Photovoltaic Systems

Mesa Del Sol will be located just outside of downtown Albuquerque and is comprised of twenty square miles of land, 3,200 acres of which are said to remain as open space.  Albuquerque is famed for it’s 300 days a year of sunshine, was named by Forbes Magazine as one of the best places for businesses and careers in the U.S., is just under a three hours drive from world class skiing in Taos, and is a short two hour flight from L.A.  Mesa Del Sol’s New Urbanism approach means that virtually everything you need will be within walking distance — stores, work, schools, homes, and parks etc. 

Mesa Del Sol’s first completed building is LEED certified and occupied by a
solar company.  Their site says that the community will embrace the
idea of sustainability by conserving water, promoting walking instead
of driving, promoting renewable energy use, and offering recycling
programs. 

The community is in the
beginning stages and while no homes or lots are for sale yet, home prices are
estimated to start at a reasonable $150,000 to upwards of $700,000. 
Homes will be Energy Star certified. 

One feature I was surprised to
see in the renderings was double-lane roads running down the middle of
the community, something that I have not seen in many green
communities.  Perhaps this is necessary due to the size of the
community and it certainly gives off a more urban feel, but I think it
distracts a bit from the walking theme of the community.  The other
element that I prefer to see utilized by green urban communities is the re-use of
previously developed land instead of development of a completely new tract of land.  But again, with the size of this project, that probably would not
have been an option. 

Overall, there is a wealth of information to take
in on Mesa Del Sol’s site.  This is a truly impressive large-scale
project.  It will be wonderful to watch this community emerge as homes,
businesses, and the town-centers begin to develop.  Visit Mesa Del
Sol‘s site to learn much more about the community and to sign-up to be
kept up to date with the project.

All renderings credit: Mesa Del Sol.

Serenbe is located in Palmetto, Georgia, about 30-45 minutes southwest of Atlanta.  The 900 acre community will preserve 70% of it’s land and eventual plans include about 600 homes.  All Serenbe homes will be EarthCraft certified and the community offers a variety of options including work/live townhomes, cottages, and estates.  The architecture is diverse and charming and is often inspired by historical buildings.  There’s a Dwell Home being built (see below), and the above home by Redbone Construction was featured in various green building articles in local Atlanta publications. 

As you can tell, Serenbe made the cover of Cottage Living Magazine as a Top 10 Cottage Neighborhood.

Prices supposedly start around $300,000, but if you peruse the real
estate for sale on their site, you won’t see much below the $500,000
mark.  I think this is one of the drawbacks of the community — I would
like to see more opportunity for economic diversity. 

Another consideration
is the lack of public transportation.  Unless you are
retired or using the live/work residences, Atlanta is most likely where you would end up working and driving
that distance everyday is not very "green".  Of course, the community
could develop a carpool program as well as promote biofuels and
electric cars — something to make up for this less green feature. 

Other
than that, there are stores, restaurants, a farm and an inn all within
walking distance, made easier by planned footpaths.  Future plans even
include a juice bar, holistic medical services, and assisted living.
Serenbe is big on community activities and events and really aims to
bring people back to a simpler time when there was a much stronger
sense of community living.  Serenbe
is a truly idyllic-looking community and the type of life it promises
would make most people jump to buy a home there, if you can afford it.

There’s a lot of talk here on Jetson Green about the (adverse) impact that architecture and materials choice can have on the environment.  So it’s nice to know that housing can actually be an essential factor in combating climate change according to a new study from Smart Growth America.

While attending the recent EcoCity World Summit in San Francisco, I heard panelist Reid Ewing, research professor at the National Center for Smart Growth, discuss urban development and its (negative and positive) effect on climate change.  The study, published by the Urban Land Institute, documents how key changes in land development patterns could help reduce vehicle greenhouse gas emissions. 

The numbers speak for themselves.

First the bad …

• Transportation accounts for a full third of CO2 emissions
  in the United States;
• Since 1980, the number of miles Americans drive has grown three
  times faster than population and twice as fast as vehicle registrations;
• Sprawling development is expected to cause a 48 percent increase in the total miles driven between 2005 and 2030;
• Even with most stringent fuel-efficiency proposals being
  considered, vehicle emissions would be 34% above 1990 levels by 2030
  due to sprawl.

Now the good news …

• Two-thirds of development expected to be on the ground in 2050 is not yet built;
• Shifting 60 percent of new growth to compact patterns would save 79
  million tons of CO2 annually by 2030 or the equivalent of increasing
  vehicle fuel efficiency standards by 28% (to 32 mpg).

The Smart Growth America coalition coordinated the review of dozens of studies published by the Urban Land Institute.  The review found that compact development reduces driving 20 to 40 percent. The
results of the comprehensive work are published in a book available for
purchase from ULI, with the opening chapter free to download.  Both
purchase and download are available here. 

When it comes to tackling climate change, the old real estate adage still rings true: location, location, location.

P.S. For an interesting 321-photo slideshow of Phoenix, AZ sprawl, click here.

P.S.S. [ed. note] – read more at Top 10 Problems with Sprawl.