Sustainability and environment
Chapter 21 of the New Urbanism Best Practices Guide
Urbanism can greatly benefit the environment — by concentrating development in compact patterns that use natural resources more efficiently. These patterns make it possible to preserve more land as natural, agricultural, or open space and to reduce auto emissions, energy use, and stormwater runoff. This chapter looks at New Urbanism’s rapidly advancing practices in sustainability and the environment.
A study of the Belle Hall tract in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, shows how New Urbanism can accommodate the same volume of housing and commercial structures on just one-third of the 583 acres, preserving open space. A stormwater table reveals that the runoff from 1,200 acres of conventional, low-density, single-use development in Georgia’s Cobb and Fulton Counties would be four times that of the 139-acre mixed-use, high-density brownfield Atlantic Station development in Atlanta.
Other tables document how transit-oriented development reduces automobile travel, how much energy use is reduced in urban developments (especially when they are green and multifamily); the sharply lower rate of greenhouse gas emissions in urban as opposed to suburban areas; and the sharp difference between the amounts of energy that can be saved through greater density versus EnergyStar features. A table by Miami architect Jaime Correa recommends opportunities for wind turbines by Transect zone. Green roofs are also organized on the Transect.
Natural drainage techniques are analyzed in developments ranging from the 22-acre Woodsong TND in Shallotte, North Carolina, to the 34-block, 1,600-unit High Point HOPE VI project in Seattle. The potential of canals to accommodate drainage while add to a place’s appeal is discussed. John Anderson of New Urban Builders offers 10 tips on designing neighborhoods and houses to conserve energy. Eliot Allen presents Cool Spots, a regional planning tool for using compact, transit-oriented nodes to cut energy use and emissions.
