experts say, only one thing short of a cataclysmic disaster could conceivably prevent Shanghai from winding up with the world's largest subway system. That is the very real possibility that another Chinese city -- specifically, Guangzhou, Beijing or Chongqing -- could build an even larger system. In all, 36 Chinese cities are in the midst of building rail-based public transit systems, said Zhang Jianwei, president of Bombardier China, the Chinese arm of the Canadian company that has supplied rail cars to a number of Chinese cities.
What explains this sudden frenzy of infrastructural one- upmanship? It's simple, experts say. China's economy is booming. Its people are moving from the countryside into cities as part of the greatest human migration in history. Car ownership is growing explosively. And the government has decided that it needs to do something about congestion before its busiest cities grind to a standstill.
China seems little hindered by the pressures that plague transit projects in the West. Financial woes sandbagged New York's Second Avenue subway for about 80 years until ground was broken this spring. L.A.'s subway system, whose westward march was halted at Western Avenue in 1996, has been constricted by environmental, political and financial pressures.
In China, labor is cheap, the land belongs to the government, air pollution is the primary environmental concern, and political pressure moves largely in one direction -- from the Communist Party leadership on down. "If the government wants to do something, even if the conditions are not ready for it, it will be done," said Zheng Shiling, an influential Chinese architect who teaches at Tongji University in Shanghai.
At the risk of only slight oversimplification, the system works like this: Planners draw subway lines on a map. Party officials approve them. Construction begins. If anything is in the way, it is moved. If they need to, Chinese planners "just move 10,000 people out of the way," said Lee Schipper, a transport planner who has worked with several Chinese cities in his role as director of research for EMBARQ, a Washington-based transportation think tank. "They don't have hearings."
Schipper recalled consulting with one Chinese metropolis whose ancient city wall stood in the way of a transportation project. "One of the members of the People's Committee said, 'Oh, I know how we'll solve the problem. We'll move the historic wall.' " It was, he said, as if a planner in Washington proposed moving the Potomac River to make way for construction.
Yu Jifong understands all this from personal experience. For 25 years, the bubbly Shanghai native lived in an apartment that sat on the site of a future subway station, part of what will be Shanghai's 10th subway line. Not long ago, she got notice that she would have to move. Last month, she was settling into a new apartment miles away from the old one, in a new development housing more than 1,100 families displaced by the construction of Line 10. Many others accepted compensation that would help them buy apartments elsewhere.
What is striking in Shanghai is how few people seem to mind this upheaval, in part because the city has dramatically improved the compensation it provides to dislocated people and businesses, and in part because residents seem to accept the idea that the subway represents the greater good for the city.
Friday, August 24, 2007
City to control energy consumption in retail sector
13/8/2007
Katia Deng
Shanghai Daily news
Shanghai is planning to carry out a series of energy saving projects in the retail sector, according to the Shanghai Economic Committee. The city aims to complete the renovation of energy saving equipment and cut energy consumption per 10,000-yuan of gross domestic product by 15 percent in 2010.
Malls covering more than 5,000 square meters and restaurants covering more than 3,000 square meters will use energy-saving lights, air conditioners, refrigeration equipment and automatic lifts in the next few years. The movement requires shopping malls to stop selling high energy-consuming air conditioners and refrigerators, and to promote energy-saving products.
The economic committee also asked retailers to control power consumption on neon lights and advertising lamps. It also wants retailers to follow the policy of setting indoor temperatures at 26 degrees Celsius in the summer and 20 to 21 degrees during the winter.
13/8/2007
Katia Deng
Shanghai Daily news
Shanghai is planning to carry out a series of energy saving projects in the retail sector, according to the Shanghai Economic Committee. The city aims to complete the renovation of energy saving equipment and cut energy consumption per 10,000-yuan of gross domestic product by 15 percent in 2010.
Malls covering more than 5,000 square meters and restaurants covering more than 3,000 square meters will use energy-saving lights, air conditioners, refrigeration equipment and automatic lifts in the next few years. The movement requires shopping malls to stop selling high energy-consuming air conditioners and refrigerators, and to promote energy-saving products.
The economic committee also asked retailers to control power consumption on neon lights and advertising lamps. It also wants retailers to follow the policy of setting indoor temperatures at 26 degrees Celsius in the summer and 20 to 21 degrees during the winter.
Ecotricity goes urban
Miles Brignall
The Guardian
Monday August 20 2007
Wind turbines will increasingly be built in urban and industrial areas as power firms seek to avoid the planning problems that have blighted some rural generating schemes, according to one of Britain's biggest independent renewable energy developers.
Speaking as the blades on three wind turbines started turning at Avonmouth port near Bristol, Ecotricity's managing director Dale Vince said the company was focusing on brownfield sites because planning permission was "just so much easier". The group, which has built wind turbines above the Ford diesel engine plant in Dagenham east London and beside the M4 near Reading, has 20 urban schemes in the pipeline.
"In rural areas we repeatedly come up against a minority of local residents and councils adopting the 'not in my back yard' approach. It's the complete opposite in urban/industrial areas where such proposals have been largely welcomed," he said. "In some cases they have been approved straight away." The turbines above Avonmouth cost £6m to build and will provide 75% of the port's electricity.
Miles Brignall
The Guardian
Monday August 20 2007
Wind turbines will increasingly be built in urban and industrial areas as power firms seek to avoid the planning problems that have blighted some rural generating schemes, according to one of Britain's biggest independent renewable energy developers.
Speaking as the blades on three wind turbines started turning at Avonmouth port near Bristol, Ecotricity's managing director Dale Vince said the company was focusing on brownfield sites because planning permission was "just so much easier". The group, which has built wind turbines above the Ford diesel engine plant in Dagenham east London and beside the M4 near Reading, has 20 urban schemes in the pipeline.
"In rural areas we repeatedly come up against a minority of local residents and councils adopting the 'not in my back yard' approach. It's the complete opposite in urban/industrial areas where such proposals have been largely welcomed," he said. "In some cases they have been approved straight away." The turbines above Avonmouth cost £6m to build and will provide 75% of the port's electricity.
Don't scrap green housing rule, urge campaigners
Ashley Seager
Guardian Unlimited
Friday August 24 2007
A coalition of renewable energy and green groups yesterday urged the government not to scrap a key plank of local authority policy that has been credited with boosting the use of renewable energy. The call came after the leak earlier this week of a draft planning policy statement which local authorities said would undermine their ability to insist that developers use green technologies.
The Home Builders Federation and British Property Federation oppose the so-called "Merton rule", which requires builders to obtain at least 10% of a building's energy from sustainable sources such as solar or wind power. Sustainable Energy Partnership organiser Ron Bailey said: "The current campaign by the British Property Federation and Home Builders Federation to overturn this modest yet proven and highly successful policy in the climate change policy planning statement is nothing short of scandalous bearing in mind the urgent need to reduce CO2 emissions."
Until recently the Department for Communities and Local Government approved of the Merton rule, launched by the London Borough of Merton and since used by 150 councils. The Greater London Authority stipulates that 20% of energy in new buildings must come from renewables. Housing minister Yvette Cooper had wanted the rule rolled out nationwide. But the new policy draft appears to make it much more difficult for councils to force the pace on renewables, with the Merton rule applying only to specific sites with use of renewables having to be notified years in advance.
