City Stories
A key challenge in this new Human Age is to lessen the ecological footprint of the world’s cities, even as their populations expand. The Anthropocene tells the stories about resilient urban coastal infrastructure, low carbon transportation systems, and nature-inspired architectural designs.
Cities have a green infrastructure blind spot
Carbon footprint standards exist for buildings, but not for the landscaping that surrounds them.
Windows just keep getting smarter. These darken in the sun and generate electricity
Dynamic windows could do double duty in sustainable building design, cooling and powering at the same time.
First of its kind study quantifies how tree shade can cancel urban heat island effect
The presence of 20 additional mature trees in one neighborhood could lower the temperature by 1.39 degrees
One Man’s Trash . . .
Mining landfills for metals and energy
The residential macrosystem
Managed collectively, backyards could become more biodiverse landscapes
Do plastic bag bans make a difference?
Do Plastic Bag Bans Make A Difference? Like so many life-cycle assessments, it’s never that simple. The environmental impact of plastic-bag bans...
Are We Approaching Peak Stuff?
Almost imperceptibly, we are stepping off the consumption treadmill
After spending time around humans, animals lose their fear of predators
This has implications for a number of conservation initiatives from reintroductions to ecotourism.
Habitat with Humanity
Making creative accommodations for the urban wild
Far-reaching study spells out how to drastically cut the energy footprint of buildings
The formula, which calls for a combination efficiency technology and peak load management, could eliminate need for one third of US coal and natural gas power plants
