HIDDEN POTENTIAL OF SUSTAINABLE NEIGHBOURHOODS

Skrevet af FRAKER

How do you achieve effective low-carbon design beyond the building
level? How do you create a community that is both livable and
sustainable? More importantly, how do you know if you have succeeded?
Harrison Fraker goes beyond abstract principles to provide a clear,
in-depth evaluation of four first generation low-carbon neighborhoods in
Europe, and shows how those lessons can be applied to the U.S. Using
concrete performance data to gauge successes and failures, he presents a
holistic model based on best practices.
 
The four case studies
are: Bo01 and Hammarby in Sweden, and Kronsberg and Vauban in Germany.
Each was built deliberately to conserve resources: all are mixed-used,
contain at least 1,000 units, and have aggressive goals for energy and
water efficiency, recycling, and waste treatment.
 
For each case
study, Fraker explores the community's development process and  goals
and objectives as they relate to urban form, transportation, green
space, energy, water and waste systems, and a social agenda. For each
model, he looks at overall performance and lessons learned.
  
Later
chapters compare the different strategies employed by the case-study
communities and develop a comprehensive model of sustainability, looking
specifically at how these lessons can be employed in the United States,
with a focus on retrofitting existing communities. This whole-systems
approach promises not only a smaller carbon footprint, but an enriched
form of urban living. 
  
The Hidden Potential of Sustainable Neighborhoods will
be especially useful for urban designers, architects, landscape
architects, land use planners, local policymakers and NGOs, citizen
activists, students of urban design, planning, architecture, and
landscape architecture.