Sustainability, Green Technologies & Eco Cities

WEEK 2:
A Design for Change
PART 1

Sustainability
● Sustainability is the long-term viability of a community, set of social institutions, or societal
practice. In general, sustainability is understood as a form of intergenerational ethics in
which the environmental and economic actions taken by present persons do not diminish
the opportunities of future persons to enjoy similar levels of wealth, utility, or welfare.
● The idea of sustainability rose to prominence with the modern environmental movement,
which rebuked the unsustainable character of contemporary societies where patterns of
resource use, growth, and consumption threatened the integrity of ecosystems and the
well-being of future generations.
● Sustainability is presented as an alternative to short-term and
wasteful behaviours. It can serve as a standard against which existing
institutions are to be judged and as an objective toward which society
should move. Sustainability also implies an interrogation of existing
modes of social organization to determine the extent to which they
encourage destructive practices as well as a conscious effort to
transform the status quo so as to promote the development of more-
sustainable activities.

Forms of sustainability
● Sustainability is at the core of concepts such as sustainable yield, sustainable society, and sustainable
development. The term sustainable yield refers to the harvest of a specific (self-renewing) natural resource—
for example, timber or fish. Such a yield is one that can be maintained indefinitely because it can be supported
by the regenerative capacities of the underlying natural system. A sustainable society is one that has learned
to live within the boundaries established by ecological limits. It can be maintained as a collective and ongoing
entity because practices that imposed excessive burdens upon the environment have been reformed or
abolished. Sustainable development is a process of social advancement that accommodates the needs of
current and future generations and that successfully integrates economic, social, and environmental
considerations in decision making.
● Sustainability often serves as a synonym for sustainable development. On other occasions, it is associated
more exclusively with environmental constraints or environmental performance, and the expression
environmental sustainability is used to emphasize that point. Parallel references can be found to the terms
social sustainability, economic sustainability, and cultural sustainability, which allude to threats to long-
term well-being in each of those domains.
● Local sustainability emphasizes the importance of place. Corporate
sustainability is another common usage, which relates both to the survivability
of the individual corporation and to the contribution that corporations can make
to the broader sustainability agenda. Businesses should pay attention to social
performance and environmental performance as well as to financial returns. The
notion of corporate sustainability is also connected to debates about reforming
corporate governance, encouraging corporate responsibility, and designing
alternative (sustainable, green, or ethical) investment vehicles.

How to create a sustainable future
● While numerous practices are cited as threats to sustainability, such as political
corruption, social inequality, the arms race, and profligate government expenditures,
environmental issues remain at the heart of the discussion. Of course, what is conducive
to environmental sustainability remains a matter of intense debate.
● Approaches range from a moderate “greening” of current social institutions to a radical
transformation of the global political and economic order. A gradual adjustment toward
sustainability relies on governmental initiatives to orient production and consumption
into less environmentally destructive channels. That implies a reengineering of industrial
and agricultural processes, a transformation of land-use practices, and a shift in
household consumption.
● Potentially renewable resources should be managed to conserve their long-term viability;
nonrenewable resources should be extracted at rates that allow an ordered transition to
alternatives; emission of waste and toxic substances must remain within the assimilative
capacities of natural systems; and more-vigorous measures must be taken to preserve
species, habitats, and ecosystems. Managing long-term environmental issues such as
climate change and the loss of biodiversity is of critical importance to efforts to achieve
sustainability.

● Governments can deploy an array of policy tools to
effect such changes, including regulation, fiscal
instruments, negotiated agreements, and informational
tools. Yet many problems resist solution because the
offending (unsustainable) practices are often linked to
deeply entrenched practices and constraints and
supported by established definitions of values and
interests.
● There are also a number of radical takes on
sustainability. For some environmentalists, true
sustainability is possible only in small-scale
communities, where humans can live in close contact
with natural processes and rhythms. According to that
view, the catastrophic practices of industrial civilization
must give way to a different mode of living where
humans “walk lightly” on the planet, harmonizing their
activities with natural cycles. While other radical
environmentalists may accept a high-tech postindustrial
civilization, for them too there must be a clear break
with existing economic practices and power structures.

