The Hidden Potential of Sustainable Neighborhoods Lessons from Low-Carbon Communities - Harrison Fraker (2013).pdf

Written by Harrison Fraker
Edition: 2013
Format(s): PDF
Language: English

Publication Date: September 1, 2013 | ISBN-10: 1610914082 | ISBN-13: 978-1610914086
How do you achieve effective low-carbon design beyond the building level? How do you create a community that is both livable and sustainable? More importantly, how do you know if you have succeeded? Harrison Fraker goes beyond abstract principles to provide a clear, in-depth evaluation of four first generation low-carbon neighborhoods in Europe, and shows how those lessons can be applied to the U.S. Using concrete performance data to gauge successes and failures, he presents a holistic model based on best practices.

The four case studies are: Bo01 and Hammarby in Sweden, and Kronsberg and Vauban in Germany. Each was built deliberately to conserve resources: all are mixed-used, contain at least 1,000 units, and have aggressive goals for energy and water efficiency, recycling, and waste treatment.

For each case study, Fraker explores the community's development process and goals and objectives as they relate to urban form, transportation, green space, energy, water and waste systems, and a social agenda. For each model, he looks at overall performance and lessons learned.

Later chapters compare the different strategies employed by the case-study communities and develop a comprehensive model of sustainability, looking specifically at how these lessons can be employed in the United States, with a focus on retrofitting existing communities. This whole-systems approach promises not only a smaller carbon footprint, but an enriched form of urban living.

The Hidden Potential of Sustainable Neighborhoods will be especially useful for urban designers, architects, landscape architects, land use planners, local policymakers and NGOs, citizen activists, students of urban design, planning, architecture, and landscape architecture.


Review
“Wiser, more determined environmental stewardship will, of necessity, be part of all of our futures. An excellent way to get beyond the rhetoric of sustainability and to actually get started is to read this compelling book about those who already have and the places they are building.”
(Alex Krieger Professor of Urban Design, Harvard Graduate School of Design)

“This book shows how to take full ecological advantage of the neighborhood, which has proven such a resilient and universal digit of urbanism. The design savvy and elegance brought to life in these four case studies weds state-of-the-art architecture, engineering, and urban design. No one is better suited to accomplish this than Harrison Fraker, with his illustrious career of research and practice in energy-conscious and sustainable design.”
(Douglas Kelbaugh Professor and Dean Emeritus of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Mi)

"A handful of color photographs illustrate this excellent and insightful resource, highly recommended especially for urban and suburban planners with an eye toward long-term sustiable design."
(The Midwest Book Review)

“As our world faces increased urbanization and climatic changes, Fraker explores the critical role of urban design and integrated, systems approaches for realizing low-carbon, resilient, socially and environmentally enriched built environments. He does a masterful job of examining case studies and exposing lessons learned as a model for future neighborhood development worldwide.”
(Edward Mazria Founder/CEO, Architecture 2030)
About the Author
Harrison S. Fraker is Professor of Architecture and Urban Design and William Wurster Dean Emeritus of the College of Environmental Design, the University of California, Berkeley. He lives in Berkeley, California.
Product Details

Paperback: 248 pages
Publisher: Island Press (September 1, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1610914082
ISBN-13: 978-1610914086