Urban Flight

Heating pipelines run along a bridge in Wuppertal, Germany

Rising gas and energy prices compounded by the subprime mortgage debacle and the ensuing recession are leading many baby boomers to reconsider their mid-90’s move to the ‘burbs. In today’s economy, small, efficient houses, single-car garages and a plot at the community garden are encouraging a reverse migration: About 150 million people are expected to seek homes in urban settings in the coming years, a trend that is expected to continue through 2024, according to the Congress for the New Urbanism.

On the West Coast, cities most concerned with their environmental impact are starting to explore methods that go beyond putting up green buildings or even requiring that all new buildings meet the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) criteria.

In a few places—most notably in Portland and in British Columbia—“EcoDistricts, ” or neighborhoods designed to meet as many of residents’ needs as possible with minimal impacts on the environment, could transform the way urban dwellers live.

Many people are keeping a close eye on EcoDistricts. Utilities are interested in distributed generation as a way to control peak demands. City governments are looking for ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions without breaking the bank. And residents want all the amenities of urban living at a price they can afford.

What’s an EcoDistrict?
Similar to USGBC’s LEED for Neighborhood Development, EcoDistricts require a whole-system approach to neighborhood design. All energy is produced onsite, often using an existing waste stream, such as food scraps from local restaurants, as a feedstock, wastewater and stormwater runoff is reused for irrigation and toilets, as much food as possible is grown onsite, and low-impact transit choices such as bicycle infrastructure, shared cars and mass transit connections are incorporated.

“Achieving true carbon neutrality, as many municipalities and organizations are now mandating, isn’t possible unless the built environment as a whole contributes to the solution,” says Johanna Brickman, associate partner and director of sustainability for Seattle-based Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects, which is working to ensure all of its building designs meet the 2030 Challenge. Brickman is also a member of the technical advisory committee working with Portland + Oregon Sustainability Institute (P+OSI) to advance the cause of EcoDistricts in the city. “Available technology simply doesn’t allow an individual building to support itself completely,” she says.