Green Tech / Architecture

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Comment by Rubén Peña on January 16, 2011 at 9:30am

Tianjin Eco-City in China .....
Ambitious plan to be completed by 2020.

Green building is becoming so prevalent these days that it may not be enough to erect individual eco buildings anymore - the newest trend is entire eco-cities. Expected to be up and running in 2020, Tianjin Eco-City is one of these real-life sustainable communities, spanning 30 square kilometers and showcasing the hottest energy-saving technologies. Designed by Surbana Urban Planning Group, the city will have an advanced light rail transit system and varied eco-landscapes ranging from a sun-powered solarscape to a greenery-clad earthscape for its estimated 350,000 residents to enjoy.

Check out the following four news links:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/13/tianjin-eco-city_n_806972....
http://shanghaiist.com/2011/01/13/tianjin_2020_a_futuristic_eco_cit...

http://www.batangastoday.com/tianjin-eco-city-in-china-designed-by-...

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Tianjin-Eco-City-China/ss/events/lf/0...

 

Mahalo,
Rubén Peña

Comment by Konstantin A Lukin on March 8, 2010 at 2:34pm

What better place than on an island to check if one's theory about energy usage is correct!

I quite agree with this. Islands do provide a wonderful small-scale ecosystem for implementing energy efficient initiatives.

Kanemitsu's has the best sweet bread in the world as far as I'm concerned! haha

I've only lived on Maui for a couple of years+, but do like maui sweet bread a lot :)

It is totally possible to do this kind of large-scale habit-changing in a place which is a model "closed" community --- only about 7000 population on the island, and very high rates of "word-of-mouth" and ability to spread the news (one newspaper).

I was also brain-storming on a number of sustainable, habit-changing community efforts, including agriculture, architecture, etc.. IMO it could be very inspiring to work on similar projects, given there are sufficient investments to support the work.

Comment by Monica S Flores on March 8, 2010 at 11:56am

Ha! Hot bread! We're about a 15-minute drive away --- my son always wants to go, and he always falls asleep in the car on the way there.

Comment by Monica S Flores on March 8, 2010 at 11:54am

From what I understand (I'm not one of the organizers, but I'm helping them put the survey online) --- this is a private endeavor funded through Blue Planet Foundation and marketed throgh different community groups and the schools. If there *were* ways to get Maui Electric involved, that would be awesome.

At one point a few years ago MECO was giving people stipends to get solar panels (for water heaters mostly) on their houses, but it was more of a case-by-case basis.

In this case, the foundation is making an outright donation to the community. That said, we do need to have data, as I'm sure the funder wants to know as much as possible what kind of change they're able to make.

Comment by Kimo Watanabe on March 8, 2010 at 11:37am

Monica, Sounds like a very interesting project there on Moloka'i. I've been interested in retro fit lighting, but have never heard about it being doing in a community as you're describing. Are you working at all with Ed Reinhardt and Maui Electric on that? I wonder if there are incentives and rebate programs that could be utilized in addition to the donating of the light bulbs.

With energy costs as high as they are in the islands, Hawai'i in general is prime for energy saving initiatives.

On another note I used to live in Kaunakakai for some time and certainly do miss it. Kanemitsu's has the best sweet bread in the world as far as I'm concerned! haha

A hui hou

Comment by Monica S Flores on March 8, 2010 at 11:16am

I remember hearing about "Planet Better Place", which was going to distribute electric cars throughout the island. What better place than on an island to check if one's theory about energy usage is correct!

Comment by Monica S Flores on March 8, 2010 at 11:15am

I just wanted to share with you all an interesting initiative that is taking place here on Moloka'i. The "Blue Planet Foundation" is going to be donating up to 90,000 CFL lightbulbs to the 3000 households on the island in an effort to reduce overall energy costs by 12%. To do so, we are first distributing surveys -- the goal is to get at least 300 surveys back (10% sample) and get a sense of how many lightbulbs are already in use. A first shipment of 44,000 gets distributed through the 4 elementary schools, 1 middle school, and 1 high school on the island. Then, if there is still feedback and responsiveness, an additional shipment will be assigned.

It is totally possible to do this kind of large-scale habit-changing in a place which is a model "closed" community --- only about 7000 population on the island, and very high rates of "word-of-mouth" and ability to spread the news (one newspaper).