Victoria's Dockside Green Does It Right

Dockside Green is located near downtown Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It is a 15-acre master-planned waterfront community consisting of three neighborhoods designed to incorporate New Urbanism, smart growth, green building and sustainable community design. Dockside Green presents a model of urban regeneration through brownfield reuse, green design, and community building. A model for holistic, closed-loop design, Dockside Green functions as a total environmental system in which form, structure, materials, mechanical and electrical systems are interrelated and interdependent - a largely self-sufficient, sustainable community where waste from one area provides fuel for another. An example is its membrane bioreactor package wastewater treatment plant that recovers heat from sewage, bathwater, and dishwater. Dockside Green is intended to be built over 12 phases in three neighborhoods, with a total of 1.3 million gross square feet (73 percent of which is residential) in 26 buildings, housing 2,500 residents. (There are currently over 450.) Dockside Wharf is the initial neighborhood, with two primarily residential projects and two commercial buildings. The first phase of the Wharf, a LEED Platinum condominium project named Synergy, sold 85 percent of its 96 units in 3 hours with the first residents moving in May 2008.

Key sustainable features:

•The biomass energy system, which uses waste wood as fuel through a gasification process.

•Passive solar heating.

•An advanced building envelope and high-performance window glazing to help prevent heat loss.

•A 100-per-cent fresh air system with heat recovery.

•High-efficiency lighting and occupancy sensors.

•A 65-per-cent reduction in indoor water use with dual flush toilets, low-flow fixtures and use of graywater for sewage conveyance.

•Treatment of 100 per cent of the site’s wastewater in a campus-wide plant, which reuses it in central water features, toilet flushing, and on-site irrigation.

The project is one of a handful in Canada to achieve LEED Platinum and the first master-planned development to target this level of certification.

Thai Resort Brings Kids and Ecology Together

Organic design features prominently in "The Den" - a Children's Activity and Learning Centre thatis part of the Six Senses Soneva Kiri hotel resort on Koh Kood, an island in the Gulf of Thailand. This project was conceptualized by kids for kids, and then made to work by the creative architecture firm 24-H Architects of the Netherlands. 

The Den is located at a rocky slope close to the sea, with its Manta-ray inspired bamboo dome perched in an elevated position that offers magnificent views. http://www.solaripedia.com/13/233/six_senses_ecological_childrens_den.html

Electronic Waste Shipped Overseas

We've got big problems with disposal of electronic waste. Francesca Lyman shines some light on the issue in her article in Popular Mechanics, republished on Solaripedia with a few additional links and videos. 
Consider this:

- There are 500 million obsolete computers in the U.S. alone.

- 130 million cell phones are disposed of annually.

- 20 - 24 million TV’s and computers are stored annually in homes and offices.

- Only 10% of unwanted and obsolete computers are recycled.

The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition points out that one computer monitor can contain four to eight pounds of lead, which if released can hurt an entire community. The problem has reached crisis proportions because of the sheer volume of global electronic waste.

http://www.solaripedia.com/13/232/e-waste_recycling_ever-changing_landscape.html 

PV System Fits into a Suitcase

This little portable solar electric system provides power so that remote medical clinics have lighting and the ability to charge walkie-talkies or radios for communication. Developed by We Care Solar, a non-profit organization that facilitates safer childbirth in third world countries, this PV device has been assembled by teenagers in Washington, D.C. to send to Haiti. http://www.wecaresolar.com/node/82

California Dreamin' at Claire's Bakery

A San Diego, California, business carried its mission of serving up organic treats and coffee to a higher level. Claire's on Cedros  went for a full-on sustainability assault on site development, water use and energy efficiency of its entire operation. The result is a LEED Platinum-certified suite of small buildings that includes solar panels doubling as carports and awnings to provide shading. http://www.solaripedia.com/13/226/California+Dreamin%E2%80%99+at+Claire%E2%80%99s+Bakery.html

Passive House Standard Imports High Expectations

Alex Wilson writes about the aggressively energy-efficient Passive House program, imported from Germany. PHUS is a quantitative, performance-based standard for ultra-low-energy buildings—both residential and commercial. A recent Passive House Institute US event in Olympia, Washington, was sold-out, well-organized and informative - who could ask for more? We learned from experts about window placement within the wall (centered - not at outer edge), and how builders in the Pacific Northwest are achieving Passive House, along with many other useful bits of information. Wilson does a good job of distilling and comparing PH.   http://www.solaripedia.com/13/221/passive_house_us_imported_from_germany.html

Cooking with the Sun Growing in Popularity

Imagine the air pollution generated by some three billion people worldwide who cook with dung, wood and charcoal  - and the catastrophic effects on the environment. Cookers powered by the sun provide a cheap and clean alternative. Check out the video that begins with Eleanor in California who has been cooking with the sun almost daily for twenty years. http://www.solaripedia.com/13/219/solar_cooking_uses_the_sun_for_fuel.html