In response to the Guardian's story on Monday that the communities department was considering watering down the Merton rule, the British Property Federation said: "The BPF has backed government plans to scrap the Merton rule because investing in inefficient on-site renewable energy sources is simply not the best way to reduce carbon emissions."
A government spokesperson said: "While we do not comment on leaked documents, we simply do not recognise these claims." But Merton council deputy leader Samantha George has written to Ms Cooper urging her to continue to let councils continue to push renewables at local level. Andrew Warren, chairman of the Sustainable Energy Partnership, said: "We'd expect ministers to be embracing the Merton rule ... not falling for the current developer campaign of misrepresentation and skulduggery."
Ashley Seager
Guardian Unlimited
Friday August 24 2007
A coalition of renewable energy and green groups yesterday urged the government not to scrap a key plank of local authority policy that has been credited with boosting the use of renewable energy. The call came after the leak earlier this week of a draft planning policy statement which local authorities said would undermine their ability to insist that developers use green technologies.
The Home Builders Federation and British Property Federation oppose the so-called "Merton rule", which requires builders to obtain at least 10% of a building's energy from sustainable sources such as solar or wind power. Sustainable Energy Partnership organiser Ron Bailey said: "The current campaign by the British Property Federation and Home Builders Federation to overturn this modest yet proven and highly successful policy in the climate change policy planning statement is nothing short of scandalous bearing in mind the urgent need to reduce CO2 emissions."
Until recently the Department for Communities and Local Government approved of the Merton rule, launched by the London Borough of Merton and since used by 150 councils. The Greater London Authority stipulates that 20% of energy in new buildings must come from renewables. Housing minister Yvette Cooper had wanted the rule rolled out nationwide. But the new policy draft appears to make it much more difficult for councils to force the pace on renewables, with the Merton rule applying only to specific sites with use of renewables having to be notified years in advance.
In response to the Guardian's story on Monday that the communities department was considering watering down the Merton rule, the British Property Federation said: "The BPF has backed government plans to scrap the Merton rule because investing in inefficient on-site renewable energy sources is simply not the best way to reduce carbon emissions."
A government spokesperson said: "While we do not comment on leaked documents, we simply do not recognise these claims." But Merton council deputy leader Samantha George has written to Ms Cooper urging her to continue to let councils continue to push renewables at local level. Andrew Warren, chairman of the Sustainable Energy Partnership, said: "We'd expect ministers to be embracing the Merton rule ... not falling for the current developer campaign of misrepresentation and skulduggery."
Housebuilders win battle against green technologies.
Government to drop rules promoting renewables
Planners will be unable to set environmental targets
Ashley Seager
Guardian Unlimited
Monday August 20 2007
The government is preparing to torpedo a local authority policy which has been one of the few genuine drivers of renewable energy technologies in Britain, the Guardian has learned. The Department for Communities and Local Government is to in effect abolish the so-called "Merton rule", under pressure from housebuilders who do not want to bear the cost of adding things like solar panels to the buildings they construct or the effort of marketing them as "green".
The decision to axe the Merton rule comes a week after the Guardian revealed that officials at the business and enterprise department had admitted the country had no hope of meeting EU targets on renewables over the next 13 years and had advised ministers to find ways to wriggle out of the targets.
The Merton rule is named after the London borough that established it in 2003. It requires any new building to reduce its carbon emissions by 10% through the use of renewables. More than 150 local authorities have either introduced it or are about to. In the absence of a proper interest in renewables from central government, the Merton rule has become central to tentative steps towards a low carbon future.
But housing minister Yvette Cooper, who last year wanted all local authorities to adopt a Merton rule, will soon publish a new draft planning policy statement which outlines the abolition of the rule.
Adrian Hewitt, principal environment officer at Merton council, said: "The new draft ... on climate change confirms our absolute worst fears. The Merton rule and any mention of local authorities being able to secure a percentage of renewable energy on new buildings seems as if it's going to be airbrushed out of history like a dissident from an old Soviet photograph."
The communities and local government department is holding a "sounding board" meeting on Tuesday to discuss the new draft policy statement and will run into protest from concerned groups. The Royal Institute of British Architects yesterday attacked the government's apparent U-turn on the Merton Rule. RIBA president Jack Pringle said: "The RIBA strongly believes that local authorities should be free to demand higher building standards than those set nationally. "Individual local authorities can play a huge role in driving innovation and can themselves become beacons of sustainability. If the reports are true and this ability will be lost, that will be detrimental to the government's goal of reducing carbon emissions from buildings."
On the other side of the argument is the House Builders Federation. Ms Cooper has been heavily lobbied by the group, which argues for a national, rather than local, strategy for the government's plan for new homes to be zero carbon from 2016. The federation's chairman, Stewart Baseley, wants a national strategy phased in over 10 years and says action at local level will lead to confusion and higher costs. "Local authority political posturing for the green ground with ever-more unaffordable and potentially unachievable targets, and taking no responsibility for how these targets are to be achieved, will serve no one's interests," he said recently.
Renewable industry representatives say the Merton Rule is many times more important to them than the government's low carbon buildings programme, which provides grants but has repeatedly run out of money and had its rules changed. The sources say that the U-turn on the Merton rule makes a mockery of the consultation: half of all respondents supported the Merton rule and only three of 324 objected to it on grounds of cost.
Tony Book, head of a company called Riomay which is involved in several solar energy projects in London, said the rule only added 3-4% to building costs. "It has driven some really big projects here in London. The solar thermal project we are installing on the old Arsenal stadium at Highbury is the biggest of its kind in the world. It would not have been done without the Merton rule," he said.
Government to drop rules promoting renewables
Planners will be unable to set environmental targets
Ashley Seager
Guardian Unlimited
Monday August 20 2007
The government is preparing to torpedo a local authority policy which has been one of the few genuine drivers of renewable energy technologies in Britain, the Guardian has learned. The Department for Communities and Local Government is to in effect abolish the so-called "Merton rule", under pressure from housebuilders who do not want to bear the cost of adding things like solar panels to the buildings they construct or the effort of marketing them as "green".
The decision to axe the Merton rule comes a week after the Guardian revealed that officials at the business and enterprise department had admitted the country had no hope of meeting EU targets on renewables over the next 13 years and had advised ministers to find ways to wriggle out of the targets.
The Merton rule is named after the London borough that established it in 2003. It requires any new building to reduce its carbon emissions by 10% through the use of renewables. More than 150 local authorities have either introduced it or are about to. In the absence of a proper interest in renewables from central government, the Merton rule has become central to tentative steps towards a low carbon future.
But housing minister Yvette Cooper, who last year wanted all local authorities to adopt a Merton rule, will soon publish a new draft planning policy statement which outlines the abolition of the rule.
Adrian Hewitt, principal environment officer at Merton council, said: "The new draft ... on climate change confirms our absolute worst fears. The Merton rule and any mention of local authorities being able to secure a percentage of renewable energy on new buildings seems as if it's going to be airbrushed out of history like a dissident from an old Soviet photograph."
