Ensuring Environmental Health in Postindustrial Cities Workshop Summary (2003) / Chapter Skim
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7. Systems, Built Environment - Past, Present, and Future
7. Systems, Built Environment - Past, Present, and Future
Pages 47-60
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From page 47... ...
Although occupants of numerous buildings and residents of manifold communities have attested to the adverse environmental health impacts that chronically occur under present policies, and although dedicated organizations have been forming in the Pittsburgh area as elsewhere to pursue agendas for more healthful ways of designing and maintaining built environments, the field has not been the object of serious inquiry and has not seen advances on a grand scale. To remedy this situation, new partnerships have been forged between those who erect the built environment and those concerned about its health impactincluding the people who live in it.
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From page 48... ...
Members of those communities should be environmentally informed and empowered to manage their civic affairs in pursuit of universal human goals. A panel of speakers discussed the broad parameters of sustainable built environments the need to reduce sprawl and incorporate walkable communities, for example, and the desirable characteristics of healthy structures as well as approaches to critical decisions such as "smart-growth" communities, transportation alternatives, the specific criteria for "green buildings," and sustainable energy strategies for serving communities efficiently while guarding against global climate change.
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From page 49... ...
Streets/roads 3,000 800 Utility extensions 5,000 950 Gallons H2O/day 400 200 Therms natural gas 150 60 Kilowatt hr./ year 10,000 6,000 Postal delivery (300 times the cost of infill estimate was only supplied) SOURCE: Wilson, 2002.
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From page 50... ...
Although such ventilation strategies for improved indoor air quality have been shown to increase productivity and health (Figure 7-2) , very few new office buildings even have "operable windows" that allow occupants to control outside air or moderate temperature.
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From page 51... ...
ON ~ ~,o;) O ~ ,,oOO ~ ~q>9c4 9~' HOOF `~ ~ ~9O<3 ~ ~ ~q>9C, At- ~ ~~> ~1,~° I' ~~'Q~ ~~ ~~ ~ I've ~ Amp 'I'm Case Studies Introducing Improved Indoor Air Quality ( ~ Performance improvement for specific tasks multiplied by estimated time at tasks )
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From page 52... ...
Provide Operable Windows Provide Mixed-mode Ventilation Daylit office Daylit office lb 15 ~ 1 ff~ Operable window Daviit classroom 7 5 ~ . a,\ User-controlled mixed-mode Ventilation Mixed-mode l 5 Ventilation 3.8 .......
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From page 53... ...
Reprinted with permission. sense of landscape architecture, not only to preserve key natural areas but to determine the most harmonious places for home sites and roads and to use parts of the landscape itself for benignly accommodating such needs as storm-water drainage.
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From page 54... ...
In that spirit, Graziani shared the following "key concept": "A community-based collaborative process is a way to reduce confrontation and improve proposed projects by involving the citizens up front in the development process, using their energy positively instead of negatively." TRANSPORTATION'S IMPACTS ON ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH Transportation and health have linkages across five major categoriesphysical activity, pedestrian safety, environment, economic, and quality of lifeaccording to David Ginns, a coordinator for Transportation for Livable Communities, which is a joint project of Sustainable Pittsburgh and the Surface Transportation Policy Project (STTP)
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From page 55... ...
Pedestrian Safety "The lack of investment in pedestrian safety contributes to pedestrian deaths," Ginns said. "STPP stands behind an increase in dollars for pedestrian safety and bicycle/pedestrian facilities to resolve this problem and produce healthier and safer communities." Environment The environmental problems caused by motor vehicles are legion.
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From page 56... ...
improve public facility siting regulations, including schools. In a tribute to TV's Fred Rogers (one of several tributes at the symposium for the recently deceased Pittsburgh native)
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From page 57... ...
Green Building Council, which the council describes as "a voluntary, consensus-based national standard for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings." Goodson pointed out that LEED has five categories sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality each of which he briefly discussed with respect to the "landmark effort" that produced the Pittsburgh convention center. Sustainable Sites "We certainly did not win all the battles," Goodson acknowledged, but the center still won enough to garner its superlative green-building distinctions.
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From page 58... ...
With the overall success of this monumental project across all these categories, Goodson suggested, "The Pittsburgh region is a national leader in the green building field." REVOLUTIONIZING ENERGY SYSTEMS Electricity is quite inexpensive in the Pittsburgh area largely because most of it comes from burning coal, according to M Granger Morgan, professor and head of the department of engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University.
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From page 59... ...
This is a major area of research at the moment, Morgan said, and its principal venue the National Energy Technology Laboratory happens to be located just south of Pittsburgh. Dramatic technological innovation would not be required for CCS, he maintained, as we already produce a good deal of hydrogen fuel (which is what would essentially result after stepping fossil fuel, precombustion, of its carbon)
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From page 60... ...
because they not only make electricity but also use the waste heat to warm (or cool) a building; this is "dramatically better than the current strategy of making the electricity in one place and the heat for the building in another." Meanwhile, "we need to work to get some large demonstration activities for carbon capture and disposal located here in our area, inasmuch as the country's leading lab is here." Finally, he added, "while nuclear power clearly faces various problems, it is certainly the case that nuclear power is one way to make electricity without carbon dioxide."
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