Sustainable Development Focus
Inhabitat - Jul 14 A new building in Virginia Beach is raising the bar for sustainable architecture worldwide. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Brock Environmental Center, designed by SmithGroupJJR, just achieved the world’s toughest green building standard, the Living Building Challenge, an accolade only awarded to 10 other such “ultra-sustainable” structures in the world. The net-zero education building not only generates nearly twice as much energy as it needs, but has also become the first commercial building in the U.S. permitted to “drink” its harvested rainwater. Per the requirements of the Living Building Challenge, the building produces more energy than it uses over the course of 12 consecutive months using clean energy technologies, such as solar panels, residential wind turbines, and geothermal wells.
New York Times - Jul 11 Following the examples set by Chicago, Seattle, and other cities, Los Angeles is working to transform the city’s alleyways into networks of green alleys. City officials hope that these alleys save as much water as possible, as part of a larger project to increase the storm water captured, to 50 billion gallons by 2035 from 8.8 billion gallons now. With storm drains and paving materials that allow water to seep through, the alleys funnel water into underground storage receptacles, preventing water from rain, hoses, fire hydrants, and other sources from making its way through sewers, drains, and concrete riverbeds, to the ocean, picking up pollutants along the way. The newest alley, soon to be finished between East 51st and 52nd Streets off South Avalon Boulevard, is expected to capture more than 700,000 gallons of water a year. The project is a joint effort by the city’s agencies, its Council, and the Trust for Public Land, a nonprofit organization that works to protect natural land and create parks.
Los Angeles Daily News - Jul 14 For more than a century, Sherman Way has served as the Main Street draw for the “All-America City” of Canoga Park. Now Los Angeles city planners hope to turn the historic area within a short walk of its Metro Orange Line stop into a vibrant commercial and residential district. They also hope to spur similar transit-oriented development near four other San Fernando Valley busway stations. The Los Angeles Transit Neighborhood Plans, to be drawn up over the next several years, aim not only to transform Canoga Park within a 15-minute walk from the Orange Line station at Sherman Way and Canoga Avenue. They also intend to turn areas within a half-mile from the Van Nuys, Sepulveda, North Hollywood, and Reseda stations into transit-oriented districts, spurred by new zoning rules and regulations.
Los Angeles Downtown News - Jul 18 In April, the Houston-based developer Hanover Company opened its third in a series of seven-story Downtown Los Angeles apartment buildings: the 263-unit Hanover Olympic. The property includes 20 “eco-green” apartments that are designed to have a net-zero energy usage, meaning that the amount of energy expended in each residence will be equal to or less than the energy produced by its own power generation system. They cost more to build than traditional apartments and rents are higher, though Hanover officials say that tenants will save money on water and electricity bills. The apartments are a first for the company, and are also the first rental units in a large Los Angeles complex to be completely powered by solar panels mounted on the building, according to Hanover Development Partner Ryan Hamilton. Each unit gets its energy from 10 solar panels, with a total of 200 panels placed on the building’s roof.
Valley Public Radio - Jul 14 In a move to provide farmworkers with safe and reliable living situations, the USDA Farm Labor Housing Loan and Grant program recently provided $26 million in funding to groups across the country, with $6 million going to help build two apartment communities in Bakersfield and McFarland. Janice Waddell, the USDA California Director for Rural Development, says the 126 apartments will all have net zero energy technology and water saving irrigation. The complexes, set for completion in a couple years, will have computer labs, sports parks, and oversized parking garages. Four other projects around the state also received funding.
Renewable Energy World - Jul 13 Black & Veatch has formed a joint venture with Schneider Electric USA for the design and construct of an energy security microgrid at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Miramar in San Diego. The microgrid solution will allow operations at mission-critical facilities to continue uninterrupted if the utility power grid is compromised or damaged. The microgrid will incorporate renewable resources, advanced smart grid control systems, and demand response capabilities, according to the company. In addition, the microgrid will power several facilities at the 12-kV level during a utility grid outage and will use existing energy resources such as landfill gas, solar PV, and energy storage systems for standard operations.
