Patterns of development in the United States over the past century have been intimately linked with automobiles and cheap fuel. One of the major results of this is massive sprawl nationwide that continues through this day. The Mid-Hudson Valley, and the United States as a whole, is experiencing massive expansion of populations into rural areas. Local Dutchess County alone experienced population growth of 8% in the past decade, and the rate of land consumption was more than twice that. Nationwide about 365 acres are developed every hour, eating up farmland, open space, and watersheds. And the average American already spends over 100 hours commuting to work every year.
|
|
Suburban sprawl in Baltimore, MD. Photo taken by Alex Maclean
|
These developments have gone hand in hand with tremendous air pollution, a loss of biodiversity, global warming, and other environmental impacts. They've also been accompanied by some awful politics at the national and international level as oil money has all too frequently and tragically become entwined with corruption and violence.
Many of these issues seem to be coming together to form a perfect storm as we as a planet start to experience the results of global warming at the same time as we near "peak oil", the point at which oil extraction will reach its all-time high and start to decline as oil becomes increasingly scarce and costly.
Green building is a key part of a necessary response to these and other issues. While the category of "Energy and Atmosphere" arguably has the greatest overall impact on the planet and society, the category of "Site Selection" offers a glimpse of some of the more fundamental ways our society may be reorganized and reoriented in the coming century.
Living Where the Living Is Good - Redefining Quality of Life
A number of the US Green Building Council points related to Sustainable Sites are about where buildings are located. There are a few things that might seem pretty obvious, like not building where there are threatened or endangered species, not building in a flood plain or on prime farmland or wetlands, as well as avoiding lands that were previously public lands that have been sold into private ownership.
But because where we locate a building has a massive impact on the transportation needs of the people using the building, there are some less-frequently considered aspects of building siting that have far-reaching consequences.
One of the most important things to consider is how closely the building is located to where occupants live, work, shop and play. It may cost more up front to locate a building in town, but you will see massive savings in gas money over time, not to mention the time you'll save not driving everywhere and the quality of life you will enjoy being able to walk or bike to the market, a friend's home, the post office, etc.
To intentionally locate a home in a more densely populated area runs counter to much of how people have defined success and quality of life in the US for decades. Yet so many of the things that we know intuitively lead to people being happier - and that are supported time and again by polls - revolve around things like having time for family, friends and hobbies. And besides the immediate and obvious environmental impacts of decreasing driving, the time that is freed up can translate directly to greater involvement in community and civic affairs, further reinforcing the kind of lives and society we wish to create for ourselves, our children, and the planet.
Co-operative living, co-housing, clustered homes, mixed use zoning (mixing small businesses and residential uses), and more are fast becoming the most highly prized and valuable places for people to live and work. And this will become ever more true as oil prices start to rise significantly in the coming years and as people face more directly the consequences of global climate shock.
The future landscape of the United States can perhaps best be glimpsed in the design movement of New Urbanism or Traditional Neighborhood Design, which emphasize holistic neighborhood/community development where a range of everyday services and community spaces like parks are available in a small clustered area within a 5 minute walk for all residents.
Alternative Transportation
|
|
Bike parking on the front porch
|
The US Green Building Council is developing standards for Neighborhood Development, but the existing standards for single buildings already touch on the importance of transportation issues. The Common Fire Housing Co-op scored one point for providing significant bicycle storage space that is sheltered and is right next to the front door.
We also built an alternative fuel station right next to the building where biodiesel and filtered waste vegetable oil are available for people with diesel engines.
Unfortunately, Common Fire did not earn the point for easy access to public transportation. Public transportation in the co-op area is almost non-existent, making it impossible for us to earn the point, but we must confess that we are not anywhere near the one bus line that does exist, something that we were not happy about but that was part of the compromise we felt we had to make in order to secure affordable land in a beautiful natural environment.
Permanently Protecting Wildlands and Farm Land
|
|
A view of the land around the building
|
The Common Fire Foundation has put a conservation easement on 25 acres of land next to the building. That means Common Fire legally gave away the development rights on that land. Which in turn means that not only can Common Fire not develop that land, but any future owners of the land cannot develop it either. So it will be forever preserved for the enjoyment of future generations of people -- and for the enjoyment of the tremendous diversity of other creatures for which that land is their entire world!
Many communities offer tax breaks for easements because having more open space and agricultural land keeps taxes lower than development, protects the environment, and improves the quality of life for local communities.
We got our easement through the Dutchess Land Conservancy. Since 1985, DLC has been a leader in the field of land preservation by helping people establish easements. They have worked with over 300 landowners in 20 towns to preserve almost 22,000 acres of land in Dutchess County.
The USGBC offers a point for leaving some open land around a building, but we applied for one of the four innovation points available to projects for going above and beyond the regular standards for our significant conservation efforts in this regard.
Light Pollution
Have you ever noticed in urban areas at night you rarely see any stars? This light pollution is caused by exterior lighting, which illuminates the sky as well as the walkway, parking area or driveway for which it was installed. This disrupts the noctural ecosystem of the area and limits visual enjoyment of the night sky. But light pollution can be limited by reducing exterior lighting to areas where it is most necessary and then designing it so that light is cast only into those areas, and not upward into the night sky.
Heat Islands
|
|
The light, reflective steel roof, also is made from 35% recycled material.
|
When dark, non-reflective surfaces are used for roofs, driveways, parking areas, walkways etc., the heat from the sun is absorbed by these surfaces and radiated back to the surrounding area, contributing to the heat island effect. The temperature in urban areas is artificially raised 10 degrees fahrenheit or more by this effect when compared to suburban or rural areas, resulting in larger air conditioning systems being required and thus more energy used. The heat island effect can be counteracted by using light, reflective surfaces for roofs, parking areas etc., such as the gravel driveway and metal roof used by the Common Fire building. Our metal roof is from Englert, Inc. When ordering the roof we specified the LEED standards for reflectance and emissivity as their standard metal roof does not comply.
Storm Water Management
Typically when it rains the majority of the water is absorbed into the ground while a small amount, called storm water runoff, stays on the surface and runs into a nearby body of water. In more developed areas the storm water runoff is increased because there is less open ground to absorb the water. This water is collected by gutters, pipes, sewers and transported to bodies of water, collecting sediment and pollutants along the way. To receive the storm water management points under the LEED New Construction standard, the runoff on the building site can be no greater than before the building was there. We accomplished this through a number of strategies including french drains, which collect the water running off the building and allow it to percolate into the ground.
Continue the tour: Human Health
Site Selection
