Sustainable Pratt

Fall 2008 Sustainable Design Course

2008-08-05T12:35:00.002-04:00

Pratt Institute's Interior Design Department and Professor Carol Crawford will offer the Sustainable Design Course in the Fall 2008 semester. The 2 credit course will be offered on Thursdays from 2 - 4:50 pm on the Pratt Brooklyn campus. The goal of the course is to enable designers to make environmentally-sensitive decisions and how to implement them.

Students may tailor a research or creative project to their individual interests.

Please contact Carol Crawford at carol@ccenvironments.com

Pratt's Center for Sustainable Design Studies Faculty Stipends

2008-07-20T13:25:00.004-04:00

Pratt's Academic Director of Sustainability, Debera Johnson, has recently announced a Faculty Stipend Program a series of efforts to engage and support Pratt's educational community in creating innovative ways to bring environmental awareness to students. The program is offered through Pratt's Center for Sustainable Design Studies (CSDS), created and funded by the FIPSE grant awarded to Pratt last year, "Greener by Design".

The program consists of 3 types of stipends:

CSDS faculty Development Stipends: to support research, conferences and activities that will help faculty integrate sustainability into existing courses link to an application here.

CSDS Creative Cluster Stipends: to support workshops, lectures and the development of courses and projects that include faculty from different departments

CSDS Living Lab Stipends: to support faculty in integrating facilities and academic initiatives through the greening of Pratt's campus

Urban Planning, Passed by the Campaign Trail

2008-07-20T12:36:00.002-04:00

Randall Crane, Vice-Chair of Urban Planning at UCLA, contributed a provocative opinion piece to Planetizen, entitled Cities: The Missing Presidential Campaign Issue. Crane also co-author of the forthcoming Oxford Handbook on Urban Planning, frames his writings on the advice he would give to presumptive Presidential Candidates Obama and McCain. That advice in one word...Cities!
Crane makes some interesting points about place making and policy and how the importance of Cities as the agents of change concerning these issues is often overlooked. "Because the downtowns and suburbs of cities, where the supermajority of Americans toil, relax, and puzzleout their lives, are invisible in the 2008 campaign."

He goes on to point out that only one candidate, Obama has a statement on urban policy.

Agreed, this is an important issue, as the majority of our population now exists within urban areas. And it brings about a lot of questions.....why is rural policy the favorite of presidential campaigns, if the majority of voters reside in urban areas? Has Campaign strategy just not caught up with the population shift from rural to urban? I think not....Perhaps it is the political homogeneity that exists in cities, the majority tend to be Democratic, so possibly this is why the campaign targets those voters that do not consistently vote democratic and associate more with rural lifestyles.

"Renewable" Petroleum

2008-06-24T21:18:00.006-04:00

Yes, that's right, a "renewable" form of the black gold we are all advocating against. But this petroleum is not a fossil fuel, it just combusts like one.

When the founding members of LS9, Inc. asked the question..."If you removed all constraints, what would the ideal biofuel be?" Their answer was petroleum.

It is no surprise that such an idea would come from LS9's President, Bob Walsh, who spent 30+ years employed with Shell Oil.

Before counting the ways in which calling petroleum a biofuel is totally absurd, let's look at the science....

LS9 has patented a process for turning fatty-acids into hydrocarbons or what they call petroleum replacement products.

Where are they getting the fatty acids? From "renewable" sugars. The novel part comes from the process by which they ferment the sugars to create hydrocarbons. Most of us understand fermentation as the production of ethanol and carbon dioxide, like in beer and wine, a reaction driven by yeast, the enzyme that breaks down sugars into fatty acids then alcohols and CO2.

The magic of LS9 is a proprietary process that converts sugars into oils not alcohols. How do they do it? With patented microbes that have patented enzymes that convert sugars (Carbons, hydrogens and oxygens) into hydrocarbons (carbons and hydrogens) so what are the patented microbes and their patented enzymes doing with the oxygens? Where did the oxygen go?

