Plant Power

We often discuss the types of ways vegetation can be of benefit to humans - for instance phytoremediation. A few posts that loosely collect into a narrative regarding some unique opportunities to engage plants in our social and environmental structures in inventive ways. The benefits are myriad and wonderful. Read on.

Crime Prevention
Via Treehugger: "Suginami, a district of Tokyo, Japan experienced over 1,700 break-ins in 2002. By 2008 this had dropped by about 80%, down to a mere 390 thefts. This dramatic change is attributed, in part, to Operation Flower, according to a Reuters report."


:: image via Treehugger

"The project, one element of a larger crime prevention scheme, came about after a neighbourhood watch team discovered that flower-lined streets had fewer burglaries. Kiyotaka Ohyagi, a Suginami City official, said “By planting flowers facing the street, more people will be keeping an eye out while taking care of the flowers or watering them." Flower seeds were planted on side streets and in front of residents homes. The idea being that locals would take interest in tending the growth of their flowers and spend more time being observant of their surroundings. Thieves were apparently put off by such alert residents."

Forest Fire Prevention
Via Pruned, the opportunity to utilize series of sensors on trees for 'Arborveillance' provides some interesting opportunities, for one to "Harvest the metabolic energy of trees to power a maintenance-free, mesh-networked sensing system to predict and detect forest wildfires."




:: images via Pruned

Read the rest of the post for more opportunities to use this technology for homeland security, communication, entertainment, and more.

Air Pollution Prevention
Via Treehugger, a plan to decentralize air pollution monitoring using the existing infrastructure of street trees: "What if we could have air pollution monitors on every street of every city without having to install any costly new high-tech equipment? This is exactly what Barbara Maher her team at the University of Lancaster in the UK have discovered by studying the leaves of urban trees"


:: image via Treehugger

Carbon Sequestration
One we've seen often, but a good graph showing how much trees contribute in the realm of landscape materials (via Treehugger). "According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates, in 2006 urban trees accounted for nearly all (90 percent) of the carbon sequestration attributed to the combination of urban tree growing, plus land-filled yard trimmings and food scraps." Read a related story about Climate Change using nitrogen fertilization here.


:: image via Treehugger

Vector Control
In this case, we're talking Malaria. A post from Treehugger entitled 'Computer Model Shows How Landscape Architecture Can Fight Malaria' explains how complex computer modeling (and on-the-ground implementation) of landscape manipulation can influence breeding areas for mosquitos: "The computer model analyzes the impacts of different methods for controlling the spread of malaria, and they have found that carefully considering environmental factors can be an important strategy for controlling the disease. Eliminating low spots where pools of water form during the rainy season, or applying locally grown plants that limit the growth of mosquitoes can have significant impact on the spread of the disease." Read more via MIT News.


:: image via Treehugger

Water Conservation
Treehugger reports on a scheme to have high-tech sensors attached to plants to monitor and request water when needed. Ok, perhaps not a specifically useful one in the case of say... a house plant, but the ramifications for 'smart' plants and crops on a scale that can operate and adjust irrigation to customize watering in the most sustainable manner is intriguing.


:: image via Treehugger

Another reason to make sure we value and protect this amazing resource...

Local Flavor: Oregon Sustainability Center

Based in Portland, Oregon I sometimes forget the fact that what we consider everyday is often innovative in the larger global scale. My blog reaches beyond to interject many global ideas into our local work, but also to place what we are doing within a larger ecological design concept. One project worth noting is the current work being completed for the Oregon Sustainability Center, which aims to be the pinnacle of green architecture and a catalyst for sustainable planning and business locally.

:: image via Oregon Sustainability Center

The design team consists of uber-green local developer Gerding-Edlen, along with a interesting dual team approach using local firms GBD Architects and SERA Architects along with a cadre of local consultants rounding out the team. A quick glance at the blog offers some views of the current state of the project: "Yet its early designs, each a unique exploration into the extremes of form and function, reveal that by working within parameters that maximize highly efficient harvesting and use of energy and water, a living building on an urban scale can, in fact, be possible."




:: images via Oregon Sustainability Center


:: image via Portland Architecture

There are definitely inspirations of Ken Yeang's bioclimatic skyscrapers here in the early renderings for sure, a combination of the verdant and functional that provides functional and aesthetic form to the building - essential in a Living Building proposal on this scale. While the process has yielded some of the expected cliche ridden text about the guiding principles such as 'Integrate natural systems to benefit all species' and 'Make less do more' in easy to digest nuggest that have pretty much made a career for Bill McDonough, this is pretty much inevitable, especially for a project aiming for such a high level of transparency. The designers want to present a vision but not paint anyone in a corner at this point, so broad principles that can be interpreted widely are usually the product. It's interesting to see the sketchy process of a building and site, versus the more dressed up and refined presentation graphics that typically emerge after weeks of work.

:: images via Portland Architecture

Read also the coverage from the great local resource Portland Architecture, on the OSC status. If successful it will become a model for sustainable development that will showcase Portland's potential for innovation. It will be interesting to follow the progress to see if budgets and creativity will ... and see if they can pull it off. I'll post on it periodically as it comes together.

The Incredible Shrinking City

In response to a recent post on Detroit, David Jurca from the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative (CUDC) directed me to the very cool Shrinking Cities Institute at Kent State University which "...seeks to examine more sustainable approaches to development and explore the idea of planned shrinkage as an alternative to the quest for continuous growth."


It seems appropriate, as Cleveland shares a lot of similarity with Detroit as a post-industrial city trying to grapple with the idea of controlled shrinking as a reality, and dare I say... an opportunity. One great resource I need to check out is a downloadable report entitled 'Re-Imagining Cleveland: Vacant Land Re-Use Pattern Book'. Some info: "The pattern book is a companion to the Re-Imagining Cleveland plan and recommendations for vacant land reuse that were adopted by the Cleveland City Planning Commission in December 2008. This book is intended to provide inspiration, guidance and resources for community groups and individuals who want to create productive benefit from vacant land in their neighborhood and begin to restore Cleveland's ecosystem."


:: image via Shrinking Cities Institute

I'm definitely going to check out the site and report in more detail, as it satisfies my continual fascination with the Shrinking Cities phenomenon. A couple of other resources worth exploring is the Berkeley Shrinking Cities Group and Project Shrinking Cities. Finally, another interesting endeavor that we've been looking at in Portland (and have done some undisclosed installations around town), is their idea for the Pop-Up City - "Temporary events and installations that occupy vacant buildings and activate vacant land in ways that shine a spotlight on some of Cleveland's spectacular but underutilized properties."


:: image via CUDC