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comment USGBC and CCI Partner to Promote Green Urban Development
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) have partnered in support of projects throughout the world that will model environmentally friendly urban development. The Climate Positive Development Program will support large-scale urban projects and real estate development with net-zero onsite carbon emissions. The program will include 16 projects in communities with a combined total of nearly 1 million people living and working in them.
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According to CCI, half of the world’s population (3.2 billion people) now lives in cities; around 70% of the population is expected to live in urban areas by 2050. Controlling the environmental impacts of urban development is thus becoming increasingly important. CCI’s new program, said President Bill Clinton, “will set a new global standard for developments that will minimize environmental impacts and benefit economies as we build and rebuild homes, schools, and businesses.”
Participating governments and developers must agree to implement cost-effective green building measures, generate clean energy, conserve water, manage waste and wastewater in an environmentally friendly manner, and develop transportation systems that conserve energy. The specifics of these goals will vary from project to project, and few details have been released. Consultants from CCI and USGBC will work with project leaders on planning and implementation of the projects, and will develop metrics by which the success of each project can be measured. “A program that aims to set a new global benchmark has to be set on solid metrics,” said USGBC president and CEO Rick Fedrizzi. No metrics have been set, however, and it is unclear how projects will be compared with each other.
The projects chosen for the program vary in scope, but most feature mixed-use development within existing cities. Some, such as Destiny, Florida, are entirely new developments. It is unclear, however, how any of these projects will serve as models for environmentally sensitive development for urban areas struggling to meet more basic needs such as electricity and clean water.
The Climate Positive Development Program will include the following projects:• Destiny, Florida (USA)
• Treasure Island Redevelopment Projects, San Francisco, California (USA)
• Dockside Green, Victoria, British Columbia (Canada)
• Toronto Waterfront—Lower Don Lands, Toronto, Ontario (Canada)
• Elephant & Castle, London Borough of Southwark (UK)
• Albert Basin, East London (UK)
• Stockholm Royal Seaport, Stockholm (Sweden)
• Magok Urban Development Project (Magok-dong Gayang-dong, Seoul (South Korea)
• Godrej Garden City, Ahmedabad, Gujarat (India)
• Mahindra World City Jaipur, Jaipur, Rajasthan (India)
• Menlyn Main, Pretoria (South Africa)
• Zonk’izizwe Town Center, Johannesburg (South Africa)
• VicUrban @ Officer, Melbourne, Victoria (Australia)
• Victoria Harbour, Docklands, Melbourne, Victoria (Australia)
• Panama Pacifico, London and Regional Panama (Panama)
• Pedra Branca Sustainable Urbanism, Palhoça, Greater Florianópolis, Santa Catarina State (Brazil)
For more information:
Clinton Climate Initiative
www.clintonfoundation.org/what-we-do/Clinton-climate-initiative
U.S. Green Building Council
www.usgbc.org
Copyright 2009 by BuildingGreen, LLC
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