LS9 will tell you its NOT contrary to the laws of thermodynamics, its just pushing the frontiers of synthetic biology and industrial biotechnology....!?!

TRAIN Your Produce to Go Green

2008-06-24T12:43:00.006-04:00

Last week the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council hosted a "brown bag" lunch presentation featuring Railex the newly formed closed loop track, 55 refrigerated car train line. Railex runs from Wallawalla Washington to Upstate New York in 5 days, hauling a mile long produce train of 55 refrigerated cars, each car containing 4 truckloads- roughly 190,000 pounds of produce per car - for a total of 200 truckloads per train.

With the ever growing interest in local foods, Railex may not, at first, seem like a sustainable solution to our current food system. However as consumers continue to demand out of season lettuce and strawberries, a cost effective, diesel truck alternative to meet these demands is an environmental asset. Each train saves 100,000 gallons of diesel fuel and avoids the release of 85,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalents.

And that is just the first train route! Railex has plans to expand its territory, beginning in September they will run a similar train from California to New York, with plans to add facilities and acquire track in Tennessee and Florida, connecting all 4 corners of the US. Each route removing diesel trucks from the roadways and avoiding significant CO2 emissions from the air.

Railex operates cost effectively on routes greater that 150 miles, and has therefor not pursued regional distribution from its facilities, ie. upstate NY to Hunt's Point in the South Bronx. However they are committed to building relationships and collaborating with Amtrak. Through such collaboration a distribution line from Selkirk, NY. to Oak Point and Hunt's Point may be possible....Cleaner Air for South Bronx!

DOT Releases "Sustainable Streets"

2008-04-29T10:47:00.004-04:00

New York City DOT has released a new strategic plan, Sustainable Streets. NYC has 6,000 miles of streets, about 1/4 of our land mass and the DOT has a plan to make our streets the safest and most pedestrian friendly of all big cities. A clear initiative in the report is to make the streets safer, most potential bikers and pedestrians feels the traffic on the streets is unsafe and are deterred from alternative transit. Other ideas include, Bus Rapid Transit Corridors, practices to decrease parking spot cruising and doubling bike rider-ship in the city.

NYS DEC Offers Green Schools Challenge

2008-04-22T23:50:00.003-04:00

Earth Day, April 22, 2008
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation in collaboration with the Department of Education announced a new Green Schools Challenge contest to bolster recycling efforts in every school across the state.

The year long competition will see just what schools, all public and private elementary, middle and high schools can do to:

Recycle paper, metal glass and other materials

Buy and promote recycled products, and reuse packaging

Reduce waste and toxins

Conserve water and energy

Jumpstart composting programs

Winners are eligible for prizes and will be announced on Earth Day 2009!

Pratt Begins an Eco-Reps Program

2008-04-16T16:30:00.002-04:00

Living and Visualizing a Greener Campus through Peer to Peer Outreach

Engage* Empower* Conserve* Invest

The Eco Reps Program, originally started at Tufts University directly involves students in applying their creativity and sustainable design skills to their own lives on campus. Through this program, students will be empowered to decrease their environmental impact and engage their peers and ultimately the whole campus to do the same.

Through training and workshops Eco Reps will learn sustainable practices for energy & water conservation, waste management, recycling, sustainable food systems and eco-consumerism. Eco Reps will be the "go to" people on campus to inform all others of these best practices as well as disseminate updates on campus-wide events and initiatives.

If you would like to learn more about the program or apply to be an Eco Rep contact info@sustainablepratt.org

Sustainable Food Systems

2008-04-08T15:21:00.000-04:00

During Green Week, we mobilized around the social equity issue of access to healthy foods for all communities. And we got lots of support!

There are many out there that want access to healthier food systems and believe in the power of healthy living through healthy eating!

Sustainable Pratt is continuing to lead the sustainability movement by drafting a local foods procurement policy for Pratt's cafeteria. If you would like to help in this initiative, contact info@sustainablepratt.org

Here are just a few of the NYC groups out there....