The communities and local government department is holding a "sounding board" meeting on Tuesday to discuss the new draft policy statement and will run into protest from concerned groups. The Royal Institute of British Architects yesterday attacked the government's apparent U-turn on the Merton Rule. RIBA president Jack Pringle said: "The RIBA strongly believes that local authorities should be free to demand higher building standards than those set nationally. "Individual local authorities can play a huge role in driving innovation and can themselves become beacons of sustainability. If the reports are true and this ability will be lost, that will be detrimental to the government's goal of reducing carbon emissions from buildings."
On the other side of the argument is the House Builders Federation. Ms Cooper has been heavily lobbied by the group, which argues for a national, rather than local, strategy for the government's plan for new homes to be zero carbon from 2016. The federation's chairman, Stewart Baseley, wants a national strategy phased in over 10 years and says action at local level will lead to confusion and higher costs. "Local authority political posturing for the green ground with ever-more unaffordable and potentially unachievable targets, and taking no responsibility for how these targets are to be achieved, will serve no one's interests," he said recently.
Renewable industry representatives say the Merton Rule is many times more important to them than the government's low carbon buildings programme, which provides grants but has repeatedly run out of money and had its rules changed. The sources say that the U-turn on the Merton rule makes a mockery of the consultation: half of all respondents supported the Merton rule and only three of 324 objected to it on grounds of cost.
Tony Book, head of a company called Riomay which is involved in several solar energy projects in London, said the rule only added 3-4% to building costs. "It has driven some really big projects here in London. The solar thermal project we are installing on the old Arsenal stadium at Highbury is the biggest of its kind in the world. It would not have been done without the Merton rule," he said.
Builders attack green homes rule
Ashley Seager
The Guardian
August 14 2007
Housebuilders are trying to persuade the government to ditch a key policy designed to cut carbon emissions through constructing green homes. Britain's renewables industry and many local authorities are concerned that intense lobbying may have persuaded the government to rethink.
At stake is the so-called Merton rule, named after the London borough that established it in 2003. It requires any new building to reduce its carbon emissions by 10% through the use of renewables. More than 150 local authorities have either introduced it or are about to adopt it. Last year, the housing minister, Yvette Cooper, said all local authorities should adopt a Merton rule. She will shortly issue a statement updating guidance on building practices, but there is growing concern that the House Builders Federation (HBF) could kill off the Merton rule.
The HBF wants a national, rather than local, strategy for delivering the government's plan for new homes to be zero carbon from 2016 onwards. The HBF's chairman, Stewart Baseley, has repeatedly called for a national strategy phased in over the next decade, arguing that action at local level will lead to confusion and higher costs.
Ashley Seager
The Guardian
August 14 2007
Housebuilders are trying to persuade the government to ditch a key policy designed to cut carbon emissions through constructing green homes. Britain's renewables industry and many local authorities are concerned that intense lobbying may have persuaded the government to rethink.
At stake is the so-called Merton rule, named after the London borough that established it in 2003. It requires any new building to reduce its carbon emissions by 10% through the use of renewables. More than 150 local authorities have either introduced it or are about to adopt it. Last year, the housing minister, Yvette Cooper, said all local authorities should adopt a Merton rule. She will shortly issue a statement updating guidance on building practices, but there is growing concern that the House Builders Federation (HBF) could kill off the Merton rule.
The HBF wants a national, rather than local, strategy for delivering the government's plan for new homes to be zero carbon from 2016 onwards. The HBF's chairman, Stewart Baseley, has repeatedly called for a national strategy phased in over the next decade, arguing that action at local level will lead to confusion and higher costs.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Crotty wants Orange to be a little greener
David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
August 16, 2007
Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty has become the latest Republican leader to declare himself green.Next month Crotty plans to hold Central Florida's first regional summit on climate change, where he also likely will pledge to sharply reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and encourage other governments, businesses and residents to do the same. Just weeks after Florida Gov. Charlie Crist gathered leaders in Miami to battle pollution statewide, Crotty is taking the fight to Central Florida.
Political experts and those cheering him on say it's a bold move for the largely pro-growth mayor. But what Crotty does next -- and more critically, how much he's willing to spend doing it -- will be his true test, they say. "That's where you find out when people are really green," said University of Central Florida political-science professor Aubrey Jewett, pointing to higher costs for energy-efficient vehicle fleets and buildings. "And even then, is it a light green or dark green?"
This crush of political actors to the environmental stage flows from an extreme and sudden interest in global warming.Melting polar ice caps, scientists and popular documentaries such as Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth make the argument that people are causing unnatural climate change by burning too many fossil fuels. Some conservative critics say global warming is a hoax. Even so, it largely has been Republican politicians who have been making news lately by battling global warming. For example, GOP California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger joined fellow Republican Crist at July's summit.
There the Florida governor, among other measures, issued a new rule requiring state employees to stay only at eco-friendly lodgings. Crist touted that measure Wednesday at a Hilton near Downtown Disney.Now Crotty is about to make his own headlines."I want to be in a position to lead by example," Crotty said. The specific plans for Crotty's event still are being made, but details on the Sept. 25 local summit should come soon. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg declined to be a keynote speaker, but Roger Ballantine -- former President Clinton's chief negotiator on the Kyoto Protocol agreement on climate change -- might sign on, officials say.
Meanwhile, Crotty's environmental team is deciding whether the mayor should pledge to reduce Orange County government's greenhouse-gas emissions by 15 percent in five years. Crotty said he started down this path in 2005, with his pledge to reduce the county's consumption of gasoline and diesel by 20 percent in five years. County-government fuel use has stayed static since then, at about 2.5 million gallons annually. But the county's car and truck fleet has grown, and it's about to open an ethanol fueling station and use more biodiesel. The goal is still reachable, county staffers said.Other communities such as San Francisco and New York have adopted bolder strategies, such as requiring cabs to switch to alternative fuels. Crotty said he's not considering a push to do that locally.
For now, Crotty will mostly tout a lineup of conservative goals and proposals, focusing mainly on raising awareness of global warming, officials say. For instance, Crotty recently signed an order requiring county buildings to meet certain eco-friendly standards, but he will not pay to have them independently certified. A summit likely won't change that.Crotty also declined to sign on to the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement or enlist in the Sierra Club's "Cool Counties" program, both of which require signatories to aim for dramatic pollution reductions. Instead, Crotty is focusing his early efforts on working with ICLEI -- Local Governments for Sustainability, a group that walks leaders through the basics of pollution reduction.
For starters, the group is helping Orange measure the greenhouse gases its government operations produce and hire staff to monitor the issue. The next step is to help Orange develop a plan to reach its pollution-reduction goal, possibly by 15 percent within five years. Environmental lobbyist Susan Glickman said she and other advocates will watch "for concrete action and commitment." For now, she agrees, just talking about climate change is good. Crotty said he plans to make pledges at the summit, but he will mostly be there to learn. "I've got a real focus on this," said Crotty, who plans to attend a global-warming round table in Washington next week. "This is about our next generation."
