The Problems with Green Sprawl
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.21.07
We were less than impressed when Best Buy announced that it was going to build big green boxes; we called it lipstick on a pig. Apparently neither was Greener Buildings' Shari Shapiro, a LEED accredited Philadelphia lawyer. (Now that is a surprising mix of skills!) She writes:
Most Best Buys and [new] bank branches, are located in strip malls with seas of impervious parking lots that are accessible only by car. This phenomenon - where green buildings are located in unsustainable contexts - can be called "green sprawl. Green sprawl presents several problems: it justifies the continued development on the periphery, perpetuates reliance on overburdened infrastructures and misses the opportunity to build in a sustainable manner."
She concludes:
If the ultimate goal is to reduce energy and water usage at the level of individual buildings, than it does not matter what the context looks like. Install waterless urinals and a low albedo roof and call it green.But context matters if the goal is to transform the built environment in order to have a dramatic impact on the environment. We should not sacrifice the forest to save a few trees.
funny.. i've never seen a parking lot that I was unable to ford bravely on foot.
It's about getting to the parking lot. And arriving with a car that needs space to park. There's nothing 'green' about that aspect of a 'green' building, big or small.
This reminds me of the LEED cerified spaceport:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/09/contradiction_i_1.php
Wouldn't a green building (even a green Best Buy) have a high albedo roof, not a low albedo (reflecting less EM) roof? Quick, somebody check with LEED...