Green Market NYC
Part of the NYC Council on the Environment and organizers of all green markets in NYC including the weekend one at Fort Greene Park, just blocks away from Pratt's Brooklyn Campus on DeKalb Avenue!

Slow Food USA
An organization committed to "a food system that is based on the principles of high quality and taste, environmental sustainability and social justice."
They also have a "Slow Food on Campus" initiative, visit the site to see participating schools.

Just Food they work with Fort Greene and Clinton Hill Community Supported Agriculture groups

The New York Industrial Retention Network (NYIRN)
has an initiative called "Food From New York", showcasing local manufacturers of specialty foods

And to learn more about the politics of food systems, visit Sustainable Table make sure to check out the Eat Well Guided Tour of America!

Green Wood Design

2008-04-08T14:43:00.002-04:00

As Pratt moves forward with the construction of its new Myrtle Avenue Building, slated to become LEED certified, it has come to our attention that 6 - 8 trees are currently within the buildings footprint. So to make the best of these natural resources, we challenge students and faculty to design creative uses for this green (meaning non-treated and wet) wood.

Here is one idea.....

"Turn your bowls out of green wood, the wetter the better, do the whole operation at one time, allow them to dry in paper bags, and then apply a finish." ~excerpt and image from California based woodworker Howard Lewin.

To read the full document on how to turn bowls from Green Wood

Sustainable Pratt recommends using a Propolis based finish for raw woods. Propolis is a remarkable substance created by honeybees to keep their hive healthy. It neutralizes any bacteria, fungi or virus which enters a hive. One of the most powerful antibiotics found in nature, it is a complex blend of waxes, resins, balsams, oils and a small amount of pollen. And it makes a good all natural finish for woods!

Welcome to Sustainable Pratt

2008-04-08T13:00:00.000-04:00

A message from Pratt President Schutte and the Academic Senate:
President Schutte:
As a leading school of art, design and architecture, Pratt is uniquely poised to develop creative responses to the major environmental challenges facing our society. The professional practices over the next 20 years of those who are now students of design will play a major role in determining whether recent innovations such as carbon-neutral buildings, design for recycling, and fabrication and construction processes that minimize waste and energy consumption become common practice in the United States. I join the committed faculty and student members of Sustainable Pratt in celebrating the Institute's accomplishments to date and look forward to working with them to integrate sustainability principles fully into curricula and campus operations.

Academic Senate: http://www.prattsenate.org/

Jenny Lee, Academic Senate President
The Academic Senate is honored to continue its support of sustainability and green campus issues, tangibly manifested in the all-institute Sustainable Pratt group of faculty, students and staff. In September 2004, the Senate's Faculty Focus Group recommended the following to Pratt Institute's five-year Strategic Plan.

SUSTAINABILITY AND GREEN CAMPUS ISSUES
Sustainability and Green Campus issues should be an integral part of the institute's Strategic Planning process. Pratt should examine its institutional position and role regarding these issues, and consider the following:
1. begin thinking about our ecological impact on the planet
2. move beyond compliance, toward a responsible and proactive mindset
3. have a "Sustainability" or "Green Campuses' faculty representative on every committee that addresses strategic planning, construction, building, procurement, etc."

Green Week's C40 Exhibition Call for Entry Winners

2008-03-21T19:26:00.018-04:00

To prepare for C40 Solutions a Global Sustainable Design Exhibition, Sustainable Pratt in collaboration with the Academic Director of Sustainability and Design 21 issued a call for entries to all Pratt Institute departments.

We received entries from Interior Design, Industrial Design, Digital Arts, Architecture, Urban Design and City Planning. These diverse entries and winners can be viewed at the Design 21/ Sustainable Pratt site. Entries were juried by Debera Johnson: Center for Sustainable Design Studies, Jacqui Khiu: Design 21, Donna Moran: School of Art and Design, and Green Week Keynote Speaker Paul Polak.

