City February 27, 2013 11:26 AM

Designing to Live Sustainably

Designing to Live Sustainably
queenseyes
queenseyes 6
There are a lot of projects moving forward in Buffalo that will ultimately make for a better, more sustainable city. Whether it's the efforts of small developers who are implementing sustainable energy efficiencies such as geothermal, or large scale industry installing solar arrays, the groundwork is being laid for others to follow suit. If Buffalo is to embrace sustainable design on a broader scale, then the doors must be open to those who don't necessarily have the channels to affect change. What is good design as it relates to the way we live, and how it meshes with our environment? BRO readers are constantly challenging the architects and the developers to go the distance. Maybe it's time to take those thoughts and ideas and expand upon them in order to demonstrate forward thinking solutions.

At this time, Greenway Planner David Scott Myers (Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper) and the 'Designing to Live Sustainably' team have launched "an egalitarian and inclusive design competition which asks competitors to design a better, more sustainable Buffalo." The committee behind the initiative is asking that members of the community submit their own competitive designs, so that they can viewed by the public as well as players in the world of sustainable design. "Absolutely anybody is eligible to submit a design," said David. "And ALL submissions will be displayed at the CEPA gallery on May 18h. Another cool feature of this competition is that designs we will awarded by several local, national, and international organizations that are in the fields of sustainability, ecology, design, and engineering. My teammates and I have have put allot of time and energy into this project because all of us love buffalo and see such potential! Our kick of party a few weeks ago at the Pan American Grill was a total success with over 100 in attendance. This is a chance for the hundreds of Buffalonians to share their designs with the rest of the city in a gallery setting."

The d2ls Competition celebration will be held at CEPA Gallery, 617 Main Street, Suite 201, Buffalo, NY 14203.

Award sponsors include:

National Grid
Sustainable Earth Solutions
Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper
Ecology and environment Inc
Erie County Environmental Education Institute
Buffalo State School of Professions
Schuster Construction LLC


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Buffalogni
February 27, 2013 11:49 AM
Buffalogni

Green roofs, pervious pavement and rain-gardens are good ideas. Cheap, and effective.

We also need to reverse the population loss to sustain the city.

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paulsobo
February 27, 2013 7:41 PM
paulsobo

The city cant even plant enough trees. Lake Erie and our local rivers are expoxic from all the sewage overflows and just over-all pollution.

Buffalo needs infrastructure upgrades all over the city.

Using our historic districts to restore brick and cobblestone streets...is a good way to add property value, slow traffic, and allow the water necessary for urban trees to survive/thrive.

Trees are huge in cutting down wind, rain and snow so that sidewalks are more walkable...streets are more drivable, water is absorbed by trees rather than polluting waterways, they clean air, etc.

Beyond that, replacing our sewer system and water mains because we have huge leaks.

Beyond that we need new LED street lights, porous sideswalks would be more advantageous and cheaper than porous streets with similar benefits for trees.

Upgrading municipal and city builts, returning the cost of government to the taxpayer

Lets start with everyday use

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grad94
February 27, 2013 10:17 PM
grad94

bikes for college students, which is way cheaper than trying to provide surface parking for each and every car on local campuses.

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300miles
February 27, 2013 11:57 PM
300miles

Agree about the Trees. Buffalo needs to take tree planting and maintenance more seriously. If a tree dies it should be immediately replaced. And businesses should never be allowed to pave over tree wells.

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grad94
February 28, 2013 7:33 AM
grad94

add orchards & vineyards to the urban farming portfolio.

invest in the new blight-resistant elm trees.

municipal sidewalk plowing, so people can walk more and drive less

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WithheldName
March 10, 2013 11:16 PM
WithheldName

Ban automobile traffic from as many blocks as possible downtown. Close down whole streets and convert them to infill development or green space.

Bulldoze as many parking lots downtown as possible and turn them into green spaces or infill development. Ban parking new lots.

In fact, turn the whole d*mned downtown into a big park if necessary. Make it as large as Central Park in NYC if needed. Demolish HSBC Marine Midland Center - all 38 ugly stories of it. Demolish downtown expressways. Turn them all into green space or low-rise in-fill.

Forbid demolition of any salvageable historic building and force architects to be creative for a change.

Enact strict requirements for any new construction that force them to adhere to the character of the historic buildings. Turn the whole d*mned downtown into a historic preservation district, the whole city if necessary. Years from now, it can be the world's first 6-mile-long open air history museum. We'll make into a d*mned theme park. Like a Colonial Williamsburg of the 19th century. Or the 20th.

Make every sturdy building roof into a green roof.

Allow the city of Buffalo to annex all its god d*mned suburbs and make 1 cohesive metro area.

Sell every vacant lot and building downtown to UB. Force renters out if needed.

Ban sidewalks, ban turf grass, demolish pavement everywhere, and plant tree seedlings in every square foot of surface area possible.

Enact a DC-like height restriction of 391 feet (nothing taller than the Rand Building). Demolish the M&T Plaza. Demolish the Main Place Mall. Demolish any tall eyesore downtown newer than 1950. Demolish anything downtown made of glass.

Grow a pair of balls. Get the attention of the rest of the country. Do it like Noah's Ark if you have to. They'll laugh now; they'll envy us later. Set the trends. Chart a new course. We have nothing to lose. Do whatever the h*ll we think is beautiful - and the rest of the world will someday admire our eccentric brilliance. Start today.

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