Environmental Design Commons^™

Interview With Ron Hays, Eagle Creek Natural Building, 2006 (Audio), Ron Hays

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Ron Hays by Joe Arbow at SE Portland, Oregon on December 8th, 2006.

The interview index is available for download.

Interview With Dan Lajoie, Departure: Architecture Planning, 2006 (Audio), Dan Lajoie

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Dan Lajoie by Tirsa Firncrook in SE Portland, Oregon on December 4th, 2006.

The interview index is available for download.

Interview With Greg Sawyer, Providence Builders, 2006 (Audio), Greg Sawyer

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Greg Sawyer by Amy Evangelista in NE Portland, Oregon on December 1st, 2006.

The interview index is available for download.

Interview With Alisa Kane, Office Of Sustainable Development, 2006 (Audio), Alisa Kane

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Alisa Kane by Daniel Woodward at City of Portland Office of Sustainable Development, Oregon on November 30th, 2006.

The interview index is available for download.

Interview With Jessica Green, Macdonald Environmental Planning, 2006 (Audio), Jessica Green

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Jessica Green by Cory Angell in SW Portland, Oregon on November 29th, 2006.

The interview index is available for download.

Interview With Christopher Weaver, Plm, 2006 (Audio), Christopher Weaver

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Christopher Weaver by Gerald Bones at Hillsboro, Oregon on November 29th, 2006.

The interview index is available for download.

Interview With Dell M. Turner, Green Roofing Contractor, 2006 (Audio), Dell M. Turner

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Dell M. Turner by Padraic Keene at Portland State University on November 28th, 2006.

The interview index is available for download.

Interview With Chelsea Cochran, Walker Macy, 2006 (Audio), Chelsea Cochran

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Chelsea Cochran by Cory Angell at Walker Macy, Portland Oregon on November 27th, 2006.

The interview index is available for download.

Policy Tools For Smart Growth In New England, New England Environmental Finance Center

Smart Growth

Across New England communities have been experiencing a rapid outward surge of development away from our community and downtown centers. Effects of sprawl include a loss of wildlife habitat, farm and timber lands; increased costs of community services and higher taxes; auto-dependency, longer commutes, and increased congestion; increases in air and water pollution; a sedentary lifestyle and increased obesity; and losses to one’s sense of place and social ties.

State-level responses to sprawl have surfaced throughout New England in recent years. This report describes 11 examples of these responses, representing all six New England states and a diversity of recent …

The Growing Together Guide: A Companion Resource To The New England Environmental Finance Center/Melissa Paly Film, New England Environmental Finance Center

Smart Growth

What local leader or public official wants to be faced with an SOS the “same old story” of public discord and confrontation over growth and development in one’s community? That situation has become a problem for efforts to promote smart growth. Investments are needed in the walkable, compact, traditional‐streetscape and mixed use neighborhoods and developments that are more sustainable and healthy than sprawl, for both people and the landscape. Yet attempts at such change all too often end up mired in costly public controversy and stalemate.

Mansfield Ct: Planning A New Village Center, Maggie Jones, Richard Barringer

Planning

The case follows the development of a plan for a new village center in Storrs, the central village of Mansfield, Connecticut. A process that was transparent and inclusive of the community members yielded a plan that gained the approval of the Town, the landowner (the University of Connecticut), and the citizenry. The process relied on the mending of fences, the leadership of key participants, and an innovative strategy that included development of a nonprofit corporation and creative use of grant money. While zoning changes are still in the works, the first stage of building goes forward.

South Kingstown Ri: New Zoning For An Historic Mill, Maggie Jones, Richard Barringer

Planning

The village of Peace Dale in the town of South Kingstown, Rhode Island, developed around several mills that commenced operations in the 1800s. One mill, known as the Palisades, is still partially active and in excellent condition, but much of its square footage is unutilized. A citizens’ group of artists and business people joined with the mill owners and the town of South Kingstown to develop new zoning regulations to make more flexible the permitted uses for the mill site. The proposed zoning will allow the mill complex to feature a mix of retail, residential, and manufacturing uses, while preserving …

Augusta Me: The New Bridge Begets A New Planned Neighborhood, Molly Pulsifer, Richard Barringer

Planning

Construction of a new Third Bridge over the Kennebec River in Augusta offered the prospect of a new and handsome gateway to the city. Further, the resulting change in traffic patterns offered the City the chance to plan for a pattern of development quite different from what the city had experienced for the past half-century. The case study describes the planning and construction of the new bridge and corridors that re-routed traffic out of Augusta’s downtown and older neighborhoods, and created the opportunity for planned development adjacent to the corridor created by the new bridge. It goes on to describe …

Amherst Ma: A New Village Plan For Atkins Corner, Maggie Jones, Richard Barringer

Planning

The case study describes a successful smart growth initiative in the town of Amherst, Massachusetts, at an intersection known as Atkins Corner. The initiative grew from two motivating factors: the necessity of realigning Route 116, a major north-to-south artery through the town, to decrease traffic accidents at the intersection and improve pedestrian safety; and a desire on the part of Hampshire College and the Town to create a village center at the intersection. Through a consensus-building process involving key town officials, Hampshire College, neighbors, and the design firm of Dodson Associates, agreement on the project was reached with local stakeholders …

Selecting Energy Efficient Building Envelope Retrofits To Existing Department Of Defense Building Using Value Focused Thinking, David M. Pratt

Theses and Dissertations

The Department of Defense (DoD) has hundreds of thousands of facilities in its inventory, which consume billions of BTUSs of energy per year. Much of that energy is used to heat and cool the facility, and a great deal of this energy is lost through the building envelope. While new military construction works towards energy efficiency, the majority of DoD facilities were built over forty years ago with little regard to energy efficiency, and it is these facilities that have the greatest potential for energy efficient building envelope retrofits. There are hundreds of various new building envelope technologies available to …

A Critical Appraisal Of The Opportunities Currently Available For A More Energy Conscious Approach To Residential Building In Ireland, John Mcdonagh, Louis Gunnigan

Conference papers

This paper focuses on the particular advantages which off-site housing construction has over the more traditional methods of building especially where the efficient use and conservation of energy is concerned. It will explain why modern innovative methods of house construction not only have a clear advantage environmentally (big reductions in CO2 emissions) but also deliver substantial benefits to the end user or householder especially in the form of lower energy bills.

The ecological argument for off-site systems is a very powerful one but on its own is still unlikely to be the prime driver for widespread implementation. That growth is …

Promoting Low Impact Development In Your Community, New England Environmental Finance Center

Planning

Low Impact Development (LID) is an approach to stormwater management and site development that is gaining popularity throughout the country. Its attractiveness lies in its potential to lessen off-site stormwater impacts, reduce costs to municipalities and developers, and promote development that is “softer on the land” compared with typical traditional development. The approach, which is applicable to residential, commercial and industrial projects, and in urban, suburban and rural settings, often is linked with efforts by governments and citizens to foster more sustainable communities.