Here is a quick list of entries, find details on each entry below......

Evan Dublin Industrial Design

Community Natatorium Graduate Architecture Studio

Generative Wind Component Sian-Yew-Lian, Graduate Architecture

Crisis Fronts Undergrad Architecture Studio

Sustainability as Context Brendan Sheehan

Integrative Healing Center and Maya Visitor Center Robert Panko, Interior Design

ToySource Hallie Trattner, Yoshiko Iobe and Eileen Diaz Graduate Interior Design

ToySource Andrea Ferrer, Susan Lam and Kristen L'esperance Graduate Interior Design

THIS IS NOT GARBAGE Melissa Schroder, Margot Walker, and Juliana Zambrano, Graduate Urban Design

ENViHarlem: A New Landscape Kurt Altschul, Sergio Espriella and Sanksshep Mahendra, Graduate Urban Design

Annie Clark Graduate City Planning

Miyuki Fujibayashi, William Mackay, Kevin Reilly, Jaime Stein, Preston Worsham and Alex Zamudio Graduate City Planning

Evan Dublin of Undergraduate Industrial Design submitted a set of 3 environmentally minded products, beginning with MAVE: a root targeted drip irrigation system, Eco Coloring Cards an interaction between art and nature and Green Army, recruits for greener landscapes!

The School of Architecture is represented by two stunning entries:

The Graduate School's Comprehensive Architectural Project Studio & Integrated Building Systems class submitted their Community Natatorium. This program represented a range of challenges, including design for both humid and dry climates, responding to the needs of interior and exterior wet environments, and designing structures to accommodate both large and small spans. The Studio emphasized the use of local topographies, environments, social and economic histories, means and methods as a source for constructing the project design. The students were given flexibility to adjust the ratio of outdoor and indoor space in response to local climatic conditions.

The studio was divided into 4 climatic regions;
Designing for
Colorado Springs, Colorado were graduate students; Lars Berg, Jennifer Hardy and Daniel Ramirez

Seattle, Washington Sheila Charm, Chie Fuyuki, Alex Soss-Djekic

Sydney, Australia Francis Bitonti, Severn Clay, Brian Osborn

Santa Monica, California Liam Ahern, Raphael Alba, Benjamin Keiser

Graduate Architecture student Sian Yew Lian entered with a Generative Wind Component. A stunning structure meant to harness wind energy.

The Undergraduate School of Architecture entry is Crisis Fronts a collaborative work by: Katie Adee, James Balduf, Asta Fivgas, Natasha Harper, Randall Hornung, Irene Huang, Jung Hyuck, Dimitris Kaprinis, Yohan Kim and Paul Stein.

Crisis Fronts examines the contribution of architecture to global climate change....."Projected further into the future, architecture and weather may longer be simply distinguishable from one another and architecture must be equipped to perform as its own environmental system, reinforcing rather than denying its capacity to enter into a dynamic exchange of energies with the climate. Such a meteorological approach has the potential to redefine the material, organizational, programmatic and performative dimensions of architecture."

Undergraduate Architecture student Brendan SheeHan designed a poster for the exhibit, entitled Sustainability as Context

From the Department of interior Design come four exciting entries...

Robert Panko designs with sustainable materials and living wall components in his Integrative Healing Center and Maya Visitor Center a collaborative effort with fellow student Louis Tzu-Chen.

Graduate Interior Design Students were challenged to design a space for ToySource, a sustainable toy store for all ages in Brooklyn.

Hallie Trattner, Yoshiko Iobe and Eileen Diaz focus on garnering LEED points while creating a fluid interior landscape.

Andrea Ferrer, Susan Lam and Kristen L'esperance examine the social context of sustainable design in their ToySource design.

