There are so many trendy words all describing green something or is itsustainable? Lately we hear about living communities or in some circles“eco urbanism”, I decided to investigate this further and here is whatI found. Eco Urbanism is an old idea with a new name“sustainable building” or in this decade “the green building movement”.Eco Urbanism defines the development of multi dimensional communitiesstriving for balance between human settlements and built environments.Historically we can trace concerns for the built and naturalenvironments back to 100 AD where an urban planner and architectVitruvius made recommendations on natural lighting based on sitelocation and orientation as well as designing the spaces of the Romantown of Timgad to be traditionally smaller then those of its time.Currently about 50% of the world’s population lives in urban areaswhere at the turn of the 21st century only 10% of the population livedin urban areas primarily on other continents such as in Europe andAsia. With an increased demand for urban dwelling we are seeing a risein “Ecourbanism”. It seems that the green building movement has neverbeen more successful then in the last year in this country mostly dueto successful green criteria’s such as LEED a product developed fromthe US Green Building Council and local “Built Green™” programs.Weas a building industry are beginning to ask what is sustainability andhow are we going to achieve it? The “three legged stool” philosophylooks at sustainability from three aspects striving for balanceEnvironment, Economy and Social Equity are the components that buildthe three legged stool. This new agenda in building is about design,development and management of sustainable communities. Ecology and theenvironment are breaking free as a notion of being solely aboutecosystems made up of nature alone and are being recognized for theviability in a healthy economy that supports its local communities. Weare learning to not only invest in natural capitol in the form ofconservation of space but to also borrow from the capitol investment asa form of doing business “green business”. Programs like LEED and BuiltGreen introduce comprehensive holistic approaches to buildingtechniques for site development, energy efficiencies, and resourceefficient materials. These criteria’s also teach us how to build as aninvestment in our future and commence into the building industry asgreen business. We are looking at “sustainable building for multiplereasons so a holistic approach allows us to address multi dimensionalissues like affordability, utility costs, health, natural and localresources and waste. As progressive groups of thinkers helped tosocially evolve these ideas in the 70`s most of the concept was basedaround energy. In the late 60`s early 70`s a lack of confidence inscience and technology began to prevail coinciding with an energycrisis. A back to nature approach emerged for a brief period of timewhere consumers were looking for a more harmonious balance between manand nature. The oil crisis became the catalyst for a second wave ofresearch in non fossil energy resources. We are experiencing a resurgeof that movement today and the building industry is doing a lot todrive that movement. We are experiencing progressive changesaround the country for more affordable housing thru energyefficiencies. An energy efficient, low-income housing development inBoston’s Dorchester neighborhood is expected to use 50% less energy andcost 25% less to build the comparable homes in the area. These homeswere developed using engineered systems that take advantage ofdownsized heating and cooling equipment that use better insulation.These systems because of their size reduce the amount of constructioncosts incorporated into the buildings while providing healthier indoorenvironments. Progress in t
www.ecometro.com/community/blogs/seattle_live/archive/2007/12/19/ecourbanism-would-this-mean-livable-sustainable-communities.aspx