Urban Ecology

Barnard PCP Summer 2011: Vickie Ellison, Alexa Fifield, Sarah Miller, Katrina Midgely, Paulina Tabet, Daniel Villa

The Team

Case studies

 MOMA

 David Rubenstein Atrium @ Lincoln Center

 Battery Park City

 Riverside Park

 Diana Center @ Barnard College

 High Line

Typologies:

 Apartment buildings: made up of several (generally four or more) apartments. Apartments may be owned by an owner/occupier or rented by tenants (two types of housing tenure). In every community there are several types of multi-family housing, properties are typically put into one of four property classes.

  Row House: A row house is similar to a town house. A row house contains multiple apartments built directly attached to one another, each with a similar style. A type of row housing is the brownstone, which have become popular in many neighborhoods such as Queens and Brooklyn. Most row houses are made out of red brick. Each row house is usually tall and narrow.

  Courtyard house: is a type of living space where the main part of the building is disposed around a central courtyard or open space. It developed in Los Angeles in the 1920s. The courtyard is for quiet, outdoor space. The main rooms of courtyard houses often open onto the courtyard.

Typologies

Courtyard House

Apartment Building

Row House

Government agencies

 New York Chapter: Urban Green Council:

Urban Green Council is the New York Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Our mission is to lead the advancement of sustainability in the urban built environment, and to serve as a model for other cities, through education, advocacy, collaboration and research. A non-profit organization established in 2001, Urban Green is funded by contributions from foundations, its 1,200 members and over 50 corporate sponsors.

Source:http://www.urbangreencouncil.org/about-us/

The Environmental Protection Agency:

The mission of EPA is to protect human health and the environment EPA's purpose is to ensure that: all Americans are protected from significant risks to human health and the environment where they live, learn and work; national efforts to reduce environmental risk are based on the best available scientific information; federal laws protecting human health and the environment are enforced fairly and effectively;

Source: http://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/whatwedo.html

Government agencies:

 U.S Green Building Council: is a non profit organization working to make green buildings available to everyone in our generation. They are famous for the LEED awards they give to green certified buildings.

 New York City Government Offices: Local Law 86: applies to projects where they are receiving 10 million dollars from the city or over 50% if they under 10 million. The law has four requirements. And it is LEED certified. If their project is over 2 millions dollars, it has to be at least LEED certified, at least Silver standard.

Sustainable Communities

  - Auroville, is a small town in India, there are 2,000 residents and about 40 nations living in Auroville. Auroville is a designated ecovillage, which includes many forests, and more than 15 organic farms, and houses powered by photovoltaic plants. The houses are built from recyclable materials such as earth bricks and thatch roofs, which are simple yet affordable. The diet is made up of plant based foods, and is 100% organic.

  -Aldinga is a small town in Australia, which includes fruit and nut orchards, a, an outdoor amphitheatre, a sewage treatment plant that irrigates woodlands, 16 hectares designated for an organic farm, and an education centre. Focuses on the subject of Permaculture [the conscious design of sustainable human settlements].

  - Earthsong is an urban cohousing development in west Auckland, New Zealand. The town wanted to work with the existing climate to create a beautiful and flourishing ecosystem, and to encourage a strong sense of community while safeguarding privacy . They work with nature and use their resources to the fullest extent; such as harvesting the natural resources of sun and rain to reduce the reliance on bulk supply and to reduce the waste that we send off-site for others to deal with.14

Sustainable Communities:

 Cypress Village: is a green community in Iowa that claims to have “energy efficient neighborhoods, organic gardens, and green houses. They even have community amenities such as retail stores. The houses are LEED certified and are made out of sustainable materials that are extremely efficient. They also use Energy Star appliances. Energy star is a US government program that helps protect the environment through efficient appliances.

  Sirius Community: is in Shutesbury Massachusetts. They aspire to be an Ecovillage with a lot of gardens and an attachment to nature. They also use non-toxic materials, organic gardening methods and use vegetable oil for fuel along with solar and wind generated power. They use “off grid energy production” which contains solar panels around the community and a windmill generator.

Sustainable Communities:

  Findhorn Ecovillage: is an experimental architectural community project based at The Park, in Moray, Scotland, near the village of Findhorn. The project's main aim is to demonstrate a sustainable development in environmental, social, and economic terms. A recent independent study concludes that the residents have the lowest ecological footprint of any community measured so far in the industrialized world and is also half of the UK average.

 Ashton Hayes: is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. In November 2005, the Ashton Hayes Parish Council agreed that the village should try to become England's first carbon neutral village and launched a program, starting 26 January 2006.

Pros and Cons

•  Eco-Friendly Advantages To City Living •  More public transportation

•  Might not need to own a car at all

•  Walkable neighborhoods

•  Better selection of goods

•  Most people live in co-housing of some sort

•  Probably more energy-efficient, even if cities use more energy than the country Less lawn maintenance/pesticides

•  Eco-Friendly Advantages To Country Living

•  No idling cars sitting in traffic

•  No pollution Plenty of land to grow your own food

•  The ability in some climates to live off-grid (many people do that here where I live) Distances might be further, but there are more bike-friendly roads

•  More access to fresh fruits & veggies due to more local farmers

•  Much less opportunity for consumerism, meaning you buy what you need and not much more Easier to set up composting of your old food Ability to have your own animals for food (eggs, milk, etc)

Consciousness of the Environment

Development of the Environment:

Social Urbanism: Society Interacting with the Environment

The New, Green Economy and Development of New York City

Global Urbanism: