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National
Clinton Foundation/USGBC Partnership Announces 16 Urban Sustainability Projects
''As the Earth's population increases and our cities grow, we need to ensure we have the models in place to sustain our way of life in an increasingly urbanized world,'' said former President Clinton at the C-40 Cities Climate Change Leadership Group Summit in Seoul, South Korea, announcing a partnership between the William J. Clinton Foundation's Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) on a Climate Positive Development Program, under which 16 large-scale projects in 10 nations, including two in the U.S., will demonstrate strategies to get urban carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions below zero.
''The Climate Positive Development Program,'' he told the international summit of some 70 major cities, ''will set a new global standard for developments that will minimize environmental impacts and benefit economies as we build and rebuild homes, schools, and businesses.'' Read the complete press release.
USGBC President, CEO and Founding Chairman Risk Fedrizzi stressed the importance of ''solid metrics'' for a global benchmark, saying, ''We know this from our experience with LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), and believe it's fundamental to delivering immediate and measurable results.''
To bring the net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the 16 showcase projects below zero, the program will help local governments and developers work together on economically sound innovations in construction, clean energy generation, waste and water management, transportation and outdoor lighting.
The two American models for sustainable urban growth are Destiny, Florida, the nation's first ''eco-sustainable city'' planned by the Pugliese Company on 41,300 acres in Southern Osceola County, and the Treasure Island Redevelopment Project, San Francisco, California, the pedestrian-friendly and bus-and-ferry-oriented transformation of a former 450-acre naval station on Treasure and Yerba Buena islands by the Lennar Corp. and others into a ''green,'' LEED-certified urban neighborhood, with some 6,000 housing units and 300 acres of open space.
The other 14 urban sustainability models include two in Australia, one in Brazil, two in Canada, two in India, one in Panama, two in South Africa, one in South Korea, one in Sweden, and two in United Kingdom.
Once completed, these initial 16 Climate Positive complexes will accommodate nearly a million residents and workers.
''I am sure our effort to fight global warming will be a successful one,'' said summit host Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, ''if initiatives like the Climate Positive Development Program continue to be widely accepted around the world.''
More about the program and the two American developments at ''C40 Cities: An Introduction,'' , The William J. Clinton Foundation, DestinyFlorida.com, and California EPA. -- Clinton Foundation, New York Times 5/19/2009
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