David Damron
Orlando Sentinel
August 16, 2007
Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty has become the latest Republican leader to declare himself green.Next month Crotty plans to hold Central Florida's first regional summit on climate change, where he also likely will pledge to sharply reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and encourage other governments, businesses and residents to do the same. Just weeks after Florida Gov. Charlie Crist gathered leaders in Miami to battle pollution statewide, Crotty is taking the fight to Central Florida.
Political experts and those cheering him on say it's a bold move for the largely pro-growth mayor. But what Crotty does next -- and more critically, how much he's willing to spend doing it -- will be his true test, they say. "That's where you find out when people are really green," said University of Central Florida political-science professor Aubrey Jewett, pointing to higher costs for energy-efficient vehicle fleets and buildings. "And even then, is it a light green or dark green?"
This crush of political actors to the environmental stage flows from an extreme and sudden interest in global warming.Melting polar ice caps, scientists and popular documentaries such as Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth make the argument that people are causing unnatural climate change by burning too many fossil fuels. Some conservative critics say global warming is a hoax. Even so, it largely has been Republican politicians who have been making news lately by battling global warming. For example, GOP California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger joined fellow Republican Crist at July's summit.
There the Florida governor, among other measures, issued a new rule requiring state employees to stay only at eco-friendly lodgings. Crist touted that measure Wednesday at a Hilton near Downtown Disney.Now Crotty is about to make his own headlines."I want to be in a position to lead by example," Crotty said. The specific plans for Crotty's event still are being made, but details on the Sept. 25 local summit should come soon. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg declined to be a keynote speaker, but Roger Ballantine -- former President Clinton's chief negotiator on the Kyoto Protocol agreement on climate change -- might sign on, officials say.
Meanwhile, Crotty's environmental team is deciding whether the mayor should pledge to reduce Orange County government's greenhouse-gas emissions by 15 percent in five years. Crotty said he started down this path in 2005, with his pledge to reduce the county's consumption of gasoline and diesel by 20 percent in five years. County-government fuel use has stayed static since then, at about 2.5 million gallons annually. But the county's car and truck fleet has grown, and it's about to open an ethanol fueling station and use more biodiesel. The goal is still reachable, county staffers said.Other communities such as San Francisco and New York have adopted bolder strategies, such as requiring cabs to switch to alternative fuels. Crotty said he's not considering a push to do that locally.
For now, Crotty will mostly tout a lineup of conservative goals and proposals, focusing mainly on raising awareness of global warming, officials say. For instance, Crotty recently signed an order requiring county buildings to meet certain eco-friendly standards, but he will not pay to have them independently certified. A summit likely won't change that.Crotty also declined to sign on to the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement or enlist in the Sierra Club's "Cool Counties" program, both of which require signatories to aim for dramatic pollution reductions. Instead, Crotty is focusing his early efforts on working with ICLEI -- Local Governments for Sustainability, a group that walks leaders through the basics of pollution reduction.
For starters, the group is helping Orange measure the greenhouse gases its government operations produce and hire staff to monitor the issue. The next step is to help Orange develop a plan to reach its pollution-reduction goal, possibly by 15 percent within five years. Environmental lobbyist Susan Glickman said she and other advocates will watch "for concrete action and commitment." For now, she agrees, just talking about climate change is good. Crotty said he plans to make pledges at the summit, but he will mostly be there to learn. "I've got a real focus on this," said Crotty, who plans to attend a global-warming round table in Washington next week. "This is about our next generation."
Will solar be Silicon Valley's next big thing?
By Erin Sherbert
Metroactive.com
8/15/07
SAN JOSE might have something to brag about when it comes to being green: It recycles more waste than most other large cities in the nation, it has progressive green building policies and it has set strict standards to cut back on greenhouse gases. But that's not going to be enough to turn the city into an alternative energy giant.
So with growing excitement for clean energy swirling around Silicon Valley, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed plans to roll out an aggressive proposal to make San Jose even greener, with solar power as the centerpiece. Reed's plan is set to be an important component of the budding clean energy industry that might put Silicon Valley back on the map of innovation. While the details are still in development, Reed says his goals are clear: to create new renewable energy sources for San Jose and reduce and recycle urban waste.
He wants to start by making most city buildings solar-powered within the next few years, and then move out of the way and make it easier for homeowners and commercial developers to install solar. It's not just about saving money and becoming energy efficient. "We have a clean and green industry growing here and we want it to stay here," Reed said. "If we can facilitate solar power to help them be successful it's good for the valley."
Catching Up
In a 2007 "Green" report card for the country's 50 largest cities, San Jose ranked No. 23 on the list of urban sustainability. The study gauges cities' approaches to public transit, renewable energy, air quality, recycling, local food and green building development and how this affects the local economy and environment. San Jose received bad marks for traffic congestion, commuting and the availability of affordable housing. The city also got mixed reviews on its energy and climate policies.
So it will take more than a critical mass of novel technology to carve out a new energy niche. There need to be strong political support and good public policy to help weave clean energy into the mainstream. That means creating more reasons to build green—guaranteed tax breaks, easy-to-get rebates and a streamlined installation process, with minimal paperwork.
"There's a lot of education that needs to be done among public officials about how this technology works and how we can shape policies that streamline and facilitate it rather than standing in the way," said Frank Teng, environment and energy associate director with the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. "It's up to the municipalities to determine to what extent they want to encourage it." San Jose might be ahead of the pack when it comes to developing solar technology, but it also falls short when it comes to solar installation, Reed said.
Right now, it's like a "big research project," he says, for residents who want to install solar panels. It can take too long to get a permit and cost the average homeowner $236 for solar installation. Part of his plan will target the process, with the hope of making it easier for residents and developers to go solar. Also, Reed wants the city to work with companies to provide buying packages, where residents can purchase blocks of solar panel systems at a discounted price.
"I'm not sure we have to put a lot of incentives in place; I think we just have to get out of the way in many instances and facilitate making the process easier for solar," Reed said. "If we can make it as simple as going to the store and buying a refrigerator, it will be much more appealing to homeowners."
Trashy Solution
Reed's green vision plan stretches beyond creating a solar-powered San Jose. The mayor tiptoed around the details of his proposal, which will be announced in the fall, but he did touch on a few of his priorities. They include converting garbage, cooking oils and yard waste into fuel. He wants to strengthen the city's green building policy, requiring certain city projects to meet the top LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standard, a nationally recognized rating system for green building. Reed also wants to tap into other alternative energy sources, including wind energy. It's possible there are locations for wind turbines by the bay, he said.
But just how far can the mayor push his plan? Reed's office is currently working with the Department of Energy as well as the Environmental Protection Agency to determine what's realistic and cost-effective for San Jose. One thing is for certain: there are plenty of days of sunshine going to waste in San Jose. "With the venture capital money poured into this space, we have dozens of the biggest solar and alternative energy companies in the county in Silicon Valley," said Jeff Janssen, senior policy adviser for government affairs with Reed's office. "This may become Silicon Valley's next thing."
