POCACITO - North America

FortZED Fort Collins

clf — Thu, 20 Oct 2016 12:09:43 +0000

FortZED (Fort Collins Zero Energy District) focuses on the downtown area of Fort Collins and aims to transform it into a zero energy district. On the path to a better energy future, FortZED combines technology developed by university researchers, city utility experts and businesses. The project offers a testing ground to experiment with new sustainable energy technologies thus supporting Fort Collins in its movement towards a more efficient and sustainable future. Specific aims of FortZED are to increase renewable energy production, to improve energy efficiency, to manage peak energy usage and to adapt smart grid solutions. The project has several programmes to follow in order to achieve its aim.

Crowdfunded Bike Lane

clf — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 14:24:24 +0000

Following the general urban mobility trends in the United States of America, the City of Denver began planning its bike infrastructure. However, it often takes a long time for pedestrian and cycling projects to be implemented and sometimes local groups have to take the initiative in pushing the projects forward. The Arapahoe Protected Bike Lane project was led by the Downtown Denver Partnership, a business organisation dedicated to the improvement of Denver’s downtown area. The project’s funding scheme was not standard. After acquiring US $120,000 from private sector donors the Downtown Denver Partnership decided to collect the remaining $35,000 using crowdfunding. This was decided as crowdfunding has proven to be a very successful way not only for financing but to raise citizen's awareness.

San Francisco Green Building Program

clf — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 08:12:45 +0000

San Francisco city is implementing an innovative and comprehensive group of policy initiatives along with incentive programs to improve the energy and environmental performance of new and existing buildings, denominated as “Green Building Program”. Under this program, innovative ordinances have imposed green building requirements for residential and commercial buildings newly constructed and for the renovations of the existing buildings. Subsequently, California's Building Standards Commission developed in 2010 the California Green Building Standards Code designated by "CAL Green". This code is the part 11 of the twelve parts of the adoption, amendment and repeal of building regulations to the California Code of Regulations. The San Francisco Green Building Program combines via the development of the San Francisco Green Building Code the mandatory elements of the previous California building regulation (2010 California Green Building Standards Code) with stricter local requirements.