Commentary on urbanism and nonprofit communications by Jeff Muckensturm.
The article I wrote about Architecture for Humanity’s Open Architecture Network was published on Wired.com today. It’s called “Design Within Reach: Architecture for Humanity Builds the Future of Housing.”
The article was written as a part of an experiment in crowdsourced journalism called Assignment Zero. Let me know what you think. Also, check out all the other Assignment Zero articles on Wired.com.
The Independent reports, “The combined forces of population growth and urbanization are creating a planet of slums, where the urban population will have doubled by 2030, according to a report released by the United Nations.”
“The UN’s findings echo recent predictions that 2008 will see a watershed in human history as the balance of the world’s population tips from rural to urban. Many of the new urbanites will be poor and the shelters into which they move, or are born, will be slums.”
Source: Planet of The Slums: UN Warns Urban Populations Set To Double
Zero-emission Home | From BBC
The BBC reports, “The UK has unveiled the first zero-emission house that will set the environmental standard for all new homes in future.”
The “Lighthouse” features solar panels, a biomass boiler, and water efficiency devices such as rainwater harvesting. Also, its owners will be able to tell if they are wasting any energy through a “smart metering” system.
There’s no details about when the house will be built, how much it’ll cost, or what materials will be used for construction. So, really, it’s not the first zero-emission house until it’s built.