Boston GreenScene

Event: Greening Government Center

 

What will Boston's Government Center look like in the next ten, twenty, or even fifty years?  The Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) is partnering with private firms and local experts to ensure that Government Center and City Hall Plaza is green and accessible to all.  In December 2010, a three-day charrette was held on the re-design and now the BRA and several key stakeholders want to share these plans with the local community at a public event on Monday, February 7th.

Tim Love of Utile Inc. will be presenting the key recommendations and ideas from the charrette, and Tim Love and Gary Hilderbrand of Reed Hilderbrand will discuss their thoughts on the next steps for the green redesign of Government Center. Alex Krieger of Chan Krieger NBBJ and Ted Landsmark of the Boston Architectural College will be sitting on a panel to provide feedback on the design and recommendations. As in the last symposium, the event will provide a chance for the public to ask questions of the presenters and panel, as well as share their thoughts on the Greening of Government Center.  Should be a great event and we hope to see you there!

 

Who: You, open to the public

When: Monday, February 7th, 4:00-6:00 PM

Where: Modern Theatre, 523-525 Washington Street in Downtown Crossing, Boston

Contact: Boston Redevelopment Authority

Cost: Free 

 

EVENT: Sustainable Preservation: The Power Of Preservation/Reuse As A Green Strategy

Buildings account for nearly 40% of all U.S. energy use and carbon emissions.  With one of the country's leading preservation architects as your guide, the lecture will explore the power of adaptive reuse to reduce those numbers and move us toward sustainability.  

Jean Carroon, FAIA, LEED AP, a principal in Goody Clancy''s highly regarded preservation practice, has earned national recognition for her expertise in applying sustainable-design technology to historic buildings, including Trinity Church and more than a dozen National Historic Landmarks.  In this lecture, Carroon explores the power of adaptive reuse to reduce energy use and carbon emissions, and move us toward sustainability.  Learn how an icon such as H.H. Richardson's Trinity Church in Boston can go green and why a 1970's strip-mall supermarket not only deserves similar attention but also can emerge as a building that delights users and protects the environment.

 

When: Wednesday, January 26th, 2011, 7:00 PM

Where: Trinity Church, 206 Clarendon St, Boston, MA

Contact: Kathy Acerbo-Bachmann - kacerbobachmann@trinitychurchboston.org or go here for more information.

Cost: $15 to the general public

Greening America's Capitals - Boston and Hartford

Two GreenScene cities, Boston and Hartford, selected for inaugural award.

By Dan Burgess

As recently reported by GreenBiz, Boston and Hartford have been chosen by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as two of the five cities that will partake in the Greening America’s Capitals program.  This is great news as it means a team of EPA backed designers will visit each city and will create and design plans that promote smart growth and will help ensure the future sustainability for both capitals.  

 

In conjunction with the U.S Department of House and Development and the U.S. Department of Transportation, the EPA will provide all five cities with plans for “high-quality green development that includes cleaning up and recycling vacant lands, accessing and improving waterways, providing greater housing and transportation choices, and reducing infrastructure and energy costs.”  

Specifically, the press release notes that Boston “asked for assistance through EPA Greening America’s Capitals to create realistic greening options for City Hall Plaza that can be realized in the near term. Goals of the redesign will be to create well-defined edges and entrances, provide more bike access and parking, connect the plaza to existing streets, increase green elements such as trees and vegetation for better stormwater management, and support energy efficiency and green building improvements in City Hall and nearby buildings.”

Guest Post: Green Spaces Provide Great Economic Potential

by Jack Lundee

If you are interested in environmental policy this has been quite the year for you already.  Some of the recently discussed topics of early 2010 include climate change, green infrastructure, clean water, and more.  In particular, the addition and/or the substitution of green spaces have been quite controversial as of late.  Senior resident of Urban Land Institute Ed T. McMahon believes that, "green space adds value to property." Not only do areas of conservation drive economic trends upward, but they also improve the overall health of the surrounding community.  For example, substituting things like golf courses for conservation areas essential increase surrounding property value while diminishing overpriced maintenance fees. The same holds true for airports and other large acre-eating developments.

Many of these areas are already abandoned or unkempt. For instance, park and recreational areas that were once highly visited have become urban wastelands. In an article from the Salt Lake Tribute, Lindsay Whitehurst discusses how an area that was capped with tennis courts to replace an old reservoir had been empty for some time. Whitehurst further explains that the University of Utah received a loan to fill the old reservoir and turn the land into a conservation area. 