From the Urban Design Program, Graduate Students Melissa Schroder, Margot Walker, and Juliana Zambrano examine the challenges in planning for a carbon neutral city, in THIS IS NOT GARBAGE. This entry challenges the entire concept of "waste" and the infrastructure designed to "manage" it. The film was created to disseminate educational information concerning an integrated neighborhood-scale materials reuse and recovery program.

While Kurt Altschul, Sergio Espriella and Sanksshep Mahendra propose ways to mitigate the heat island effect in their film ENViHarlem: A New Landscape

From the Department of City and Regional Planning:

Annie Clark suggests ways to mitigate storm water run off and implement storm water management practices on Pratt's Campus.

Sustainable Development Studio students; Miyuki Fujibayashi, William Mackay, Kevin Reilly, Jaime Stein, Preston Worsham and Alex Zamudio propose a comprehensive sustainability plan for the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Focusing on the Navy Yard's reliance on automobiles for transportation of employees and products. The group proposes a combination of Bus Rapid Transit Lines and Bicycle sharing to bring the Navy Yard from Isolation to Circulation

March 24th - 28th 2008

2008-01-25T09:42:00.001-05:00

REVIEW THE 2ND ANNUAL GREEN WEEK EVENTS!!!
This year's events were great and varied! View the Weeks events here. Sustainable Pratt membership had grown by leaps and bounds, and we are still growing! Meeting at 12:15pm on the first wednesday of every month, in the Faculty Dining Room, Pratt's Brooklyn Campus. The events are representative of the great diversity and commitment of all members.

We have tried to give equal representation to all aspects of sustainability: social equity, environmental sensitivity and economic vitality. Each day of the week had a theme and activities were mostly scheduled to take place outdoors as to make events more available to the surrounding community.

MONDAY - GREEN WEEK KICK OFF
TRANSPORTATION TUESDAY - BIKE ENTHUSIASTS WELCOME!!
WEDNESDAY - SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE
THURSDAY - GARDEN AND GARBAGE - PLANT, GROW, COMPOST AND RECYCLE
GREENBOUNTY - LOCAL ORGANIC HEALTHY FOODS FOR ALL!!

Events of note include:
Ongoing sustainable materials exhibits organized by the Interior Design department, held in the JTC Design Center
Siegel Gallery opening reception for C40 Solutions: Pratt Call for Entries, an Institute wide student competition for NYC's representation in C40 Solutions an International Sustainable Design Exhibition....Monday
Free!!! Bike repair and advocacy table...Tuesday
Lectures on Energy Efficiency in Buildings Engineering Building...Wednesday
Worm Bins and Sunflowers....Thursday
A Green Market at Pratt!!!!...Friday

Sustainable Pratt and the Office of the Academic Director of Sustainability were thrilled to welcome Green Week Key Note Speaker PAUL POLAK, author of "Out of Poverty" and founder of Design for the Other 90%a social design network. Mr. Polak discussed the over 800 million people in the world living on less than a dollar a day, and how to design products which enable them to elevate their economic status.

Mr. Polak participated in judging the C40 Solutions: Pratt Call for Entries competition prior to his 6pm lecture, Thursday, March 27th in Higgins Hall Auditorium. Followed by a reception and book signing!!

All Green Week Events were open to the public and Free!!!! Our goal was and still is to spread the word of sustainable living and raise awareness of all the initiatives taking place at Pratt Institute and throughout the Pratt Community!

Innovative Light and Shade @ Pratt

2008-01-20T23:00:00.000-05:00

Pratt Institute's Energy Conscience Architecture Professor Brent Porter, is leading innovation in lighting design through his efforts in the Christina Porter Lighting Lab.

The Christina Porter Lighting Lab presented a pin-up of its recent work, Feb. 22 - 24 as a precursor to plans for Pratt Institute's GREEN WEEK. Projects include a Velux Skylight research and a "roofscape" design exploration. Tyler Kicera modeled his ventilating skylight system with slanting interior soffits to deflect sunlight as well as artificial light as simulated in the Lighting Lab. Both "daylighting" and "night-lighting" blend together on a cloudy day. The slanting soffits have a double function similar to the skylights by Louis Kahn at Yale's British Art Center. This "roofscape" work is being expanded to tame Rhino and Maya computer languages for the Navy Yard market development as well as other student projects. This includes the aquatic center in Third Year Design.