Theorizing sustainability
● Discussion of sustainability within academia has ranged across many perspectives.
Economic analysts have sometimes defined the concept in terms of nondeclining per
capita income flows over time, or long-term economic growth, with minimal
environmental impacts and debated how to maintain the capital endowments needed to
sustain those income flows. Controversy over the substitutability of natural and human-
made capital has divided proponents of weak and strong sustainability: the former argue
that the two types of capital are largely interchangeable, whereas the latter insist that
natural capital is increasingly the scarcest factor of production. In addition, ecosystem
services, such as the provision of clean water or crop pollination, are often undervalued
aspects of natural capital that should be incorporated into economic discussions of
sustainability.
● Ecologists and systems theorists have tended to approach sustainability in terms of
physical interdependencies, energy flows, and population dynamics. They have
emphasized the design features that suit social systems for long-term survival, including
robustness, resiliency, redundancy, and adaptability. For their part, political analysts have
focused on the ideological and normative implications of sustainability, on the character
of green political projects, and on the public policy implications.

01
EcoCity
Sustainable Cities Research

How can we develop an
environmentally
friendly city?
Phenomena
I Can: Explain how a
sustainable city
minimizes the
environmental impact
of its citizens.
Outcome
What do you need to
consider when
designing a city to
reduce its
environmental impact?
EQ

GREEN TECHNOLOGIES
https://www.green-technology.org/
● The field of “green technology” encompasses a continuously evolving group of methods and materials, from
techniques for generating energy to non-toxic cleaning products.
● The present expectation is that this field will bring innovation and changes in daily life of similar magnitude to
the “information technology” explosion over the last two decades. In these early stages, it is impossible to
predict what “green technology” may eventually encompass.
The goals that inform developments in this rapidly growing field include:
● Sustainability – meeting the needs of society in ways that can continue indefinitely into the future without
damaging or depleting natural resources. In short, meeting present needs without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs.
● “Cradle to cradle” design – ending the “cradle to grave” cycle of manufactured products, by creating products
that can be fully reclaimed or re-used.
● Source reduction – reducing waste and pollution by changing patterns of production and consumption.
● Innovation – developing alternatives to technologies – whether fossil fuel or chemical intensive agriculture –
that have been demonstrated to damage health and the environment.
● Viability – creating a center of economic activity around technologies and products that benefit the
environment, speeding their implementation and creating new careers that truly protect the planet.

Examples of green technology subject areas:
Energy
Perhaps the most urgent issue for green technology, this includes the development of alternative
fuels, new means of generating energy and energy efficiency.
Green building
Green building encompasses everything from the choice of building materials to where a building
is located.
Environmentally preferred purchasing
This government innovation involves the search for products whose contents and methods of
production have the smallest possible impact on the environment, and mandates that these be the
preferred products for government purchasing.
Green chemistry
The invention, design and application of chemical products and processes to reduce or to
eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances.
Green nanotechnology
Nanotechnology involves the manipulation of materials at the scale of the nanometer, one billionth
of a meter. Some scientists believe that mastery of this subject is forthcoming that will transform
the way that everything in the world is manufactured. “Green nanotechnology” is the application of
green chemistry and green engineering principles to this field.

Where is most of the pollution?
● Air pollution is the most devastating type as it linked to lung cancer and pneumonia, then water
pollution comes in the second and soil contamination/pollution comes in third.
● Mobile, stationary, area, and natural sources all emit pollution into the air. Mobile sources, especially
automobiles account for more than half of all the air pollution in the United States.
● According to the State of Global Air 2019 report, air pollution was the 5th highest mortality risk factor in
2017 globally. One of the components of outdoor (ambient) air pollution is PM2.5, particulate matter
measuring less than 2.5 micrometers in aerodynamic diameter (for context, one strand of human hair
has an average diameter of 70 micrometers). These particles are capable of penetrating deep into the
respiratory tract and causing severe health damage.
• The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Air Quality Guideline states
that long-term exposure for those living above an annual average
PM2.5 concentration of 10 μg/m3 (micrograms per cubic meter) are
at higher risk of cardiopulmonary and lung cancer mortality.
• Globally, 91% of the world population is exposed to unhealthy
levels of pollution. (above 10 μg/m3).
• More than half of the global population (4 billion) is exposed to
very low quality air (PM2.5 concentration greater than 35 μg/m3).
The majority live in India and China.

● South Asia had the highest
levels of PM2.5 in 2017
compared with other
regions. Major ambient air
pollution causes, as listed
in the State of the Air 2019
Report include emissions
from vehicles, power plants
that burn coal, industrial
emissions, and many other
human and natural
sources. Mean exposure to
air pollution is also
particularly high in the
Middle East and North
Africa, due partly to dust
from the Sahara Desert.

● Globally, the top ten countries
with the highest mean
exposure to ambient
pollution include Nepal (more
than double the world
average) and India in South
Asia; Niger, Cameroon,
Nigeria, and Chad in Sub-
Saharan Africa; and Qatar,
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and
Bahrain in the Middle East
and North Africa region.