Bring on the New Green Startups
Reeling from the dust of the dotcom era, some of the region's sharpest entrepreneurs have now turned to developing clean energy technology, driving the alternative energy buzz in Silicon Valley. Just look around at the amount of clean-energy startups cropping up across the valley; investors are funding these enterprises, large and small, having poured in roughly $135 million in venture capital dollars during the first two quarter of 2007, according to the National Venture Capital Association.
"Most tech firms in the valley have done some amount of clean-tech investment," said Greg Gretsch, managing director of Sigma Partners, a Menlo Park–based company that invests in innovative technology. "There are clearly examples today of alternative energy businesses that have great prospects in PV and solar—those are the ones that started around here." Four years ago, it was difficult to get investors to talk to startup companies wanting to pursue alternative energy development. But with dramatic increases in oil prices and consumer concerns over global warming, alternative energy suddenly moved to the forefront.
California quickly became the bellwether of clean energy policy, with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's solar roof initiative and his bioenergy plan that pushes the state to reduce its dependency on fossil fuels and bring alternative energy into the mainstream.
At the same time, "green building" policies have quickly trickled down to the local levels, with Bay Area cities implementing innovative ways to become more energy efficient and reduce urban waste. In San Francisco, the city outlawed banned the use of plastic bags in grocery stores, while in Belmont officials are considering free permitting for residents and developers who install photovoltaic systems. Everyone is counting on solar energy to compete with conventional electricity sources sooner than later, said David Pearce, president and CEO of Miasole, a Santa Clara–based solar technology manufacturer.
"I would say we are on our way toward establishing a center for solar excellence in Silicon Valley," Pearce said. "We are expecting solar to get to the place where it's competing with conventional sources of electricity without incentives." However, others believe that it will be years before solar power makes any dent in the energy market.
While the price gap between solar and conventional energy sources is narrowing, we can't rely on solar to become the panacea, said Sean Randolph, president of Bay Area Economic Forum, a San Francisco–based organization working to improve the regional economy.
"It's still more expensive to generate power through solar," Randolph said. "The economics of it still don't work very well."
By Erin Sherbert
Metroactive.com
8/15/07
SAN JOSE might have something to brag about when it comes to being green: It recycles more waste than most other large cities in the nation, it has progressive green building policies and it has set strict standards to cut back on greenhouse gases. But that's not going to be enough to turn the city into an alternative energy giant.
So with growing excitement for clean energy swirling around Silicon Valley, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed plans to roll out an aggressive proposal to make San Jose even greener, with solar power as the centerpiece. Reed's plan is set to be an important component of the budding clean energy industry that might put Silicon Valley back on the map of innovation. While the details are still in development, Reed says his goals are clear: to create new renewable energy sources for San Jose and reduce and recycle urban waste.
He wants to start by making most city buildings solar-powered within the next few years, and then move out of the way and make it easier for homeowners and commercial developers to install solar. It's not just about saving money and becoming energy efficient. "We have a clean and green industry growing here and we want it to stay here," Reed said. "If we can facilitate solar power to help them be successful it's good for the valley."
Catching Up
In a 2007 "Green" report card for the country's 50 largest cities, San Jose ranked No. 23 on the list of urban sustainability. The study gauges cities' approaches to public transit, renewable energy, air quality, recycling, local food and green building development and how this affects the local economy and environment. San Jose received bad marks for traffic congestion, commuting and the availability of affordable housing. The city also got mixed reviews on its energy and climate policies.
So it will take more than a critical mass of novel technology to carve out a new energy niche. There need to be strong political support and good public policy to help weave clean energy into the mainstream. That means creating more reasons to build green—guaranteed tax breaks, easy-to-get rebates and a streamlined installation process, with minimal paperwork.
"There's a lot of education that needs to be done among public officials about how this technology works and how we can shape policies that streamline and facilitate it rather than standing in the way," said Frank Teng, environment and energy associate director with the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. "It's up to the municipalities to determine to what extent they want to encourage it." San Jose might be ahead of the pack when it comes to developing solar technology, but it also falls short when it comes to solar installation, Reed said.
Right now, it's like a "big research project," he says, for residents who want to install solar panels. It can take too long to get a permit and cost the average homeowner $236 for solar installation. Part of his plan will target the process, with the hope of making it easier for residents and developers to go solar. Also, Reed wants the city to work with companies to provide buying packages, where residents can purchase blocks of solar panel systems at a discounted price.
"I'm not sure we have to put a lot of incentives in place; I think we just have to get out of the way in many instances and facilitate making the process easier for solar," Reed said. "If we can make it as simple as going to the store and buying a refrigerator, it will be much more appealing to homeowners."
Trashy Solution
Reed's green vision plan stretches beyond creating a solar-powered San Jose. The mayor tiptoed around the details of his proposal, which will be announced in the fall, but he did touch on a few of his priorities. They include converting garbage, cooking oils and yard waste into fuel. He wants to strengthen the city's green building policy, requiring certain city projects to meet the top LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standard, a nationally recognized rating system for green building. Reed also wants to tap into other alternative energy sources, including wind energy. It's possible there are locations for wind turbines by the bay, he said.
But just how far can the mayor push his plan? Reed's office is currently working with the Department of Energy as well as the Environmental Protection Agency to determine what's realistic and cost-effective for San Jose. One thing is for certain: there are plenty of days of sunshine going to waste in San Jose. "With the venture capital money poured into this space, we have dozens of the biggest solar and alternative energy companies in the county in Silicon Valley," said Jeff Janssen, senior policy adviser for government affairs with Reed's office. "This may become Silicon Valley's next thing."
Bring on the New Green Startups
Reeling from the dust of the dotcom era, some of the region's sharpest entrepreneurs have now turned to developing clean energy technology, driving the alternative energy buzz in Silicon Valley. Just look around at the amount of clean-energy startups cropping up across the valley; investors are funding these enterprises, large and small, having poured in roughly $135 million in venture capital dollars during the first two quarter of 2007, according to the National Venture Capital Association.
"Most tech firms in the valley have done some amount of clean-tech investment," said Greg Gretsch, managing director of Sigma Partners, a Menlo Park–based company that invests in innovative technology. "There are clearly examples today of alternative energy businesses that have great prospects in PV and solar—those are the ones that started around here." Four years ago, it was difficult to get investors to talk to startup companies wanting to pursue alternative energy development. But with dramatic increases in oil prices and consumer concerns over global warming, alternative energy suddenly moved to the forefront.
California quickly became the bellwether of clean energy policy, with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's solar roof initiative and his bioenergy plan that pushes the state to reduce its dependency on fossil fuels and bring alternative energy into the mainstream.
At the same time, "green building" policies have quickly trickled down to the local levels, with Bay Area cities implementing innovative ways to become more energy efficient and reduce urban waste. In San Francisco, the city outlawed banned the use of plastic bags in grocery stores, while in Belmont officials are considering free permitting for residents and developers who install photovoltaic systems. Everyone is counting on solar energy to compete with conventional electricity sources sooner than later, said David Pearce, president and CEO of Miasole, a Santa Clara–based solar technology manufacturer.
"I would say we are on our way toward establishing a center for solar excellence in Silicon Valley," Pearce said. "We are expecting solar to get to the place where it's competing with conventional sources of electricity without incentives." However, others believe that it will be years before solar power makes any dent in the energy market.
