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Sustainable Development. Green development. Developing and using land with consideration of the environmental impact Things considered: Arrangement of the land used (buildings, parks, natural areas, etc.) Architecture of buildings (design and materials)
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Green development • Developing and using land with consideration of the environmental impact • Things considered: • Arrangement of the land used (buildings, parks, natural areas, etc.) • Architecture of buildings (design and materials) • Modes of operation ( Energy, water, transportation, waste handling, etc.)
Suburban Sprawl • Outward expansion of cities to more spread out and rural areas
Pros of suburban sprawl • Families have a lot of space to themselves • Privacy • Land costs less as you move away from the city • Lower crime rates • Better schools • Less noise and pollution
Single use zoning • Designating areas for one specific purpose, such as: -residential (housing) -commercial (malls and stores) -industrial (businesses and warehouses) • Requires people to drive around for almost every activity • Houses are not in close enough proximity with other services to justify more sustainable transportation
High auto-dependency • The design of sprawled suburbs demands the frequent use of auto-mobiles • Studies show that people are not willing to walk or bike places over a half mile away… lazy bones Don’t you wish you could just walk 2 min. to your BFF’s houses?
High infrastructure costs and per-capita energy usage • It costs a lot of money to run plumbing, electrical, cable, etc. out to all of these spread out houses and businesses • Far more energy is required to run the homes and businesses when they are spread out • Fewer people are using more energy
Every house looks the same! • Home owners associations and city ordinances place restrictions on what your suburban house looks like, creating a monolopy board
Sustainable city planning involves: • Closer proximity homes -build up instead of out • Multi-purpose zoning • Convenient and efficient modes of sustainable transportation • Infrastructure that encourages low energy use and reduced waste • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ordsxEwMfxc
Conventional homes waste: • Money • Materials • Energy • Water • Heat
Green home building • In the past, green homes were out of reach financially for most people • They are slowly becoming more affordable for the middle class families
Geothermal heating/cooling • Heating and cooling a building using the temperature of the earth below the surface
Passive solar heating • Using the sun’s natural heat and light to keep air and water temperatures at desirable levels at different times of the year • Allows houses under certain conditions to be heated in the winter with zero energy cost • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYAnsYdtRNE
Recycled and renewable materials • Many materials are available that reduce environmental impact significantly • Examples: • Bamboo • Recycled plastic floor tiles • Recycled lumber (companies take houses apart piece by piece and sell used buildng materials) • Used brick and masonry