Samso, Denmark - A Carbon Neutral Community

The island community of Samso in Denmark has become the first carbon-neutral community in the world. To make itself a zero-energy model community, the citizens of Samso built 11 onshore and 10 offshore wind turbines. Also, 70 percent of the homes have been converted so that heating is provide by biofuels or solar. As a result, not only has Samso been able to make it self a carbon-neutral, zero-energy community, but it produces surplus electricity that it sells to the mainland of Denmarks. All of this was done by the community itself with all investment paid for by the local citizens without any help from outside sources.

Masdar City - Zero Energy Community

Under construction is Abu Dhabi, the capitol of the United Arab Emirates, is Masdar City. It is being planned as a totally energy self-sufficient, sustainable model community. The first phase is expected to be completed in 2009, while the energy development is estimated to cost $22 billion.

Dongtan Island, Shanghai

Dongtan is an undeveloped island just offshore of Shanghai at the mouth of the Yangtze River that is about the size of Manhattan in New York City. The government of Shanghai proposes to develop it as a model sustainable community. It will be developed along a public transit corridor once a subway and bridge and tunnel are constructed to link it with the main part of the city of Shanghai. More than half of the island, however, will be maintained as farms and parkland. Hollowed out hills will be constructed to provide for underground organic farming while a power plant will be built to burn waste rice hulls to provide heating to the buildings and homes on the island. Delivery trucks will be banned on the island, and be required to transfer their goods to non-emission vehicles to transport goods on the island. Finally, a wind farm will be constructed on the island to provide electricity.

Babcock Ranch Community/City Proposed for Gulf Coast of Florida

Babcock Ranch on the Gulf coast of Florida is proposed to be a sustainable, solar-powerd community/city. Consisting of 17,000 acres, it will eventually accommodate 19,500 homes and 6 million square feet of commercial space that will employee 20,000 individuals. The exciting aspect of the proposed development, however, is a proposed 75 MW solar photovoltaic power plant to be built by Florida Power & Light.

Biofuels Sustainable City

How would you like to work in a restaurant where you can collect the grease and take it home. At home, you can then use the grease as fuel to run your automobile. This is exactly what numerous individuals are doing in such cities as Boston and New York, where individuals have converted their cars to run on grease biofuel. The City of San Francisco has taken this one step further and given all homeowners a chance to be a "green" homeowner by collecting their cooking grease and turning it over to the city at a monthly collection. The City of San Francisco then uses the grease as a biofuel to run its buses. Around the world, there are many efforts to develop new sustainable biofuels. One of the most interesting is a project in Hawaii to grow algae in vertical shelves to be made into biofuel, with algae being one of the most efficient sources for biofuel. Other communities are experimenting with algae/marine plant wastewater treatment plants to replace chemical based wastewater treatment plants. An added advantage of this new style wastewater treatment plants is that many algae and marine plants take up the heavy metals in the wastewater, thus reducing the amount of heavy metals and other chemicals (that normal wastewater treatment plants do not remove) from flowing into our rivers.

Loudoun County, Virginia - A Sustainable Community Committed to the Promotion of Suburban Fringe Farming

At one time, fresh vegetables and milk were brought daily from nearby farms to our cities. It is only as our urban areas have grown larger and the farmland has been pushed farther and farther away from our cities that we have had to resort to such methods as picking vegetables before they are ripe in distant locations such as Mexico - and then shipping them over long distances and using chemicals to ripen them after they are shipped to the city. Just when it seemed that one could no longer find truly fresh vegetables in the chain grocery stores anymore, however, whole food stores have spring up in our cities and suburbs that have again turned to locally grown fresh produce. One of the ways that has been developed to grow such locally grown fresh produce at affordable prices and throughout the year has been hydroponic farms. Hydroponic farms grow produce in green houses without the use of soil. Since the temperature can be controlled in the green houses and pests more easily controlled, hydroponic farms are able to grown the highest quality produce in small close-in suburban/urban fringe locations at affordable prices. Also, since hydroponic farms recycle the water that they use, they reduce or eliminate the runoff of fertilizer into our streams, rivers and estuaries. Other examples of suburban fringe farms include: (1) farms dedicated to raising flowers to be sold to florists, hotels and other buildings so that they do not have to purchase flowers purchased from distant farms; (2) farms dedicating to growing potted plants to be sold to home garderners at local Wal-Mart and other stores; and (3) eco-tourism farms where individuals and families can go to pick their own strawberries and other fruits and vegetables. Loudoun County, Virginia is am example of a suburban county that has made a commitment to the promotion of suburban fringe farming to help keep our urban/suburban landscapes "green."

Arizona State University - Example of the Sustainable Recycling of an Old Building

Arizona State University is another example of a unversity that has committed itself to being a model of sustainability. One of it's major sustainable initiatives was the recycling of its former nursing building. After totally renovating the building, the university installed six wind turbines on its roof. In the following year, it plans to add solar photovoltaic panels to the building's roof. It also used recycled materials for the buildings insulation, counter tops and furniture. Finally, it implemented an automated landscape watering control system that has reduced the water consumption of the building by 50 percent. Today, the building is the location of the Global Institute of Sustainability created to coordinate all of Arizona State University's initiatives to promote sustainability. The recycling and renovation of this building is part of a larger campus-wide sustainable initiative that includes the installation of solar panels at other locations on the campus to produce a total of 12 MW of electricity, the establishment of a solar photovoltaic testing laboratory to test solar equipment, the establishment of a laboratory for algae and biotechnology research, the establishment of the Phoenix Urban Research laboratory to research the urban problems facing our cities, the establishment of the Decision Center for an Urban City to explore water management solutions for a desert city, and the establishment of the Okala Sustainability Initiative to teach students how to look at design in terms of sustainability and life-cycle recycling, and the establisment of a Sustainability House (dorm) for honor students at Barrett honors college who are interested and committed to the concept of sustainability.