While generating form according to script, why not make the unique computerized extractions provide daylighting throughout the year, add passive solar gain in winter but shadow the interior in summer as skylights draw hot air from the architecture? Photovoltaic arrays can provide the hot spot at roof level adjacent to skylights to enhance the "thermal stack" effect. In the exhibition, the latest photovoltaic collector demonstrated how not only 90 per cent of the coating converts sunlight to electricity but also provides a surprising amount of daylighting to the interior below.

A variety of sundials and solar envelopes illustrated their use for studying a design's access to sunlight without shading neighboring properties. The same techniques can be used to develop skylights and detailed roofscape. The work shown returned to the Pratt area's brownstones and what can be done with one indigenous element of the roof: the ventilating, skylighted cupola. Simulations showed how the thermal stack can cool row-housing in summer while not only enhancing daylighting of stairwells but also incorporating camera obscura techniques to bring color to an interior.

Pratt Entry WINS in Architecture 2030 Design Competition

2008-01-20T19:23:00.003-05:00

PRATT INSTITUTE Commercial Design Student, Miles Courtney is the Body Painting Winner!
During the Focus the Nation Events on January 30th and 31st, Pratt Institute held video and body painting design competitions sponsored by Architecture 2030. The extraordinary image displayed here was created by Miles Courtney, an Advertising student at Pratt.
Click here to view all of the face and body painting entries. The following students, under the guidance of Architecture Professor Brent Porter, submitted video entries:

Tyler Kicera, Aurora Robinson, Diane Smith, Gordon LaPlante, Lucas Chung & Ashley Murphy, Paul Stein.

To view AND VOTE FOR the 6 Pratt Architecture Student video entries click here. Images of Pratt body painting entries were taken by Keith Price a photography student at Pratt. An Exhibit of the Body Painting Entries will soon be hung in Pratt's Pi Shop. Stay Tuned!

Pratt as a Bicycle Friendly Community

2008-01-19T23:45:00.002-05:00

As Pratt Institute's campus moves toward sustainability, a key ingredient for greening will be modes of transportation. Amongst Sustainable Pratters, there is a push to embrace the bicycle!

As we gear up for Green Week, the third week in March, a gaggle of Bike enthusiasts have begun to serve up some great ideas to create a cyclist community here at Pratt!

#1. Create a bike station on campus! Whether you want to fix a flat, lube a chain, get a tune up or just talk shop, this would be a place on campus to rally the existing cyclist community and help it grow. The idea is to have a temporary setup during green week and when we get enough interest make it something more permanent. Perhaps at the new building on 524 Myrtle Ave.?!? Check out the bike kitchen a project on the campus of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

#2. In Paris and many other international cities, bike sharing is all the rage! Philly has already caught the bug, visit their Bike-Sharing Blog. And Mayor Bloomberg has proposed a bike share program for Governor's Island!

Let's Bring Pratt to the Lead! and place a bike share station next to 524 Myrtle, perfectly positioned for the community and sustainable pratters!

#3. Get funding to make Pratt a Bicycle Friendly Community! REI and Bicycle Friendly Communities (BFCs) have a grant program administered by the Bikes Belong Foundation in partnership with the League of American Bicyclists www.bikesbelong.org. They support designated and aspiring BFCs that desire and demonstrate bicycle friendliness. Transportation Alternatives received funding from this source.

If you are interested in learning more about making Pratt a Bicyclist's Haven, contact us at info@sustainablepratt.org

C40 International Design Exhibit

2008-01-19T23:40:00.003-05:00

Last Summer, New York invited leaders from 40 of the largest cities in the world to participate in a climate change summit. These 40 cities in collaboration with the Clinton Climate Initiative formed the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group. A group committed to tackling Climate Change.