How are cities reducing their environmental impact?
1. Making buildings efficient - Buildings are the biggest sources of
greenhouse gas emissions within cities because of the energy that’s
required for electricity, heating, and water. Throughout the world, cities
are investing in efficiency measures to make building more sustainable.
For example, implementing smart heating and cooling systems can allow
buildings to adapt the temperature depending on how many people are in
the building and other variables, with the net effect of reducing energy
consumption. Installing solar panels along a building’s exterior and
investing in heat pumps are another way to reduce outside energy needs.
Easy fixes like improving window insulation and installing LED light bulbs
can drastically cut down on energy consumption. China is arguably the
leader in building efficiency, with a national mandate to make 50% of all
buildings green certified by 2030.
2. Going beyond cars - Cities feel the effects of vehicle emissions more
acutely than the rest of the world — all the fumes lead to air pollution that
significantly reduces quality of life. And so cities from Paris to New
Delhi are gradually phasing out cars, calling for either electric vehicles,
bikes, or better mass transit. For example, Copenhagen’s “bicycle
superhighway” has reduced carbon emissions and pollution and improved
public health. Barcelona, meanwhile, has created large zones that are car
free, with the intent of expanding the areas to cover the entire city.

3. Improving public transit - By investing in high-speed rails, electric bus
networks, and modernized subways, cities are able to both improve
efficiency and cut down on pollution. In Ethiopia, the first fully electric
train system in Africa came online last year to connect major cities such
as Addis Ababa and Djibouti. At least 25 European cities had plans for
electric bus systems by 2020. Many cities clusters around the world have
enacted or are exploring options for high-speed rails to create economic
corridors that are sustainable.
4. Creating sustainable roofs - As cities expand, natural green space
gives way to concrete, asphalt, glass, steel, and tar. This transition from a
natural to a built environment creates the “urban heat island effect,”
when buildings, streets, and other surfaces absorb and radiate the
sunlight, rather than reflect it or use it for energy, causing the local
environment to heat up by several degrees. In the summer, especially,
this temperature increase can cause health problems and leads people to
use more energy to cool their homes. One way to mitigate this is to target
the surfaces that are most exposed to the sunlight: rooftops. Roofs
painted white reflect the sunlight, cooling surfaces by as much as 54
degrees Fahrenheit, and bringing temperatures in the surrounding area
down. Rooftop gardens are even more effective because they bring the
temperature down, provide shade, clean the air, and don’t just bounce
sunlight back into the atmosphere, which could potentially disrupt
precipitation patterns, and also retain heat in the wintertime, bringing
heating bills down. Solar rooftops are even better — they cool the roof
and capture the sun’s light for energy.

5. Expanding green spaces - planting trees throughout neighborhoods
and expanding parks can reduce the urban heat island effect, clean the
air, and absorb greenhouse gas emissions. Singapore, for instance, is
one of the densest city-states in the world, yet its model of urban
planning is unique for its emphasis on green spaces. The city has set
aside 250 acres of real estate for an urban garden to act as the city’s
lungs, created one of the largest freshwater urban reservoirs in the
world, and planted more than 3 million trees throughout its
neighborhoods. Latin American cities have the highest ratio of green
space to population, according to Siemens, while Vancouver mandated
that no resident should live more than five minutes walking distance
away from a public park.
6. Transforming the global energy grid - One way that cities are
transforming the energy system is by shedding it entirely and starting
anew. Initiatives like community solar and wind farms allow cities to
completely bypass the traditional energy system grid with localized
energy production. Beyond that, cities can lobby to get utilities and
governments to invest in large scale projects for renewable energy. In
the US, for instance, many cities have pledged to go 100% renewable by
2050, spurring utilities companies to abandon plans for coal
plants because they perceive it to no longer be viable.

