Sustainable Development Focus
SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE - Sep 18 Hundreds of acres surrounding San Diego’s aging sports arena would slowly be transformed into dense housing, modern commercial projects, 30 acres of parks, and a bay-to-bay trail under a plan the City Council approved on Monday. The plan is to make the community more resident-friendly and less industrial by chopping up its oversized blocks with new, smaller streets featuring bike lanes and pedestrian-friendly plazas. The population of the area, known as the Midway District, would rise from 4,600 to 27,000 because land with large commercial projects would be re-zoned for housing, spiking the number of units from just under 2,000 to more than 11,000. The 52-year-old arena could remain as it is, be replaced by mixed-use development, or be replaced by a more modern arena, although any new structure higher than 30 feet would require voter approval in a referendum.
SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER - Sep 11 The first major step toward running trains to the new Salesforce Transit Center in San Francisco from the current Caltrain station at 4th and King Streets was taken Tuesday, when a city transportation board granted a key first approval for a plan to dig a subway tunnel connecting them. Once constructed, the tunnel will connect the $77 billion high speed rail system and newly electrified Caltrain cars to the new transit center, which so far only serves city and regional bus lines. John Rahaim, director of the San Francisco Planning Department, said that multiple regional, state, and city partners will still need to give their stamp of approval for the project to move forward.
UTILITY DIVE - Sep 14 According to a survey conducted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, 57 percent of participating cities are planning some sort of climate action in the coming year, and 60 percent have launched or expanded a climate policy in the last 12 months. Of the 158 responding cities in 39 states, 95 percent said they had experienced an impact of climate change, from drought to wildfires to extreme storms. The survey showed that cities are investing heavily in renewable energy, as 65 percent said they use low-carbon sources for municipal operations. Eight cover 100 percent of their needs with renewable power, and 27 cover 30 percent or more of their needs with renewable power.
MICROGRID KNOWLEDGE - Sep 12 A $27 million microgrid and distributed clean energy project at the Port of Los Angeles — the first in the city to include solar and energy storage — is now 60 percent complete. When finished in the fall, the Green Omni Terminal Demonstration Project is expected to serve as a model for modernization of 26 other marine terminals at the port. The microgrid will incorporate a 1-megawatt solar photovoltaic array, an on-shore 2.6-megawatt battery storage system, and associated electrical infrastructure. The microgrid will have island mode capabilities, so it will be able to disconnect from the utility grid and continue to supply power to the facility during grid outages.
ENGINEERING NEWS-RECORD - Sep 13 Building (CSB) in Santa Monica will be a showcase for sustainability in water-thirsty Southern California. Beyond pioneering composting toilets and a rainwater-to-potable water treatment system in Southern California, the CSB is on course to be the first municipal Living Building. Among other criteria, Living Buildings must demonstrate performance, during a year after occupancy, of net-zero annual water and energy use. Contractors must meet standards for waste control during construction, and building teams must specify materials, components, and systems that are not harmful to people and the environment.
LOS ANGELES TIMES - Sep 13 The California Legislature has sent to Governor Jerry Brown a bill that would require cities and counties in the state’s most seismically vulnerable areas to create lists of buildings that could be at higher risk of major damage or collapse during an earthquake. Los Angeles and other cities have generated lists of buildings that face the greatest risk of collapse. Some cities have ordered owners to retrofit those buildings to make them more secure. But the regulations are far from even across the state, and there are many areas where little has been done to assess the risks. The law would take effect only if state officials can find a source of funding for the project. The bill would create a committee to consider whether a tougher building standard for new construction should be created — one that enables a building to be usable after a major earthquake. Currently, the minimum building standard allows buildings to be so damaged they must be torn down after an earthquake.