This Spring (beginning March 24th), Pratt will begin assembling an International Green Design Exhibit with works from Art & Design schools of the C40 Cities. Pratt Institute will be the representative of New York City and to chose the project to represent Pratt a C40 Call For Entries competition will be held during Green Week This event will be part of the ongoing effort at Pratt to educate future designers in sustainable best practices. If you would like to help in this effort or have submissions for consideration, please contact us at info@sustainablepratt.org

Greening Pratt's Campus

2008-01-17T22:29:00.000-05:00

The Green Walk is a visual expression of the possibilities to green Pratt's campus. The Green Walk is part of a large over-arching plan developed by the Office of the Academic Director of Sustainability (ADoS) at Pratt. The plan will work with faculty, staff or students to develop proposals that help green the campus. ADoS is "hoping to pepper the campus with various projects, point out where interesting research is being done and designate areas where the campus has gone green. This coordinated plan will help raise money to support and sustain individual projects - and hopefully get a major funder to sponsor the "green walk" and make it a comprehensive educational exhibit."

Similar to the representation of our richness in Art & Design through the sculpture garden, the "green walk" will be a physical representation of our commitment to sustainability.

Sustainable South Bronx Leads the way Toward Green Jobs

2008-01-16T12:20:00.000-05:00

Green For All a collaborative effort between green jobs advocate Van Jones and Sustainable South Bronx Director Majora Carter has a mission.

"Help Build a Green Economy Strong Enough to Lift People Out of Poverty"

How do they plan to do this...by calling for a Just and Sustainable Stimulus Package with targeted investments in energy efficiency, mass transit, and a "Clean Energy Corps" to provide Americans with jobs and service opportunities, "creating a green pathway out of poverty".

Their mission is timely considering the current Whitehouse Frenzy to stimulate the economy. Green For All is advocating for an honest economic stimulus which will provide living wage jobs and propel green technology, not a one time reallocation of our tax money. It's simple..."give a man a fish and he can eat for a day, teach him how to fish and he can feed himself for life".

Get the latest on their progress @ Sustainable South Bronx's January Newsletter

Urban Trails

2007-11-11T12:58:00.001-05:00

How Do You Experience Nature in the City?

For us urban dwellers, defining, interpreting and experiencing
nature on the urban scale may seem a social oxymoron. Historically the
city has been kept separate from nature, removed because society tells
us that nature in its pristine state cannot exist within the
industrious confines of the city. Perhaps it is this stigma which
influences our perception of nature in the city. Or perhaps, it is the juxtaposition or the unexpectedness of
experiencing nature in an urban setting, that keeps the actual event
energized and anything but commonplace.

So then, how would one design a Nature Trail in the City?

"People observe the city while moving through it, and along these
paths the other environmental elements are arranged and related" --
Kevin Lynch, The Image of The City

As a school of design, Pratt's urban campus offers great potential as
a canvas for the creation of a nature trail. The right-brained of us
may jump to images of indigenous plants flanking a meandering path of
soft damp wood chips.

But would this method of merely recreating nature really harness the
creativity of our campus? Or could the creation of a nature trail on campus be an ongoing
exercise in design, a conceptual exercise constantly evolving and reinterpreting nature, path and design.

In a publication of Public Art Review, Foundations Professor,
Cathey Billian articulates the challenge of such a design concept.

"For me, the loudest knock of all, however, has been from passion
trying to enter into the language of both public art and environmental
interpretation-- two site-based disciplines that create a powerful
sense of destination, but often leave out the sense of process: the
exploring, perceiving, and digging--deeper. Perhaps the real
challenge is to give this process material forms--to infuse the art
product with the passion of the creative act."

And if this process were to take the shape of a trail..."Suggested in
the trail is the possibility of stopping, altering, or magnifying time
as we normally experience it."

