Title:
The Carbon Positive City: Building in the Bio-Economy

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Author(s)
Organschi, Alan
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Abstract
The contemporary mid- and high-rise city is constructed with mineral-based materials that are extracted, smelted, sintered, or synthesized through intensive fossil-energy fueled industrial processes with significant environmental footprints. Regional as well as global trends in urban growth suggest that the demand for these materials and processes will rise sharply over the next 30 – 50 years, setting the stage for a significant spike in greenhouse gas emissions associated with the construction of new buildings and infrastructure. Potential ecological and economic synergies between an enormous southeastern continental woodshed and the rapidly urbanizing landscapes that line the eastern seaboard of the United States offer a promising alternative: the transformation of dense urban centers into massive carbon sinks that serve to mitigate—rather than simply adapt to—rapid climate change. The broad implementation of emerging mass timber structural technologies and the regulatory and economic policies that promote both biobased urban building and sustainable forest management will challenge the conventions of the building sector but offer a wealth of opportunity to the planners, engineers and architects who seek to reshape it.
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Date Issued
2018-11-07
Extent
101:04 minutes
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Moving Image
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Lecture
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