What will NYC look like in twenty years? Will our city become more sustainable and efficient with the resources it consumes as its population reaches nine million in 2030? �Is green really the new black ? as in the new norm ? for New Yorkers?
We New Yorkers can do a lot to live up to the green potential offered by the history, the geography, and the ingenuity of our city. Sustainability is not a goal but a process, and in order to be most effective, it should shift all aspects of society onto a greener course. From projects affecting the whole city, like the smart electric grid, to small adjustments to personal habits, like recycling, change for the greener must be systemic in order for sustainability to take root in New York.
The systems that run New York ? or any other city ? are not just physical entities. They are best identified by asking not ?What?? but ?How?? For example, the question, ?What can make our building systems more resource efficient?? can be answered simply: ?Do an energy audit and fix the problems that are found.? However, if we ask, ?How do we stop the building from being wasteful from now on?? the answer becomes a lot broader: ?We do an audit, fix the building, teach the owner, the operators, and the tenants how to use it properly, and establish protocols for checking that everything is running smoothly from now on.? That second answer shows that to fix our carbon problem we need to establish new systems, both hard and soft infrastructures for living and working in a more sustainable way.
The ideas for smarter, cheaper, and more environmentally responsible methods to run a city like New York should inform the evolution of existing infrastructures or establish the necessary new ones. Infrastructures, by definition, have a broad reach, from the generation and delivery of electricity to getting rid of waste water; from food supply to waste disposal; from growing our businesses to deconstructing our buildings; from teaching our future designers, engineers, and other creative professionals to incorporate the triple bottom line into their visions of the future, to preparing the workforce for making those creative visions come to life in a way that works. And perhaps most important of all is the infrastructure offered by our growing collective certainty that we can achieve our goals in a smarter, cheaper, and yet more environmentally responsible way.
In trying to catch a glimpse of the transformation of New York over the next twenty years, we at Solar One decided to put together an evening with the experts who are currently working on developing new (or improving old) infrastructures. Whatever our city looks like and however it functions in twenty years, right now we can only see it through the lens of today?s innovative ideas and discoveries. However, concrete plans have already been put forth by the city government, starting with PlaNYC to give the framework for moving New York towards sustainability. More specific objectives have been set forth in city-wide governmental plans as well as smaller scale private-sector and academic projects. Examples of such forward-looking projects include water quality management through green infrastructure; waterfront revitalization and improving the city?s sustainable food supply through short-sea shipping; and creating ecological art both as a form of expression and means to raise public awareness.
The speakers invited to NYC Future Metropolis vol. 2 will address these and other infrastructure-related topics directly and in discussion of their projects. Please visit the NYC The Future Metropolis section for more information.
Source: http://solar1.org/2011/01/31/the-underlying-structure-of-green/
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