SustainableWritings

The kerfuffle over the recent confirmation of Scott Pruitt to be the Director of the EPA has brought the issue of climate change to the fore. The general debate has been about how much governmental regulations should (or, should not) address various climate change types of issues. Count me amongst those that feel strongly that government(s) need(s) to take an active role on this. However, that does not mean that there is no room for the private sector. In fact, one can make an argument that strong involvement by the private sector will be equally as long lasting if not more so than governmental policy—due to the profit incentive. Profits have a way of outlasting elections results.

One organization, started by a former Congressman from South Carolina who used to be what is now called a “climate skeptic”, advocates very strongly for climate change solutions that are explicitly from a conservative point of view. This group RepublicEN.org starts with a conservative (i.e. limited government, free enterprise, etc.) perspective but advocates that environmental stewardship should be a critical part of the conservative agenda. I do not claim to share in the conservative agenda—but I do strongly believe in environmental stewardship.

I am thrilled that the members of that organization are making a case for implementing climate solutions. We may disagree on the relative role of government in this effort, but I can absolutely agree that climate change is not something we can hide from. The effects of climate change are not limited to “red” or “blue” or for that matter “purple” areas—they are hitting everywhere, and we need all perspectives at the table—liberal, conservative, and everything in between.

The RepublicEN.org website

Every so often, I go into Center City Philadelphia from my house. If I possibly can, I take the train. The Philadelphia area has a fairly extensive public transit system. I am the beneficiary of the investments that were made many years ago to create the public transit service lines in the first place. Not every city has as extensive a network as Philadelphia’s, but the list is growing.

One of the cities that also has a very extensive network of public transit lines in New York City. To greet the new year, New York opened up the latest subway extension—the beginnings of the long awaited Second Avenue subway line. Planned for a very long time, this relatively small segment of the Second Avenue line (extending the from 59th street up to 96th streets) will hopefully alleviate a portion of the overcrowded Lexington Avenue subway lines. The opening of this line makes me think of the other mass transit projects that were approved in the recent election.

Voters across the country in Atlanta, GA, Charleston, SC, Indianapolis, IN, Durham, NC, San Jose, CA, Albuquerque, NM, and numerous other areas approved funding for mass transit extensions. I am very happy to learn of these. These voter approvals mean that more and more metropolitan areas across the country will be incorporating more environmentally friendly forms of transportation into their transport systems. More and more people will be able to receive individual mobility benefits from these systems as their regions gain environmental benefits from fewer cars on the road.

Over the past several years, more and more communities have been investing in public transit. This year (2016) also saw a record number of voter approvals of proposals to fund mass transit projects. The amount approved exceeded $100 billion, according to the American Public Transportation Association. I predict that these mass transit improvements will be followed by billions of dollars more in private investment as more people choose to live close in to a mass transit stop.

Nashville, Tennessee,  brands itself as Music City, USA. To a large extent, that is true, but it is not the entire story. I recently spent several days in Nashville at a conference, and I was very pleasantly surprised to see many instances of sustainability in practice. My first clue was the sign noting that the Music City Conference Center (where my conference was held) is a LEED Gold certified facility. That was interesting, and really something I had not anticipated. Nor did I anticipate learning of the center’s 4 acre green roof, part of which is inhabited by clusters of honey bees.

Like in many green buildings, water usage (or, the lessening of water usage) is a big deal for the Music City Center. Part of this is achieved via a 360,000 gallon rainwater collector (some of which supplies the toilets and urinals in the bathrooms). The building’s managers cite a 3,000,000 gallon reduction in water usage due to collecting rainwater. Other sustainable aspects of the building and complex include the usage of LED light bulbs in the parking garage, an extensive recycling program, and an array of solar panels.

If I had been prepared, I could have easily crossed the street from the Music City Center to grab a bike using Nashville’s subscription bicycle program. This is similar to Philadelphia’s Indego and New York’s Citibike programs where you pick up a bike at a station, ride it to another station (or the same one), and go about your way. It is a great program—except that I was in conference clothes, not bike riding clothes.

Not too long after I noticed the bike station, I saw a Blue Circuit bus come by. This is one of 2 free bus loops around various parts of downtown Nashville—emphasis on the word free. Baltimore also has similar bus circulator loops, which highly encourage people to not drive their cars around town. To complete the loop (in a manner of speaking), I was even able to catch the airport bus into and out of town.

Downtown Nashville is very walkable, and not just the music section on Broadway. There is also a large pedestrian bridge over the Cumberland River, which just happens to connect downtown to the NFL stadium (Nissan Stadium). This alone eliminates thousands of car trips each NFL Sunday (and obviates the need for many parking spaces as well).

I had a wonderful time in Nashville. The conference was highly educational and the amount of easily accessible live music at anytime of the day or night was phenomenal.  The readily observable sustainability aspects were also really cool.

 For Broadway fans, the title of this post recalls the famous musical, A Chorus Line. However, a new One—Singular Sensation has arisen in New York City—the One World Trade Center building, The previous North and South Towers were designed in the late 1960s; the new One was designed in the 2000s and therefore   incorporates the latest green building techniques, In fact, some of the (green) techniques used in the design of One World Trade have been incorporated into building codes in New York City and beyond

The overwhelming majority of the visitors to the building (and the World Trade Center site overall) arrive by public transportation. There are numerous train, subway, and ferry services that already existed there before One World Trade was built. Connectivity to the buildings from the mass transit services to the building was an important priority throughout the design process. The trains were kept running during the construction. The completed building now features weather protected access to the 11 subway lines and PATH lines running underneath it.

In the buildings world, the LEED standards of the US Green Building Council are a very common way to ”prove” how sustainable a given building is. These are pretty stringent, especially at the higher award levels (Gold, Platinum). Each individual building  at the WORLD Trade Center (as well as the Plaza) will have  its own LEED evaluations and applications. Some of the green building techniques used at One World Trade are pretty familiar: low energy glass, water conservation, maximizing daylight, using renewable energy to power the building, etc. Some are less familiar: using regenerative braking systems in the elevators, distributing that energy to other mechanical systems, air quality control during and immediately after construction and designing the office layouts so that 90% of the floor space benefits from natural light.

The “greenness” of the building ran into some unforeseen obstacles—not least Superstorm Sandy which flooded parts of Manhattan—-including several fuel cells that were to be an important part of the building’s LEED application. Not all of these were replaced, and it is fair to say that fact made achieving the LEED standard more difficult. However, the wide array of green building techniques used in the building has indeed resulted (as of September, 2016) in the awarding of the LEED Gold certification to the One World Trade Center building.

Just by looking at the building tells the viewer that this is a special accomplishment. The fact that was designed to be as green as possible, and has been officially designated as such, makes it even more special. As one of the Port Authority’s sustainability consultants has said, “no building is too big to be green.”