Much larger metropolitan areas are also playing their role in promoting sustainability by creating and refurbishing green spaces within city limits.  In her new book, Boston's Gardens & Green Spaces, local author Meg Muckenhoupt discusses different green space within the city of Boston. With very low cost maintenance fees and little liability, these areas are perfect for protecting our wildlife and the environment. They also attract further tourism; which in turn generates revenue from ticket or tour sales.

Learning From Cape Wind

By Dan Burgess

This April, near the 40th anniversary of the Clean Air Act, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will make the final decision that seals the fate of Cape Wind.  The tumultuous 130 off-shore wind turbine project, in process for almost ten years, has the potential to turn the powerful Nantucket Sound winds into enough clean electricity for approximately 400,000 homes. 
 
No matter how Secretary Salazar adjudicates, however, it is clear that there is a lesson that Massachusetts policy makers must learn from Cape Wind: large projects cannot be the unilateral focus of clean energy development.
 
While Cape Wind has helped to blaze a critical path for wind electricity generation in New England, it has also shown that such projects can be incredibly controversial.  Opponents of Cape Wind believe the turbines would hinder sea navigation, do harm to the local environment, diminish the Sound’s natural beauty, and negatively impact tourism.  Additionally, opponents are skeptical about supporting a project in their backyard that appears to only financially benefit the few who have access to the tremendous resources that are required for a wind farm like Cape Wind.
 
Considering the abject criticism that arises with large renewable energy sites, it is evident that a parallel policy which supports smaller projects should be pursued. 
 
Imagine a policy which allows every Commonwealth resident or business with a parcel of land or a rooftop to prosper from installing their own renewable energy system.  A system in which each citizen, not just those with great means, has the ability to produce clean, safe electricity that also increases their financial security.  Envision windmills on every farm, solar panels on every home or business, and Massachusetts taking a real step towards energy independence.
 
This vision is not some policy pipe dream.  This scenario is beginning to happen today in several European countries and Canada, and is leading to rapid growth in renewable energy generation.  In Germany, a country that is considered a world leader in clean energy production, over 15% of electricity consumed is produced by renewable energy sources.  This number is expected to grow to at least 50% by 2050.  In Spain, wind turbines supply over half of the national power grid and solar panel installment is on the rise.  These surges of clean, homegrown electricity are made possible in part through a simple policy mechanism called a feed-in tariff.  
 

A feed-in tariff, also known as a renewable energy payment, is a guaranteed monetary payment per kilowatt-hour for electricity generated by a renewable source.  These guaranteed payments from power companies to renewable producers create a market for clean electricity, reduce the barriers to entry for individual investors, and allow virtually any individual to prosper financially from installing a clean energy system.
 
Currently in Massachusetts, most of those who produce clean energy can only count on receiving a kilowatt credit on their bill for the unused electricity that they create.  This policy, known as net metering, is the most common form of clean energy incentive in the United States and does allow some clean energy projects to be feasible for individuals.  Unfortunately, these electricity credits, even when combined with available rebates, grants, and tax incentives, are simply not enough to kick start the renewable power surge that our state needs.  In fact, the lack of a singular incentive policy can have the reverse effect and can become too complex of an investment puzzle for potential investors to piece together.
 
Forty years ago, the Clean Air Act set off a stampede of environmental innovation and investment that our country had never seen before.  Recently, Massachusetts has led the United States by enacting several progressive clean energy policies such as the Green Communities Act.  Now, on the cusp of the looming Cape Wind decision, Massachusetts residents are calling once again for more progressive energy policy.  People are desperate for new jobs, financial security, and freedom from being held hostage by yo-yoing energy prices.  Bay State officials should heed these pleas, and enact a smart, comprehensive feed-in tariff policy that allows all citizens to take part in the clean energy revolution that Massachusetts so desperately needs.

Public Green Space - How Does Boston Measure Up?

by Dan Burgess

Like many Bostonians searching for summer respite, I have a few favorite green spaces in the city that I head to when the sun is shining.  It’s a place to bring a book or an iPod when we need to unwind or somewhere to meet friends with picnic food and a football to toss around. Mine happens to be a certain section of grass on the Charles River that is fairly crowded, yet pleasantly serene. 

