Placemaking

News on green building, urban planning, public transportation, and community

How a simple renovation turned into the "Big Dig" of rehabs

Home Economics of the JP Green House, Part 1 0
Posted 16 hours, 19 minutes ago by Ken Ward
From an initial budget of $25,000 to a revised estimate of $200,000, the JP Green House has taken on Big Dig proportions -- but the new reality will mean a smarter eco-model in the end. Read More
Placemakers

A surprising sneak peek at the clothesline revolution 31
Posted 1 week, 1 day ago by Katharine Wroth
Alexander Lee travels the country evangelizing the merits of clotheslines through his organization, Project Laundry List. He says the humble laundry tool can have a real impact on climate and energy -- he'd even like to see one at the White House. So why are so many people vehemently opposed? Read More
Low Impact, No Publicity

Simple people 6
Posted 2 weeks, 2 days ago by Andrée Zaleska
Certain people get a lot of attention for living simply (ahem, No Impact Man, Sleeping Naked lady). But simple living is all around us, offering inspiration that doesn't come in the form of press releases. Read More

More Placemaking

They Nailed It

Slideshow: Reinventing the JP Green House 0
Posted 17 hours ago by Andrée Zaleska, Ken Ward
Ken Ward and Andrée Zaleska are turning an old Boston store into a new model of eco-living -- here's a glimpse at the work underway. Read More
The night I slept with Jim Hansen 13
Posted 1 week, 2 days ago by Ken Ward
College students in Massachusetts got tired of letting climate worries keep them up all night. Now they're sleeping soundly -- in the middle of Boston Common. Read More
PBS NOW - Electric Car Dreams

The long and wind-powered road 7
Posted 3 weeks, 1 day ago by David Brancaccio
The Danes are hard at work cracking one of the great challenges of wind power: the fact that the wind blows when it darn well pleases. Read More
How to Actually Solve Climate Change, Part Whatever

Energy Trust and the Big Hope 13
Posted 3 weeks, 1 day ago by Auden Schendler
One glimmer of hope in the campaign against climate change is called Energy Trust, an organization in Oregon that, if widely copied, would move us well on the way to solving the problem. Read More
Green Jobs Now

Weatherizing Portland 0
Posted 3 weeks, 2 days ago by Andrea Buffa
Clean Energy Works Portland is a groundbreaking new program that enables Portland residents to improve the energy efficiency of their homes and pay for the improvements over time through their utility bills. Read More
Mass. religious, environmental leaders beseech Obama to take action

WWLD: What Would Lincoln Do? 2
Posted 3 weeks, 2 days ago by Ken Ward
Conjuring images of another world leader faced with a profound moral challenge, Massachusetts religious and environmental leaders call upon Obama to act on climate quickly. Read More
Listen to the coal guy!

Why it’s better to invest in efficiency than to hold electricity rates down 9
Posted 3 weeks, 3 days ago by David Roberts
A utility representative, of all people, recognizes the important truth that it is better to give consumers efficiency than to give them cheaper electricity. Read More
the rhymes they are a-changin'

Eve of Destruction (New Millennium) 5
Posted 4 weeks, 1 day ago by Ken Ward
As a rallying cry for this weekend's Day of Climate Action, veteran activist Ken Ward rewrote a classic tune -- see him perform it with partner Andrée Zaleska here. Read More
Interns saving the world

Climate Corps interns save Fortune 500 firms $54 million 4
Posted 1 month ago by Todd Woody
MBA students from the Environmental Defense Fund's Climate Corps identified energy efficiency measures that will save an estimated $54 million at Dell, eBay and 20 other Fortune 500 companies. Read More
Yeah, we said billion

A $4 billion push to make affordable housing green 0
Posted 1 month ago by Katharine Wroth
Today brings news of a major investment in making affordable housing greener, and an ambitious call for an even bigger national conversion. Find out who's behind it. Read More
Bumper to Bonkers

For public transportation to survive, we all need to ... drive more? 4
Posted 1 month ago by Katharine Wroth
Could traffic jams convert drivers into subway riders? Are eco-parking garages the key to increasing train use? A look at the inescapable role of the car in our every deliberation, even when that deliberation is how to ditch the car. Read More
Stripping for a cause

Weatherization will save us all 6
Posted 1 month ago by Katharine Wroth
Despite its terrible name, Joe Biden's Middle Class Task Force has some solid ideas on saving energy and money. Find out what innovations are coming to your neighborhood. Read More
4.5 things I learned at my energy audit 8
Posted 1 month ago by Katharine Wroth
The best part about climate change 1
Posted 1 month ago by Andrée Zaleska
SolarCity makes electric cars an even smarter investment 19
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago by Todd Woody
Obama’s absurd Olympic boosterism 2
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago by Tom Philpott
Therapy on the Titanic 4
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago by Andrée Zaleska
As Philadelphia goes, so goes the nation 1
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago by Katharine Wroth
Does Schwarzenegger care more about tea partiers or the planet? 0
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago by Jonathan Zasloff
Stockton Williams on urban retrofits, Obama, and the sexiness of caulking guns 1
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago by Katharine Wroth
MacArthur genius award winners include climate and ocean researchers 0
Posted 1 month, 4 weeks ago by Jonathan Hiskes
The social life of traffic 1
Posted 2 months ago by Nate Berg