DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

Building a Green City in Boston and Las Vegas


            Boston is one of the nation’s most upbeat and vibrant cities.  With a population of approximately 600,000 residents, Boston prides itself as one of the most diverse and opportunistic places to live in the United States(1).  With neighborhoods rich in businesses, people, and culture, the city of Boston has decided to take a monumental step forward and recreate itself as a green city.  In order to continue on with this project, a prospectus evaluating ideas to go about energy supply, cooling and heating concerns, transportation, and waste management have been made.

            Boston is currently on the high rise to becoming an alternative energy sustained city with government initiatives like “Renew Boston” already in place.  This service embraces alternative energy practices, which announced a 200 megawatt electricity demand reduction by use of alternative technologies by 2017 and 25 megawatts of solar power installations by 2015(2).  Effectively, it is clear that the city has governmental support for greener energy technologies by providing funding of $1.8 million(3).  With financial support from the city, our firm can further increase alternative energy practices by integrating solar energy to residences, rather than just businesses and municipalities alone, by using solar powered rooftop shingles, so that it appears almost like an accessory to the household and to the public(4).  Furthermore, wind energy can be utilized as the government has already set forth wind zoning standards(5).  Wind energy can be integrated into sites along Boston’s waterfront and onto Moon Island, a location close by.  Developing a 1.65 megawatt turbine on Moon Island will be able to generate enough electricity to power 807 households(6).  Just recently, two 600kW turbines have been installed, generating 2 million kW hours per year, thereby saving $250,000 a year in energy costs(7).

            In order to reduce heating and cooling concerns, improvements within households, businesses, and municipalities can be utilized to advance cooling and heating practices.  Our firm can improve air insulation and sealing in current and future buildings in order to conserve energy and reduce utility costs.  Improving basic insulation and sealing alone will reduce electrical costs for heating households by up to 30%(8).  Furthermore, by using alternative energy like geothermal heating, buildings will be more environmentally sound as heat can be generated using the ground.  In the summer time, a simple method to reduce electricity usage is to construct buildings utilizing passive solar energy.  For instance, designing buildings with more windows and glass structured designs in order to promote sun rays entering the area to decrease light generated by utilities.

            Alternative transportations can be designed as well to promote green living.  Enhancing commuter services will benefit the city.  By increasing alternative energy based commuter rail systems and increasing the amount of biking lanes, our firm will reduce the amount of traffic caused by cars(9).  Perhaps even slimming roads to reduce the amount of cars passing will help promote commuting within the city.  Assuring work places be accessible by commuter services will certainly enhance greener practices.

            Wastes generated by the city can also be managed by constructing more waste management facilities, especially incinerators and waste to energy plants.  From incinerators we can reuse the ashes produced to construct buildings, pavements, roads, and even bike paths.  For instance, the cinder blocks used to construct the boat house in Stony Brook University was built using the ashes generated by incinerators.  Therefore, Boston will be able to reuse its garbage and, at the same time, provide the basis to build more aspects of the city.  Also, waste to energy plants will allow us to have another source of energy in the form of methane, ethanol, and methanol by burning garbage.  Therefore, it will assure that everything used by the city of Boston will be re-circulated back into the city and be reused to promote its own welfare.

 

Las Vegas is also on the move to becoming an environmentally sound, green city like Boston, Massachusetts.  The region is simply described as a diversely populated township of approximately 560,000 people located on a vast, arid desert(10).  As an urbanized location, famous for its luxurious hotels and casinos, making Las Vegas a green city requires different design specifications in contrast to Boston’s development plan.

            Because of Las Vegas’ geographic location, its terrain is mainly arid land.  The sun rays are highly abundant in the area, producing approximately 22,000 kilojoules of solar radiation per square meter(11).  In that sense, utilizing the sun as a power source would be extremely beneficial to turning the city green.  Redesigning state buildings and businesses to promote alternative energy technologies will be essential to redevelop Las Vegas, especially saving taxpayers millions of dollars in utility costs(12).  Including photovoltaics in construction projects are considerably profitable, especially when adding them to the city’s current establishments like casino hotels.  The large, tall structures would have a broader surface area and thus have a greater capacity for solar power.  Also, redesigning the casinos to utilize passive solar designs can have a modern appeal to it.  Adding large, glass windows to allow daylight to enter the buildings can be designed artistically to be aesthetically appealing to the public, while, at the same time, promoting green building.

            Similarly to the practices used in Boston, improving insulation and sealing will reduce electricity consumption.  However, the difference between Boston and Las Vegas is the extreme heat waves that occur naturally in the Las Vegas region.  Therefore, air circulation is essential to keep buildings cool.  Consequently, buildings should be designed with high ceilings because hot air rises, so, as a result, the ground on which people walk on in the buildings will be kept cool naturally(13).  To decrease the amount of heat gained in a building when the large glass windows have been installed, we should also include floor and ceiling fans, all energized by solar power.  Other than that, air conditioning will all be powered by air conditioning systems in order to make conditions livable.

            Transportation systems can be effectively managed in Las Vegas.  Because much of the life in Las Vegas lies in the casino tourist region, servicing tourists and citizens with shuttles and buses will make Las Vegas greener.  Additionally, providing transportation in and out of the Las Vegas strip to other counties can enhance greener practices.  Unlike in Boston, biking paths may not be the best alternative because weather in Las Vegas can reach above 90˚F, which can be very uncomfortable to the public.

            Waste management in Las Vegas can be made more efficient by increasing the recycling program and handling of solid waste.  Like New York, Las Vegas produces a significant amount of waste due to its tourist attractions.  Therefore, in order to manage the refuse produced, our company should create an organized network that separates trash and recyclables effectively between businesses and households in order to more easily manage the wastes.  In addition, like in Boston, we should construct more waste to energy facilities and waste incineration plants.  As a result, we can also rely on the energy produced by the plants.  Also, through the incineration plants, as stated before, we can recycle our waste and utilize it for more constructive purposes.  Because of the possibility of public disapproval, such sites should be constructed away from the neighborhoods and, rather, off into the desert regions where citizens do not reside.

 

Sources:

 

[1] www.cityofboston.gov...        

2,3 www.cityofboston.gov

4 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090605171242.htm

5 http://www.cityofboston.gov/Images_Documents/Article%2088%20Wind%20Zoning_tcm3-17352.pdf

6,7 http://www.cityofboston.gov/environmentalandenergy/renewableenergy/wind.asp

8 http://www.cityofboston.gov/news/default.aspx?id=4735

9 http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/05/boston_announce_1.html

10 www.lasvegasnevada.gov...

11 Solar Energy.  National Geographic Magazine.  February 1981.  Pg 68

12 www.lasvegassun.com

13 www.ecomii.com...

 

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.