While waiting for friends this past weekend I settled onto my blanket and took in the usual scene: families walking dogs and pushing strollers, tourists snapping photos, couples holding hands, and annoyed bikers and runners trying to avoid them all. Seeing this as if for the first time, I began to wonder, just how much of this space does Boston have? Is it enough, and how do we compare to other cities?  
Fortunately, the answers to these questions were only an online search away. The Trust for Public Land, a non-profit land conservation organization, maintains a website that has an abundance of city park facts. The following is what I found out:

• As a percentage, a good portion of our city is green space.  Of those cities which The Trust for Public Land characterizes as having a population density of high, Boston ranks 5th in the country for park acres as a percentage of city land area, at just over 16%. Boston's total land acreage is about 31,000 and we have just over 5,000 total park acres. This puts Boston almost 5 percentage points above the city average of 11.6% for comparable cities. 

The four cities ahead of us?

1. New York - 19.6%
2. Washington D.C. - 19.4%
3. San Francisco - 18.0%
4. Jersey City - 17.1%

The Lesson in Rice: Wisdom in Planning

by Daniel E. Walsh

 “One generation plants the trees, and another gets the shade.”
 ~ Chinese Proverb

First the rats and mice proliferated. They swarmed and multiplied until the food stocks left behind by the humans were depleted and they returned to a harder existence. The domesticated farm animals left untended foraged where they could until they fell to predators or died from starvation.

Now spurned by humans because of the radiation, the vast area abandoned after the Chernobyl nuclear accident is prowled by wild dogs, feral pigs, and cats. Roads are dusty tracks and buildings decrepit hulks overgrown with vegetation.

This occurred in a mere generation; the incident took place in 1977. We are wards of nature and subject to its fickle whims. Careful maintenance of this gift of a planet and the goal of sustainability aren’t the sophomoric notions of an ephemeral political movement—they are necessary duties for our continued existence.

Alluring Green Offenders

by Daniel E. Walsh  Author of Our Sunday "History & Reflections" Series

“Oh thou weed, who art so lovely, fair."
 ~Othello to Desdemona

Wildflowers abound this time of the year. They provide a nice accent to the overall full blossom of summer. At once enticing and dangerous, these variegated agents of nature are at their essence survivors. We pretend that they are the intruders when it is mankind who pushed into their world. Unwittingly, we introduced this threat to our native world and in doing some created a vexing problem for those who must wrestle this green nemesis to create a more natural, native environment with green sensibilities.

Concrete and asphalt connective ribbons are laid across the land and highway engineers are mandated to create beauty at their side. In this effort we are thwarted by the uncomfortable presence of plants whose very nature makes our plans meaningless. We label them as the enemy. Many of the major offenders are from an unintended side affect of progress as diverse cultures shifted continents and brought their plants with them. Weeds are a serious threat to water quality, wildlife habitat, and native plants and increase the necessity of mowing and spraying. And yet, while it takes up a lot of time and energy to fight them—some sure are pretty.

A Shovel Ready Project: Local Agriculture

TIME FOR THE COMMONWEALTH TO LEAD AGAIN

by Dan Burgess

Since President Obama signed the stimulus package known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), his Administration has properly stressed that funding for projects that are “shovel-ready” must be the first to receive resources.  Investing federal dollars into these projects allows the most money to be pumped into the economy the quickest.  These investment funds have just begun to be allocated and distributed, and there are already leading indicators that suggest the ARRA has begun to have a positive impact on the economy.

 A shovel-ready project exists right here in Massachusetts, however, that has not received enough attention or funds from our government: establishing a regional food system.  Arguably, there is not a more shovel-ready investment in the state that would provide comparable dividends.

Massachusetts is generally not thought to be a state where farming (beyond fishing) is prominent.  This is in part due to our climate and our land use, but it is also due to the federal government’s proclivity for subsidizing big agribusiness in the Midwest.  Massachusetts received $72 million in subsidies between 1995-2006 and ranks 44th in states receiving these price controlling funds. 

A Silver Lining for Massachusetts: Land Conservation Thrives in Economic Recession

by Dan Burgess

A recent report published by the Massachusetts Audubon Society found that there may be some good  that has come out of the recent economic crisis: for the first time in at least two decades, the Commonwealth is preserving more land than is being developed. 

This report, titled Losing Ground, shows that land development has slowed to 22 acres of land being developed a day, down from 40 acres a day in 2003.  This report only analyzes data up until 2005, but it is obvious that the recent economic conditions will only add to a further decline.