EQUITY GREEN

Looking For A Parking Spot? Enter Streetline!

I am in San Francisco this weekend and I have a rental car.  Its one thing to pay $40 a night to use the hotel's vallet parking system.  Its another to go driving around the city and not find a single place to park.  I am dreading the search and rescue effort it is going to take to find a parking space in this city.  Fortunately for me, I have experience on my side and know where all the good parking spots are located.  But not everyone does.  Enter Streetline.  Streetline is a small technology company based here in the Bay Area that has partnered with the city to install "bumps" in 6,000 test parking slots across the city.  These bumps have embedded sensors in them and notify parking officials as to whether a parking stall is vacant or occupied.  The 6,000 bumps will form a wireless network across the city informing "parking-stalkers" of open spaces.  These notifications will eventually come to people on their phones and can notify them when spots open up.  According to Donald Shoup, professor of urban planning at UCLA, "It will have a cascade of positive effects on transportation and econony and environment."  Check out the NY Times article below.

++Can't Find a Parking Spot?  Check Smartphone [NY Times]

Focusing on Zero Energy and High Efficiency

Check it out:

++Building An Energy Efficient America:  Zero Energy and High Efficiency Buildings [Download Full Report at Environment America]

Also, if you didn't get your hands on a Wall Street Journal today, you missed an opinion piece written by T. Boone Pickens titled "My Plan to Escape the Grip of Foreign Oil" where Mr. Pickens outlines his 10-year plan to reduce America's reliance on foreign oil by more than 1/3 over the next 5 to 10 years.  Very interesting piece and well-deserved dialogue.  He sees the writing on the wall and feels an extreme urgency to get out from under the shadow of foreign oil.

++My Plan to Escape the Grip of Foreign Oil [WSJ]

Housefish Key Modular Storage [Design Public]

I was surfing the net and came across some sustainable furniture. From Design Public..."The newest addition to the Design Public sustainable family: Housefish and their Key Modular Storage! These pieces are made in the USA, crafted out of a maple Veneer over FSC certified birch / alder plywood, have a zero VOC clear finish and the doors are waterjet cut steel with a zero VOC powdercoat finish. The entire piece is crafted out of renewable or recycleable materials. A perfect storage or shelving piece to add to your collection and reduce your carbon guilt."

+Housefish Key Modular Storage [Design Public]

Greensburg House X

 

++Greensburg House X [Flickr]
++Greensburg Greentown [website]

West Coast Green 2008 [San Jose]

 

It's back!  Welcome to the largest residential green building movement get-together!  Featuring over 380 exhibitors, 6,000 industry professionals, and this WCG is featuring a "Homeowner Day" where the public can have full access to the tradeshow.  Click for a list of the speakers and exhibitors.  West Coast Green is an opportunity to share best practices and get ideas on the green movement.   

++West Coast Green [website]
++West Coast Green:  mkLotus Showhouse [Dwell blog]

Bio-Tech Firm Genzyme First To Fill Green Space

Yesterday, the guys at Genzyme (NASDAQ: GENZ) held a conference call with green bloggers to discuss their green building efforts.  As far as I know, Genzyme is one of the first bio-tech firms to really embrace and enter the green building space.  Led by Rick Mattila, director of enviornmental affairs, and Lisa Hartman, principal environmental engineer, the group discussed the Genzyme Center (corporate headquarters) based in Cambridge, Mass., which was awarded the LEED-Platinum certification, the highest green rating a building can receive.  When asked what was the biggest bang for their buck in building the Genzyme Center, Rick responded...

Greensburg Cubed To Help Residents Rebuild City After Devastation

On May 4, 2007, a tornado struck the town of Greensburg, Kansas.  Yesterday, I posted about Studio 804, a design-build program at the University of Kansas School of Architecture and Urban Planning, and how they are helping the residents of Greensburg rebuild after the tornado.  Add KSU to the list of schools helping out.  During this past spring, the graduate architectural design studio at Kansas State University will help to rebuild the city through a design-build project called G3:  Greensburg Cubed.  Greensburg Cubed will design and construct modules, 10'x10'x10' cubes, that highlight sustainable materials and demonstrate green construction methods to meet a community need.  Check out the video...I think the Book Nook and the Ice Cube are awesome designs and can picture them in parks and cities across the country.  If I could, I would put a Book Nook in my backyard!

Greensburg 5.4.7. Art Center [Studio 804]

Studio 804 is at it again.  Studio 804, Inc. is a 501(c)(3), not-for-profit, design/build program at the University of Kansas School of Architecture and Urban Planning focused on the creation of community based architecture.  They are currently in the process of helping to rebuild the city of Greensburg, Kansas, which was destroyed by a category F5 tornado on May 4, 2007.  The city has chosen to embrace...

Ludacris Recycles His Rims...And Could Smart Cities Be The Wave of the Future?

 

Pretty funny video featuring Ludacris and Tommy Lee...way to be eco-friendly.  The botton video discusses Smart Cities, which are cities that are controlled by an "invisible network of devices" that communicate with each other through established management systems.  In theory, all the devices that are connected to the network are energy aware and are programmed to perform at optimum levels. So, what if the network is hacked?  A compromise in security.  Someone gains access to your whole system and shuts it down.  I've heard about smart fridges that can order food from the grocery store after it has detected a low level of a certain item...I would hate to find out that someone hacked into my fridge and ordered 10 gallons of skim milk...I would probably go ape!  Technology risks aside, I think intelligent energy systems are brilliant...I like the idea of building components working together to achieve energy efficiencies.  However, a few concerns...from a residential perspective, how are costs tracked?  Are they allocated among everyone in the system or is everyone charged separately?  Can you see the performance of all your "smart" machines working in unison?

 

LEED Gold In Portland [Mississippi Avenue Lofts]

 

The Mississippi Lofts are a new mixed-use development (56,000 square feet) coming to Portland's Mississippi Historic District.  It looks as if they are going all out on this one.  Brownfield redevelopment...check.  Storm-water Management system...check. Use of regional materials...check.  Certified wood, use of low-e paint and materials, water efficient landscaping...all check.  The are shooting for LEED Golf certification, which requires between 39-51 points on a LEED scorecard and the Mississippi Lofts are attempting to receive 48 points.  They are scheduled to be completed by next month but by the looks of their blog, they seem to still be in the construction phase.  HOA fees seem to run from about $170 to $300 per month depending on the unit.  Some of the smaller units are going for about $393 per sq/ft (737 total square feet) where as the larger units go for about $341 per sq/ft (1172 total square feet). 

 

++Mississippi Avenue Lofts [site]
++Mississippi Avenue Lofts Blog[site]

++LEED Scorecard[link to pdf document]