Sustainable Development: Growing Green Communities
Carol Potera
Environmental Health Perspectives , Vol. 113, No. 5 (May, 2005) , p. A300
Published by: Brogan & Partners
Article Stable URL: http://0-www.jstor.org.books.redlands.edu/stable/3436224
The article above, written by Carol Potera, discusses the new sustainable development movement of green communities. Nonprofit Enterprise Foundation of Columbia, Maryland, announced to the world that their company planned to build 8,500 environmentally friendly, affordable homes through a new Green Communities Initiative (GCI). This initiative committed $550 million, over the course of five years, to developers to build housing unties that promoted health, conserved energy and natural resources, and were located near public transportation, jobs, stores, schools, and social services.
The first recipient of funding through the Green Communities Initiative were the Denny Park Apartments, that were being built in Seattle, Washington. The Denny Park Apartments were built by the Low Income Housing Initiative (LIHI), which actively works to develop and manage affordable housing units in Seattle. The Denny Park Apartments were built with numerous energy-saving features, including:
1. Located along an east-west axis – this allows the housing units to capture more natural light through oversized windows, in turn reducing energy bills.
2. Central gas boiler – this boiler supplies hot water and heat to all the units. Architect Brian Sweeney, manager of development for LIHI, states, “Gas is more efficient and less expensive than electricity in Seattle.”
3. Ventilation fans – running continuously reduces humidity and mold growth, a big problem in Seattle’s moist climate.
4. Energy efficient lighting and occupancy sensors.
The building itself was constructed with many sustainable and healthy building materials, including the following:
1. Metal roof and metal siding – this eliminates petroleum-based products, such as asphalt roofing shingles and oil-based exterior paint. These materials will not have to be replaced for an estimated 50 years.
2. Interiors – used caulks, paints, adhesives, and other construction materials that have very low levels of volatile organic compounds, ensuring healthy indoor air.
3. Carpets – carpets are made from recycled plastic products.
4. Rainwater – rainwater run off will be caught off the metal roof, will be purified by gravel filtration, and then recycled to irrigate the landscape, including a communal garden for the tenants.
Although green building can cost about 2% more to build, the self evident long-term energy and health benefits are passed on to the tenants, and the community. More grants are being award to different cities around the US through the Green Communities Initiative. This initiative isn’t interested in one aspect of being green, but bringing a certain level of greenness to every project. GCI prides itself on having a high level of criteria, that includes meeting standards for water conservation, healthy indoor air, using environmentally friendly materials, good operations and management, and ideal location. Dana Bourland, senior program director at the Enterprise Foundation says, “Our goal is to transform the marketplace and shift the way we build to achieve health, environmental, and economic benefits in communities” , something everyone should be able to agree with.