While the price gap between solar and conventional energy sources is narrowing, we can't rely on solar to become the panacea, said Sean Randolph, president of Bay Area Economic Forum, a San Francisco–based organization working to improve the regional economy.
"It's still more expensive to generate power through solar," Randolph said. "The economics of it still don't work very well."
Energy, emission under review in construction
By Zhang Jun
ShanghaiDaily.com
2007-8-24
CHINA will monitor the amount of energy consumption and carbon dioxide emission of constructions in 15 major cities, including Shanghai, before 2010. An official with the Ministry of Construction made the announcement yesterday. The project will help the Chinese government gain a clearer understanding of construction-related energy consumption before it undertakes further conservation measures. "The lack of scientific statistics is a key drawback of our energy conservation works," Han Aixing, chief director of the ministry's science and technology department, said in Shanghai at a Sino-German seminar on energy efficiency in buildings. He said many Western countries have detailed statistics on energy consumption in buildings. The city of New York, for example, has worked out the amount of carbon dioxide produced by downtown buildings.
According to the plan, the government will be in charge of measuring the overall amount of energy consumption - mainly power and natural gas - of various types of constructions, such as office buildings, shopping malls, hotels and residential complexes. Besides Shanghai, other cities in the plan include Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. China has set a goal of reducing energy consumption by 20 percent by the end of 2010 compared with 2005.
The amount of energy consumed in buildings accounts for nearly 50 percent of that total, Han said. However, China's statistics on energy consumption in buildings is mostly based on guesswork. And there are many loopholes during the process of administrative approvals for new buildings. He said many building owners cheat the government by showing false figures on energy efficiency.
At the seminar, China and Germany co-issued a pamphlet of technical standards to make Chinese buildings more energy efficient. The standards cover temperature limits on summer cooling, the thickness of exterior walls and the layout and material of windows. Felicitas Kraus, head of Energy Efficiency in Buildings of the Germany Energy Agency, said: "Building owners in Germany have to show a certificate of energy efficiency for their buildings." She said most German tenants prefer buildings of better energy efficiency, even if they cost more. She also said the German government has favorable policies to encourage the construction of energy-efficient buildings, such as low-interest loans and subsidies.
By Zhang Jun
ShanghaiDaily.com
2007-8-24
CHINA will monitor the amount of energy consumption and carbon dioxide emission of constructions in 15 major cities, including Shanghai, before 2010. An official with the Ministry of Construction made the announcement yesterday. The project will help the Chinese government gain a clearer understanding of construction-related energy consumption before it undertakes further conservation measures. "The lack of scientific statistics is a key drawback of our energy conservation works," Han Aixing, chief director of the ministry's science and technology department, said in Shanghai at a Sino-German seminar on energy efficiency in buildings. He said many Western countries have detailed statistics on energy consumption in buildings. The city of New York, for example, has worked out the amount of carbon dioxide produced by downtown buildings.
According to the plan, the government will be in charge of measuring the overall amount of energy consumption - mainly power and natural gas - of various types of constructions, such as office buildings, shopping malls, hotels and residential complexes. Besides Shanghai, other cities in the plan include Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. China has set a goal of reducing energy consumption by 20 percent by the end of 2010 compared with 2005.
The amount of energy consumed in buildings accounts for nearly 50 percent of that total, Han said. However, China's statistics on energy consumption in buildings is mostly based on guesswork. And there are many loopholes during the process of administrative approvals for new buildings. He said many building owners cheat the government by showing false figures on energy efficiency.
At the seminar, China and Germany co-issued a pamphlet of technical standards to make Chinese buildings more energy efficient. The standards cover temperature limits on summer cooling, the thickness of exterior walls and the layout and material of windows. Felicitas Kraus, head of Energy Efficiency in Buildings of the Germany Energy Agency, said: "Building owners in Germany have to show a certificate of energy efficiency for their buildings." She said most German tenants prefer buildings of better energy efficiency, even if they cost more. She also said the German government has favorable policies to encourage the construction of energy-efficient buildings, such as low-interest loans and subsidies.
Benefits of green roofs are hard to measure
By ADAM VAN HART
Aug 23
Chi-town Daily News
At a ceremony last week on the Magnificent Mile, Mayor Richard M. Daley cut the ribbon on Chicago's newest green roof. "There are huge benefits," Daley said, citing the environmental effects of green roofs.Daley's green roof program started with installation of trees and shrubs on top of City Hall in 2001, and has grown to include 300 additional projects.But assessing the environmental impact of green roofs is a difficult task. Advocates say the roofs reduce temperatures in urban areas, control storm run-off and cut energy bills. Five scientists interviewed by the Daily News, though, said there are no studies proving those benefits on a citywide level."I don't think Green Roofs alone will have an immediate effect," said Stephen Bell, director of the Chicago Center for Green Technology. "But more green initiatives will help."The benefits of green roofs for individual buildings are clear. They can be up to 60 degrees cooler than traditional roofs during the summer, cutting air-conditioning bills and energy usage."A one-degree drop can really benefit energy consumption," said Brad Bass, a professor at the University of Toronto's Centre for Environment.
The roofs also absorb rainwater that runs off conventional buildings and into the sewer system, where it can carry pollutants into waterways.
But researchers have been unable to document that green roofs can reduce overall storm run-off in a large city, or cut energy consumption on a wide scale, according to several scientists.It's also uncertain that green roofs can help the urban heat island effect, which causes higher temperatures in cities because roofs and other building materials trap heat.Because green roofs are not widely used, no city has installed enough of them to produce a measurable benefit, said Tom Liptan, who is an enviromental specialist for the Bureau of Enviromental Services in Portland, Ore. "No city in the U.S. or Canada really has enough [green roofs] to do any monitoring," said Liptan.Larry Merritt, a top city environmental official, said Chicago's program is worth supporting despite the lack of research. "We know that it works at an individual level," said Merritt. And benefits from an individual level will translate into a city wide benefit, Merritt said.
At the Notebaert Nature Museum, a green roof has helped cut runoff during rain storms, said technical operations manager Chris Dunn. "With the green roof all the plants are absorbing the rain," Dunn said. The roof also has an appeal that goes beyond environmental benefits. "We have kind of turned an unnatural area into a natural area," said Dunn.
By ADAM VAN HART
Aug 23
Chi-town Daily News
At a ceremony last week on the Magnificent Mile, Mayor Richard M. Daley cut the ribbon on Chicago's newest green roof. "There are huge benefits," Daley said, citing the environmental effects of green roofs.Daley's green roof program started with installation of trees and shrubs on top of City Hall in 2001, and has grown to include 300 additional projects.But assessing the environmental impact of green roofs is a difficult task. Advocates say the roofs reduce temperatures in urban areas, control storm run-off and cut energy bills. Five scientists interviewed by the Daily News, though, said there are no studies proving those benefits on a citywide level."I don't think Green Roofs alone will have an immediate effect," said Stephen Bell, director of the Chicago Center for Green Technology. "But more green initiatives will help."The benefits of green roofs for individual buildings are clear. They can be up to 60 degrees cooler than traditional roofs during the summer, cutting air-conditioning bills and energy usage."A one-degree drop can really benefit energy consumption," said Brad Bass, a professor at the University of Toronto's Centre for Environment.