7. Banning plastic - Between 1950 and 2015, 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic
were produced, which is equal in mass to 1 billion elephants. The vast majority
of this plastic isn’t recycled. It ends up in landfills, oceans, green spaces, and
elsewhere, where it pollutes ecosystems, harms animals, and contaminates
drinking water. For many governments around the world, the convenience of
plastic no longer seems worth the environmental consequences. So efforts to
ban plastic are taking off, largely driven by initiatives in cities. From Seattle to
London to New Delhi, ordinances for banning plastic are gaining public
support and leading to national bans and corporate reform.
8. Modernizing waste treatment - Through the combination of population
density and commerce, cities produce most of the world’s waste and often fail
to properly manage it. New York, for example, ships a significant portion of its
waste to China; Cairo has a garbage city; and Lebanon nearly
collapsed because of dysfunctional garbage collection. This isn’t just a matter
of cleanliness. Garbage is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. In
Songdo, South Korea, garbage collection is controlled by an automated,
underground system. Rather than have trucks ride around and sort trash
(emitting carbon in the process), a person’s trash is sucked up by underground
pipes and then is automatically sorted to be recycled, buried, or burned for
energy. Fortaleza, Brazil, has invested in carbon capture systems to prevent
methane from rotting organic matter in landfills from reaching the
atmosphere. New York plans to send zero waste to landfills by 2030.

How cities are incorporating green technologies?
● Solar-Powered Supertrees - A spectacular grove of solar trees is
rooted along Marina Bay in Singapore as part of the 250-acre (101
hectares) Gardens by the Bay city park. Called Supertrees, they
behave as vertical gardens - generating solar power, acting as exhaust
air towers for nearby conservatories, and collecting rainwater on this
island in Southeast Asia, just south of the Malay Peninsula.
● To generate electricity, 11 of the supertrees are fitted with solar
photovoltaic systems that convert sunlight into energy to provide
lighting and water technology within the conservatories below. The
Supertrees are tree-like structures 80 to 160 feet (25 to 50 meters) tall,
that are a fusion of the environment, creativity, and technology.
● They support gardens of flowering climbers, orchids, and ferns, with
canopies that provide shade and shelter in the equatorial climate.
Some of the Supertrees harvest rainwater and solar energy, and some
are integrated with the conservatories to serve as air intake and
exhaust towers that help mitigate ambient temperatures by
absorbing and dispersing heat.
● The Supertrees even support a restaurant at the top of the tallest
tree, as well as a 128-meter-long aerial walkway experience
connecting several trees 22 meters above the ground.

● Solar Cycle Lanes - Krommenie, a city in the province of North
Holland, was the first in the world to introduce a power-producing
bike path. Opened in 2014, the 236-foot SolaRoad was a
prototype for potential solar-harnessing highways. It was made of
concrete panels containing solar cells covered by a centimeter of
glass. Due to damage to the glass, it was closed to the public in
2020.
● A bike path near Amsterdam was equipped with solar panels in
2016, and in 2020, the Dutch province of Utrecht announced that it,
too, would begin laying solar panels on an already-established bike
lane in the municipality of Rhenen.
• This cool bike path in a town called Pruszków. The path is
made of a light-emitting material that charges in the sun and
can glow for up to 10 hours in the dark, bathing cyclists in a
calming blue glow. The lane uses luminophores – chemicals
that “ingest” light – to keep the bike path nicely lit at night.
• The company that made it, TPA sp. z o.o is an engineering
firm focused on future tech. They expect this sort of road to
be useful in larger projects – highways, say – but for now
they’re limiting it to bike paths until they can test the
material in the wild.

MICROGRID:
A microgrid is a small
scale power grid that
can operate as a stand-
alone, or in conjunction
with an areas main
power grid. The U.S.
Department of Energy
sees integrating
microgrids into the grid
nationwide will create
smart cities. They
believe the impact of
this technology will
improve reliability,
create more flexibility
and increase security
of our nation’s electric
power system.

CLICK TO LEARN MORE
https://aacps.discoveryeducation.com/learn/videos/7d1
386dd-f336-4244-a15e-4ff8dcd843bd/
GREEN
TECHNOLOGIES

ECOCITY:
A DESIGN FOR CHANGE
Sustainable Cities

❏ Stockholm,
Sweden
❏ Copenhagen,
Denmark
❏ Malmo, Sweden
❏ Vancouver,
Canada
UNIT 4 PROJECT ECO-CITY: Activity 1 - Sustainable Cities
RESEARCH RESOURCES
CLICK FOR
GOOGLE DOC
https://docs.google.com/docum
ent/d/1Wrt0x-
LQ0K1UtDSgvRgsw-
izfy1Ja1cGFAtlHF2uyW4/copy
http://www.thenatureofcities.com/2014/02/12/hammarby-sjostad-a-
new-generation-of-sustainable-urban-eco-districts/
http://denmark.dk/en/green-living/
http://malmo.se/Nice-to-know-about-Malmo/Sustainable-
Malmo-/Nyheter-Sustainable-Malmo/2016-11-15-Sustainable-
Malmo-Top-Ten.html
http://vancouver.ca/green-vancouver.aspx

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