:: aribra ::

Habitat for Humanity makes history with the development of its Brooklyn project which is LEED Gold certified. The Atlantic Avenue project may represent a new direction for Habitat. It will be great to see smaller affiliates embrace more dense development models in the future.

From NY Times | Making History In a Brooklyn Neighborhood

When Habitat for Humanity New York City consulted an architecture firm on its new site in the Ocean Hill section of Brownsville, Brooklyn, it received a response that switched on a light bulb. The firm, Dattner Architects, said that Habitat could proceed with its plan to build 12 town houses on the trash-strewn vacant lot, but that the site was actually capable of supporting many more units in apartment form — 41, to be exact.

The result, nearly three years and one entirely new development model later, is the largest creation in Habitat’s history, an $11.6 million three-building complex on Atlantic Avenue, complete with LEED Gold certification. About 10,000 requests were received for the 41 slots; the applicants eventually selected were required to make down payments of 1 percent on the building’s condominiums, which ranged in price from $75,000 to $200,000. They were also required to invest 300 hours of work, which Habitat, a nonprofit organization, calls “sweat equity,” in the development. [...]

by Yahya E. B. Henry

As the world braces for a tsunami, I’m working to understand this idea of “not being connected” as proposed by a CNN guest. CNN often has so-called ’subject matter experts (SME)’ to support a given news segment. This morning they played host to a Georgia Tech Assistant Professor of Geology.  CNN’s SME made an academic case for all of the recent earthquakes in Haiti, Japan and now, Chile to be completely unrelated or connected. Really? His opinion got me to thinking about a larger issue affecting our country.

Last I’d checked, we were on one planet and to suggest that what happens on one side of the planet doesn’t affect the other is, in my opinion, elementary. You may as well say that it’s impossible for me to have  stomachache and headache at the same time. When I look at the overall sentiment of our country, [...]

Demographics are shifting and our current land use policies are not prepared to handle a significant shift in migration. With the poor having such a large presence in suburban America, retailers will face some challenges moving forward. If these trends continue, we can expect to see higher vacancy and crime rates in an area once considered to be the ‘American Dream’.

From Next American City | American Poor Spread to Suburbia, but We’re not Ready

Let’s face it: American public policy has yet to respond to or even grasp the profound change in settlement patterns that has been gradually making its mark on the nation’s landscape over the past few decades.

Cities from Detroit to Des Moines have been pushing the gentrification of their downtowns, with generally positive results, and the results are well documented.

But more consequential to a far larger group is the mass out-migration of impoverished people from center cities into the suburbs, often in the same metropolitan areas. According to a recent Brookings Institute Study, the process is accelerating. Between 2000 and 2008, the percent of poor people living in the suburbs increased by 25%, compared to by 5.6% in central cities and 15.4% for the nation as a whole. More of the poor now live in the suburbs than in central cities: 12.5 million versus 11 million. [...]

by Christi Elflein

My husband, Bill, works for the Department of Defense as a civilian federal agent where his current day to day responsibilities involve protecting U.S. naval assets travelling throughout the Caribbean, Central and South America.  When the 7.0 earthquake rocked Haiti on January 12^th, he unpacked his bags for a scheduled trip to Panama and repacked them for the unexpected in Haiti.  Now, he has just returned after being there for almost a month.  Although his mission in Haiti wasn’t directly related to the urban and environmental issues that are the focus of this blog, some of the issues his team faced and the city he observed are definitely of interest to our readers.

[...]

“In James Howard Kunstler’s view, public spaces should be inspired centers of civic life and the physical manifestation of the common good. Instead, he argues, what we have in America is a nation of places not worth caring about.”

by James Bedell

I spent this past Saturday hanging out with my brother-in-law Mike and my niece, Olivia. Watching her this weekend made me think of sustainability. Holding my three-month old niece gives me a tangible feel for the future. At one point I was in a room with all of my sisters my neice and my mother, three generations of women.

The eldest born in the 50’s (sorry Mom) and the youngest born in 2009.  Looking at them all I can’t help but think of how much the world has changed over the source of that time-for a little perspective, Dwight Eisenhower was President when my mother was born…her grandchild was born at the beginning of the Obama administration. What amount of change will take place over Olivia’s lifetime? Will we create a sustainable culture in the US in her lifetime? Shouldn’t we? [...]

by Timothy Hughes

The titanic effort of changing our energy policy, land use policy, and indeed our entire economy is overwhelming and daunting. Often though, it is the simple step that can generate significant incremental impacts. Baby steps are a lot easier for the public to grasp on to and adopt as well, thus creating behavioral change and lasting momentum. When viewed in the right lens, individual baby steps can truly be the lever to create lasting change.

The KISS principle – “keep it simple stupid” – is something I need to keep in mind professionally every day as a lawyer. I am forced to boil down legal precedent, complex facts, and apply psychology persuade on a daily basis. If I cannot translate my experience and knowledge into a format that a client can understand, the client will not be able to grasp my advice in making decisions. If I cannot translate the facts, documents and law of a case into a format that a jury understands and agrees with, I will lose my case. [...]

by James Bedell

I recently had the opportunity to sit in on an Alcholics Anonymous meeting. Limited Disclosure: Who I was in the meeting for is private, hence the ‘anonymous’ but I will share that I am not in recovery, just an interested, supportive third party.

One lesson from the meeting really stuck in my mind. It’s a simple concept.

“Progress, Not Perfection”

Put simply, the idea is that a recovering alcoholic is going to falter on the road to sobriety. What AA encourages is continual effort toward becoming sober for life, because as they also acknowledge being an alcoholic is something you are not something you “have.” The concept encourages continual improvement, instead of a light-switch, where one turns off their desire for alcohol and never turns it back on.

I left the meeting and that simple phrase kept turning around and around. I wonder if the green movement in total, and the green building movement specifically, could you a dose of this thinking. I often read on professional boards and blogs about the dilemma of asking clients to take sustainability measures when they are not perfect solutions. [...]

by Christopher Hill

An article in a recent issue of Constructor Magazine, the publication of the AGC of America, makes a point that I have been making for a while, namely that sustainable building is here to stay.

The article quotes several contractor members of the AGC and essentially concludes that

Green is the new gold

I agree. Especially in tough economic times such as these, contractors and subcontractors need to distinguish themselves. Owners need to save money through more sustainable and energy efficient practices. Possibly more importantly, government is jumping into the breach to require such building practices, whether through building codes or LEED certification requirements.

Not only is such activity a moral imperative, but it makes good economic sense. For this reason construction professionals must learn how to “talk the talk” of sustainability. To miss this train could mean bankruptcy or worse given current trends. [...]

by Christi Elflein

Haiti is a country that has suffered for decades with widespread poverty, political corruption, environmental destruction, and natural disasters.  Last week’s earthquake was devastating and made worse by the situation it was already in.  The Haitians desperate situation has lead to 97% deforestation in the country, which has led to a lack of wood available to construct buildings properly.   The poorly built buildings crumbled when the earthquake hit, taking thousands of lives.

Following is a link to a New York Times piece filmed three weeks before the earthquake.  It highlights the links between poverty, natural resource mismanagement and the consequences that have occurred from past natural disasters and from last week’s earthquake.

[...]