The roofs also absorb rainwater that runs off conventional buildings and into the sewer system, where it can carry pollutants into waterways.
But researchers have been unable to document that green roofs can reduce overall storm run-off in a large city, or cut energy consumption on a wide scale, according to several scientists.It's also uncertain that green roofs can help the urban heat island effect, which causes higher temperatures in cities because roofs and other building materials trap heat.Because green roofs are not widely used, no city has installed enough of them to produce a measurable benefit, said Tom Liptan, who is an enviromental specialist for the Bureau of Enviromental Services in Portland, Ore. "No city in the U.S. or Canada really has enough [green roofs] to do any monitoring," said Liptan.Larry Merritt, a top city environmental official, said Chicago's program is worth supporting despite the lack of research. "We know that it works at an individual level," said Merritt. And benefits from an individual level will translate into a city wide benefit, Merritt said.
At the Notebaert Nature Museum, a green roof has helped cut runoff during rain storms, said technical operations manager Chris Dunn. "With the green roof all the plants are absorbing the rain," Dunn said. The roof also has an appeal that goes beyond environmental benefits. "We have kind of turned an unnatural area into a natural area," said Dunn.
Urban reforesting plan takes shape
Greenprint means value beyond dollars
By MIKE KELLER
8/23/07
Missisippi SunHerald
BILOXI --Forget about architectural blueprints sketching the future of South Mississippi neighborhoods. The professionals gathered in a Biloxi conference room Wednesday and today are focusing on sketching a Greenprint to rebuild local communities. Over 60 tree specialists and local officials from across the Coast came together to develop a strategic plan for reforesting South Mississippi, a package called a Greenprint. The two-day regional urban forest workshop's goal is to develop the plan that will support Replant South Mississippi, which will populate the Coast with 300,000 native sapling trees.
"All of the input over the next two days will play a great role in moving Replant South Mississippi forward," said Judy Steckler, the director of Land Trust for the Mississippi Coastal Plain, which along with The Sun Herald and the Mississippi Forestry Commission hosted the meeting. South Mississippi's urban forest was being plowed under in the name of development long before Hurricane Katrina came ashore. The storm, though, drew the eyes and support of national groups like The Home Depot Foundation, which sponsored the tree workshop.
Deann Fordham, a program manager with The Home Depot Foundation, said Greenprint's regional model would allow cities to manage their forests how they want, but would also look at needs across the Coast. "It's not just about the tree," Fordham told the group. "It's about what they represent to a community. We have an opportunity here to show the rest of the country how trees are a valuable part of a city's infrastructure."
Members of the Sacramento Tree Foundation, who created the Greenprint concept and came to the workshop to spread the word, said the value in trees isn't just about making a place look better; a healthy urban forest saves money. They said 1 million trees can offset $3.5 million in annual municipal stormwater runoff costs and create $10 million in annual energy savings. They said that 1 million trees could absorb $5 million in annual costs to clean up the air in a community, while just one tree planted in the front yard can increase the sale price of a home by 1 percent.
"We're here to learn and plan together," said Sacramento Tree Foundation's Eric Douglas. The organization has helped increase that area's urban forest to more than 6 million trees. "We're going to figure out how to make what we did in Sacramento work in South Mississippi." Sun Herald publisher Ricky Mathews said now is the time to embrace an aggressive strategy to rebuild the Coast's urban forest, which is deeply entwined with the area's heritage. "No one organization can coordinate the recovery effort for the size of the challenge we face," Mathews said. "These trees help create the quality of life - the most important thing we can focus on. We've got some work to do to bring them back."
Greenprint means value beyond dollars
By MIKE KELLER
8/23/07
Missisippi SunHerald
BILOXI --Forget about architectural blueprints sketching the future of South Mississippi neighborhoods. The professionals gathered in a Biloxi conference room Wednesday and today are focusing on sketching a Greenprint to rebuild local communities. Over 60 tree specialists and local officials from across the Coast came together to develop a strategic plan for reforesting South Mississippi, a package called a Greenprint. The two-day regional urban forest workshop's goal is to develop the plan that will support Replant South Mississippi, which will populate the Coast with 300,000 native sapling trees.
"All of the input over the next two days will play a great role in moving Replant South Mississippi forward," said Judy Steckler, the director of Land Trust for the Mississippi Coastal Plain, which along with The Sun Herald and the Mississippi Forestry Commission hosted the meeting. South Mississippi's urban forest was being plowed under in the name of development long before Hurricane Katrina came ashore. The storm, though, drew the eyes and support of national groups like The Home Depot Foundation, which sponsored the tree workshop.
Deann Fordham, a program manager with The Home Depot Foundation, said Greenprint's regional model would allow cities to manage their forests how they want, but would also look at needs across the Coast. "It's not just about the tree," Fordham told the group. "It's about what they represent to a community. We have an opportunity here to show the rest of the country how trees are a valuable part of a city's infrastructure."
Members of the Sacramento Tree Foundation, who created the Greenprint concept and came to the workshop to spread the word, said the value in trees isn't just about making a place look better; a healthy urban forest saves money. They said 1 million trees can offset $3.5 million in annual municipal stormwater runoff costs and create $10 million in annual energy savings. They said that 1 million trees could absorb $5 million in annual costs to clean up the air in a community, while just one tree planted in the front yard can increase the sale price of a home by 1 percent.
"We're here to learn and plan together," said Sacramento Tree Foundation's Eric Douglas. The organization has helped increase that area's urban forest to more than 6 million trees. "We're going to figure out how to make what we did in Sacramento work in South Mississippi." Sun Herald publisher Ricky Mathews said now is the time to embrace an aggressive strategy to rebuild the Coast's urban forest, which is deeply entwined with the area's heritage. "No one organization can coordinate the recovery effort for the size of the challenge we face," Mathews said. "These trees help create the quality of life - the most important thing we can focus on. We've got some work to do to bring them back."
Codey: Give NJ input on NYC congestion pricing
by Tom Feeney
nj.com
Wednesday August 22, 2007
The leader of the New Jersey Senate called on New York today to find a seat on its 17-member congestion pricing commission for a representative from New Jersey. Senate President Richard J. Codey (D-Essex) said 250,000 New Jersey commuters a day would be affected if New York approves congestion pricing for parts of Manhattan.
"This is a collective failure on the part of New York's leadership to recognize New Jersey's important role in this decision-making process," he said. "The stakes involved in this process are far too important to be governed by purely parochial political considerations." Codey today called on New York officials to reconsider the appointments.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has proposed a plan to reduce traffic in the city by charging cars $8 for entering Manhattan below 86th Street between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Under the mayor's proposal, the congestion fee for New Jersey drivers who use E-ZPass would off-set by the $5 tolls they pay at the bridges and tunnels, so the congestion fee would be effectively $3.
