Launch of the Sustainable Cities Design Academy

Snow, sleet and freezing rain cut across the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains to the Northeast, Tuesday, January 27th and Wednesday morning, January 28th. Despite the storm, 30 participants traveled to Boston's Back Bay neighborhood for the launch of the Sustainable Cities Design Academy (SCDA). Created by the American Architectural Foundation (AAF) and presenting sponsor United Technologies Corporation (UTC), SCDA convenes teams from cities interested in creating more environmentally responsible, energy efficient and livable communities. Teams composed of city commissioners, developers, and project architects from New Bedford and Boston, MA, Washington, DC and Philadelphia, PA arrived with a sustainable project on the drawing board. They were each paired with a resource team of nationally recognized sustainable design professionals.

For two days, three resource team professionals worked with each project team discussing, drafting, and modeling creative alternatives to their existing plans.

The District of Columbia project team conveyed plans for a mixed-use, transit-oriented development in the historically underserved Deanwood neighborhood, adjacent to the Minnesota Avenue Metro station. The Philadelphia project team came with a master plan for the Philadelphia Navy Yard and objectives that included incorporating residential and commercial development, transit, and LEED-ND certification for the site. The New Bedford project team presented plans for a 20-acre industrial redevelopment to serve as the cornerstone for comprehensive planning along the Acushnet River. Finally, the Boston project team brought plans for a reclaimed "Big Dig" parcel in Chinatown providing the neighborhood with new mixed-income residential and commercial units as well as community open space.

While off to good starts, the four cities' projects benefitted from two concentrated days of design assistance. The District of Columbia's resource team supported the project plan and suggested showcasing components of the development's green infrastructure system, such as a vegetation-covered parking deck whose exterior wall supports a transparent water bladder that would collect and recycle storm water for the site's landscaping and flushing systems. They also suggested linking the development to pre-existing neighborhood parks and bike paths.

Philadelphia's resource team encouraged the project team to introduce self-sufficient infrastructure to the Navy Yard to support future development. Such infrastructure could include bio-remediation systems like aqua-digesters to both clean polluted soil and create an opportunity for the public to learn about environmental clean-up. Further, the resource team encouraged the city to look at transit connections to the site and link to existing trails, open spaces and parks.

New Bedford's resource team supported Mayor Lang's vision for the waterfront's use as pedestrian friendly recreational space. They helped the project team visualize the site as a city gateway and created plans to phase that development. They encouraged the city to reorient new buildings within the site in relation to adjacent neighborhoods, industrial parcels and roadways. The resource team modified access points to and from the site, by adding landscaping adjacent to highway routes and reconfiguring exit and entrance ramps.

Boston's resource team introduced East Asian landscape and architectural design principles into the Chinatown project, creating a stronger sense of place for residents and visitors. In addition, by working with the resource team, Boston's project team gained interest in green construction methods and LEED-ND certification, and the ability to see how a single project impacts a neighborhood, and to a greater extent, a city.

At the program's conclusion, project team members offered the following comments about their participation in SCDA:

• "It was a timely and significant re-evaluation for our site plan. We took a huge step forward to understand what is practically attainable in developing a sustainable site."
• "SCDA offered a great step back to take a fresh look at the land and its greater context."
• "It was very beneficial to work with a resource team that asked questions to challenge the project team to think in greater detail."

SCDA opened lines of communication within the teams and allowed them to explore their site's challenges and opportunities. In addition, the program provided participants with a new support network, fresh information sources and concrete steps toward turning these creative ideas into tangible solutions. Further, each team was challenged to find ways that their city might demonstrate regionally and nationally environmentally responsible, energy efficient, and sustainable design through their projects.

AAF thanks UTC for their generous sponsorship of this unique program. Additionally, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) lent support as a knowledge partner. AAF looks forward to working with UTC and USGBC for the upcoming SCDA 2. For details on upcoming SCDA programs, please visit www.archfoundation.org this summer.

Participants

Boston, MA

• Eliot Allen, AICP, Criterion Planners, Portland, OR
• Jamie Blosser, AIA, Atkin Olshin Schade Architects, Santa Fe, NM
• Janelle Chan, Asian Community Development Corporation, Boston, MA
• Lillian Lew-Hailer, LEED-AP, New Boston Development Partners, Boston, MA
• Jefferson Poole, LEED-AP, Goody Clancy, Boston, MA
• Clark Wilson, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC.
• Geoffrey Wooding, AIA, LEED-AP, Goody Clancy, Boston, MA

New Bedford, MA

• Mark Dickinson, Dickinson Development Corporation, New Bedford, MA
• Mami Hara, AICP, ASLA, Wallace, Roberts & Todd, Inc., Philadelphia, PA
• The Honorable Scott W. Lang, Mayor, City of New Bedford, MA
• Jane Martin, AIA, ASLA, LEED-AP, Shift Design Studio, San Francisco, CA
• Matthew Morrissey, New Bedford Economic Development Council, New Bedford, MA
• Kenneth D. Potts, AIA, LEED-AP, McGough Companies, St. Paul, MN
• Derek Santos, Business Development, New Bedford Economic Development Council, New Bedford, MA

Philadelphia, PA

• Brian Cohen, Liberty Property Trust, Philadelphia, PA
• John Grady, Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, Philadelphia, PA
• Quentin Kruel, Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, Philadelphia, PA
• Sandra Mallory, LEED-AP, City of Seattle, Department of Planning and Development, Seattle, WA
• Victoria Meyers, AIA, hanrahanMeyers Architects, New York, NY
• Cameron Thomson, LEED-AP, ARUP, New York, NY
• Alan Urek, AICP, Philadelphia City Planning Commission, Philadelphia, PA

Washington, DC

• Brent Brown, AIA, LEED-AP, Building Community Workshop, Dallas, TX
• Eric Colbert, AIA, Eric Colbert & Associates, PC, Washington, DC
• Zach Dobelbower, LEED-AP, DC Office of Planning, Washington, DC
• Evelyn D. Kasongo, DC Office of Planning, Washington, DC
• Ayris Scales, DC Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning & Economic Development, Washington, DC
• Diane Van-Buren Jones, WARM Training Center-Sustainability Initiatives, Detroit, MI

American Architectural Foundation (AAF)

• Elizabeth Blazevich, Special Projects Manager
• Ronald E. Bogle, Hon. AIA, President & CEO
• Sarah Bookwalter, Meetings Coordinator
• Victoria Garvin, Director of Education
• Graham Stroh, Program Manager
• Jess Zimbabwe, AIA, AICP, LEED-AP, Vice President of Programs

United Technologies Corporation (UTC)

• Andrea Doane, Director of Corporate Citizenship and Community Investment
• Carrie Hammond, Manager, Corporate Citizenship and Community Investment

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