. . . . . . SCAD Sustainability . . . . . .

Tuesday night low-down: Dror

danfranchap:

Yesterday was the opening night of [un]disciplined. The keynote speakers were Dror Benshetrit of Studio Dror, our own Ursula Tischner, professor of Design for Sustainability and CEO of Econcept, and Matt Nolan of Belay Architecture.

Dror and his studio have made some thoughtful projects, my favorite of which is the Pick Chair.

During Dror’s presentation I was pretty convinced that I was missing something that should have been staring me in the face… thankfully I wasn’t the only one who noticed.  Some of his products may have worked towards lessening their environmental impact, but there was a lack of true sustainability. Having said this, lessening environmental impact is good, too. Here’s what I took from it…

Flat Pack It!
Making things that can be nested, flattened, folded or squished allows for less packaging and more efficient shipping.  That means less waste and less emissions.

Treasures
Designing something that a person will care about, that will age well, that is a piece of beauty, and that will last a long time will give that something a good, long life.

Adaptability
Modularity and multifunctionality allows the user to simultaneously buy less and get more; products can grow, shrink, and evolve with the users needs. This was as close to sustainability as his projects got.

The project that got the most oo’s and aah’s was Nurai Island. It’s a super luxe resort island, and the renderings were drool-worthy. I think the shining point of the island is that the villas are integrated with the landscape. There’s much less view-pollution, which gives the ultimate get-away-from-it-all experience with all the amenities you could ever want.
Unfortunately, it also is pretty much urban sprawl to the extreme… it’s 12 miles off the coast of Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates (which also happens to emit the highest amount of carbon dioxide per capita in the world, closely followed by the US) and will be completely dependent on the main land. The climate and the isolation means that fresh water, food and supplies are going to have to be shipped in all the time.  There’s no way all that grass is native, and it will be quite the water-suck. In the end, it was more of a stunning project than a sustainable one.

Bike Workshop

Yesterday was the final day of the Sustainability conference and there was one more event I wanted to attend. The Bike Hacks workshop! So I dragged myself out of bed early to ride my bike to the River Club from Barnard Village, which seemed the proper thing to do for such an event. When I arrived there were only two other people, however, more people gradually trickled in and we were finally joined by most of the SUST 213 class!

John Bennett of SCAD Radio and The DIstrict was in charge of the workshop. He was very flexible about what he would include and first asked everyone what he or she would like to learn before he began to supply us with information. He started out by discussing biking in Savannah in general, what some of the organizations here are (Savannah Bicycle Collective and SCAD Bike Club), and what some of the biggest difficulties for cyclists here are. We also talked about what Savannah and SCAD could do to further promote cycling here and make it more safe. Better bike lanes, bike tool kits at SCAD buildings, and the possibility of a new version of a bike co-op in Savannah are all things to hope for in the future. In fact, the Bicycle collective is currently trying to get funding for the Co-op, which would teach you how to repair your bike and give you the tools to do it. If they can get the funding then the city will give them a building to use!

John went on from there to show us some items that will improve and expand the use of your bike. He explained how to mount a rear bike rack, an item that will greatly expand the amount of baggage you can carry and thus the number of trips you can make on your bike instead of a car. He also showed us the most effective rain protection for riding - fenders and a rain cape! The rain cape is kind of comical, but looks effective.

We also discussed tips and techniques for bicycle safety, such as wearing a helmet (which will also protect you legally in the event that you are hit by a car), staying off of sidewalks, proper bike locking techniques, and the proper position in a traffic lane (it changes, but be especially careful NOT to ride against traffic!).

Through out the workshop we did not discuss sustainability too much, but I did like what Mr. Bennett said at the end of the workshop, he said that he thinks that many of the major problems in our county could be solved if people would bike more. Pollution would be reduced and we would need far less fuel, needing less fuel could help stop wars in the middle east, Poverty could be helped because if people used bikes instead of owning a car it would save them a bunch of money every year, and, in Savannah especially, it can help with parking issues! hahaha. Well, I’m not sure biking can solve all of our problems, but encouraging the growth of cycling for transportation and making it easier and safer will definitely help put Savannah and other cities on the track to being more sustainable.

-Tessa

Friday Student Sustainability Films!

So for those of you who missed the films, you need to check them out! A lot of the issues we have been dealing with in class were discussed. Rachel Cansler presented a great documentary on green roofs in Atlanta, GA called “Sky Gardens”. Within her piece, she talked about urban sprawl in the city and how the asphalt jungles we create add so much heat into the environment. The black tar roofs suck up heat and spew it back into the atmosphere at night in the form of ultra red radiation. Not cool! A common name for this phenomenon is a heat island. Within Atlanta, it is typically 3-8 degrees warmer than surrounded, less dense areas. This is simply due to the extra heat absorption of our cities. Crazy…

What is really neat though and something we haven’t touched on a lot with our green roof discussions, is the control of water they bring to a city. The plants and soil absorb the water like a giant sponge, and release it slowly. This is how water is distributed in a forest - slowly. If we had lots of green roofs, the sewer systems wouldn’t be so overwhelmed. No more sewage spewing into your neighborhood! Good stuff. On top of that, you could collect the rain water…reusing it to water your green roof even more or saving it for droughts / toilet use. It’s really amazing the way that these roofs can help us, and our infastructure.

Plus these roofs are homes for insects of all types. They help the plants and distribute their pollen, further spreading the plant life and increasing insect populations, which in turn help us.

Go check out Rachel Cansler’s “Sky Gardens” if you can, it’s fascinating. Also, Anthony Dergham presented a piece on the lion fish and how it has become a great problem off the coast of Georgia and Florida. It was introduced by accident and has dominated the waters, facing no natural predators. Check that out too, it’s called “Ocean Invaders”

Hope you all have a great weekend,

- Justin

Wednesday Night- Media

Wednesday night the focus was on media and how they cover sustainable issues.

It was interesting to get a perspective that was linked closely with local Savannah (there were 3 local Savannah area reporters).

All three of the speakers I think could agree that the language we are using is quite important. Especially in terms of the word ‘sustainability’ itself. How we go about using this word will determine it’s definition, scope, and potency in the future.

I think these speakers were a effective addition to the program schedule for this week as people in the media play such a large part of how our country comes across to perceive these urgent issues.

This also brought about some of the more troubling aspects of the evening. Such as how large media often lacks a definite and critical opinions on important subjects.

Some important local environmental issues they agreed will be of importance in the near future:

-Savannah LNG plant (contains the largest holding tank in the world-the one on the left)

-Water Shortage (Savannah residents will get more of their water from the river- 4th most polluted in the US)(Also Atlanta is running out of water- Atlanta shortage)