Read more in Thursday's Star-Ledger.
by Tom Feeney
nj.com
Wednesday August 22, 2007
The leader of the New Jersey Senate called on New York today to find a seat on its 17-member congestion pricing commission for a representative from New Jersey. Senate President Richard J. Codey (D-Essex) said 250,000 New Jersey commuters a day would be affected if New York approves congestion pricing for parts of Manhattan.
"This is a collective failure on the part of New York's leadership to recognize New Jersey's important role in this decision-making process," he said. "The stakes involved in this process are far too important to be governed by purely parochial political considerations." Codey today called on New York officials to reconsider the appointments.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has proposed a plan to reduce traffic in the city by charging cars $8 for entering Manhattan below 86th Street between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Under the mayor's proposal, the congestion fee for New Jersey drivers who use E-ZPass would off-set by the $5 tolls they pay at the bridges and tunnels, so the congestion fee would be effectively $3.
Read more in Thursday's Star-Ledger.
CUNY PODCASTS -- The Solar Solution
Tria Case
Executive Director
Bronx Community College
Center for Sustainable Energy
August 22nd, 2007
New York City must look to solar power to help solve its ongoing energy needs, says Tria Case, executive director of the CUNY Center for Sustainable Energy at Bronx Community College. In her lecture entitled “New York City’s Renewable Energy Future,” Case cites rising gas prices, pollution levels, dependence on imported fuels, as well as an ever increasing need for more energy, as the reason. Case is among the optimists who predict that, with government support, solar energy could generate about 20% of the city’s total energy use and help reduce dependence on carbon fuels, stabilize energy prices, improve the environment and even lower the occurrence of blackouts, possibly eliminating them altogether.
Listen now: http://www1.cuny.edu/portal_ur/news/radio/podcast/lecture_50.mp3
Tria Case
Executive Director
Bronx Community College
Center for Sustainable Energy
August 22nd, 2007
New York City must look to solar power to help solve its ongoing energy needs, says Tria Case, executive director of the CUNY Center for Sustainable Energy at Bronx Community College. In her lecture entitled “New York City’s Renewable Energy Future,” Case cites rising gas prices, pollution levels, dependence on imported fuels, as well as an ever increasing need for more energy, as the reason. Case is among the optimists who predict that, with government support, solar energy could generate about 20% of the city’s total energy use and help reduce dependence on carbon fuels, stabilize energy prices, improve the environment and even lower the occurrence of blackouts, possibly eliminating them altogether.
Listen now: http://www1.cuny.edu/portal_ur/news/radio/podcast/lecture_50.mp3
CLEANING UP NYC'S WASTE STREAM: A PANEL ON LONG-TERM, SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS FOR MANAGING NEW YORK'S REFUSE
sponsored by State Senator Liz Krueger
Featuring:
Barbara Warren of Sustainable South Bronx
Steve Cohen of Columbia University's Earth Institute
Benjamin Miller, author of Fat of the Land, a 200-year history of New York's solid waste management
Possible 4th panelist TBD
Panel presentations to be followed by discussion.
Topics of discussion:
Zero Waste
Solid Waste as Jobs Creation
Waste-to-Energy
Pay-to-Throw
& more…
WHEN: Tuesday, September 18th, 2007 / 10am to 12NOON (Open to the public, seating is limited)
WHERE: Baruch College, 151 East 25th Street, 7th Floor Conference Room
QUESTIONS?: email liz@lizkrueger.com or call Travis at 212-490-9535
sponsored by State Senator Liz Krueger
Featuring:
Barbara Warren of Sustainable South Bronx
Steve Cohen of Columbia University's Earth Institute
Benjamin Miller, author of Fat of the Land, a 200-year history of New York's solid waste management
Possible 4th panelist TBD
Panel presentations to be followed by discussion.
Topics of discussion:
Zero Waste
Solid Waste as Jobs Creation
Waste-to-Energy
Pay-to-Throw
& more…
WHEN: Tuesday, September 18th, 2007 / 10am to 12NOON (Open to the public, seating is limited)
WHERE: Baruch College, 151 East 25th Street, 7th Floor Conference Room
QUESTIONS?: email liz@lizkrueger.com or call Travis at 212-490-9535
Experts push clean and green energy
22/8/2007
Zhang Jun
Shanghai Daily news
Energy experts have suggested the city government set up a special foundation to encourage clean energy and to make existing buildings more efficient, Shanghai Daily reported.
"The city's intention to conserve energy is commendable but will be difficult to implement without the foundation," Xu Jiehuan, a professor of energy conservation of Tongji University, said yesterday in a closed hearing meeting organized by the government.
Eight experts in energy were invited by the government to offer ideas on how the city government could improve its energy conservation.
All agreed with the concept of a special energy foundation.
Many countries in the West have for some time encouraged people to use clean energies such as solar or wind-driven power. Users of these clean energies are often given tax exemptions.
The city government has set a goal of energy reduction by 2010, reducing the city's overall energy consumption by 20 percent per unit of Gross Domestic Product compared with the consumption rate set in 2005.
Lu Shanhou, a professor of the Shanghai Institute of Architectural Science, said: "The city government should take the lead in reducing its 'huge' energy consumption."
He suggested the government announce how much energy it and other local authorities consume on a regular basis. Anyone failing to meet the national energy conservation level should be penalized.
Officials of the city's construction and transport commission said the government will ensure that all newly built constructions would meet the country's energy-saving standards. Meanwhile, it will also conduct an energy audit on the 30 million square meters of existing buildings.
This year, the city will require a slew of public constructions, including hospitals, shopping malls and schools, to conduct energy-conservation face-lifts. They include improvement of ventilation designs, toilets and light bulbs.
(Shanghai Daily August 22, 2007)
22/8/2007
Zhang Jun
Shanghai Daily news
Energy experts have suggested the city government set up a special foundation to encourage clean energy and to make existing buildings more efficient, Shanghai Daily reported.
"The city's intention to conserve energy is commendable but will be difficult to implement without the foundation," Xu Jiehuan, a professor of energy conservation of Tongji University, said yesterday in a closed hearing meeting organized by the government.
Eight experts in energy were invited by the government to offer ideas on how the city government could improve its energy conservation.
All agreed with the concept of a special energy foundation.
Many countries in the West have for some time encouraged people to use clean energies such as solar or wind-driven power. Users of these clean energies are often given tax exemptions.
The city government has set a goal of energy reduction by 2010, reducing the city's overall energy consumption by 20 percent per unit of Gross Domestic Product compared with the consumption rate set in 2005.
Lu Shanhou, a professor of the Shanghai Institute of Architectural Science, said: "The city government should take the lead in reducing its 'huge' energy consumption."
He suggested the government announce how much energy it and other local authorities consume on a regular basis. Anyone failing to meet the national energy conservation level should be penalized.
Officials of the city's construction and transport commission said the government will ensure that all newly built constructions would meet the country's energy-saving standards. Meanwhile, it will also conduct an energy audit on the 30 million square meters of existing buildings.
This year, the city will require a slew of public constructions, including hospitals, shopping malls and schools, to conduct energy-conservation face-lifts. They include improvement of ventilation designs, toilets and light bulbs.
(Shanghai Daily August 22, 2007)
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