The Bigger Better Bottle Bill

2007-11-11T12:26:00.001-05:00

NYPIRG, The New York Public Interest Research Group is advocating for a Bigger and Better New York Bottle Bill!

Since 1982 more than 90 Billion bottles and cans have been returned and recycled in New York because of the 5-cent refundable deposit on beer and soda containers. Making the Bottle Bill one of New York's most effective environmental programs.

It is time to make New York's most successful litter prevention and recycling program even more effective. Because the bottle bill was enacted in 1982, before bottled water and sports drinks became popular, it did not include non-carbonated beverages. According to NYPIRG, it does not make sense for the bill to cover a bottle of sparkling water and for plain water to end up as pollution.

The Bigger Better Bottle Bill updates the State's redemption program to include bottled water and other non-carbonated beverages.

***It also requires beverage companies to transfer unclaimed bottle deposits to the State's Environmental Protection Fund to support clean air, water, and open space***

Sustainable Pratt is in support of the proposed updates to New York's Bottle Bill! You too can Take Action!

Mayor Bloomberg Supports a Carbon Tax

2007-11-11T12:13:00.000-05:00

On November 2nd, Mayor Bloomberg announced his support for a National Carbon Tax at a two-day climate protection summit in Seattle organized by the United States Conference of Mayors. Bloomberg urges that directly taxing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases will slow global warming, promote economic growth and spur technological innovation. A full copy of the speech is provided by the New York Times.

The Mayor addresses the main sticking point between Carbon tax and Cap and Trade strategies, price. As Bloomberg makes his point he refers to the European Union attempt at cap and trade which has struggled with pricing uncertainty. he goes on to emphasize that "Employment is good, pollution is bad" and he suggests that Congress should "use the revenue from pollution pricing to cut the payroll tax". In doing so the carbon tax would become a revenue-neutral tax, a progressive form of pollution pricing that is also supported by Al Gore and the Carbon Tax Center

On Campus: The Envirolution!

2007-06-12T15:20:00.000-04:00

Pratt Students have decided to Live and Lead the green movement by joining The Envirolution!

The Envirolution is a Movement, an Organization and a Brand striving to create awareness by encouraging volunteerism amongst a Green Web-Based Society. On their site they list the following goals:

Provide the Platform, Forum, and Network for anyone to contribute

Empower Youth to be participants and leaders in the movement

Engage Businesses to find and implement sustainable practices

Supply the unbrella organization to facilitate collaboration in the movement

The site is centered around a Three Spheres philosophy, their representation of the 3 pillars of sustainability: economy, society and environment. One of the unique aspects of the site is The Challenge a point based questionare covering all three spheres with an emphasis on overall well being. The Challenge is divided by age groups, to make it a fair game, High Schoolers and younger, College and Grad Students, Young Professionals, Adults and Retirees all get their own forum.

Stay Tuned for upcoming Envirolution Events on Campus!

Fostering Great Design and Sustainable Innovation

2007-06-11T15:52:00.000-04:00

Pratt's Design Incubator.."is a vibrant and energetic atmosphere supporting the entrepreneurial talents of designers, artists and architects selected from the Pratt Community who share a common goal: linking the social entrepreneur with the business of design.

The incubator sponsors environmental, social and cultural initiatives and benefits from a growing network of legal, business, engineering and manufacturing experts. Learn more about the incubator by visiting ,incubator.pratt.edu.

Historic Center @ Brooklyn Navy Yard

2007-05-17T13:10:00.000-04:00

November 7th, 2007. Mayor Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Quinn joined Brooklyn Navy Yard officials to announce the creation of a Historical Center at The Navy Yard. The new center will be a restoration of BNY Building 92 along Flushing Avenue. Building 92 was originally designed by US Capitol Architect Thomas U. Walter The project also includes the addition of a new 25,000 sq ft building to house the Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment. The City will supply $10 million to create the center, whose total cost of construction is estimated at $15 million, the additional $5 million will come from private investors. To view renderings of the new Historical Center go to Brownstoner