Two of Ithaca's Climate Showcase Communities broke ground in late June: the TREE neighborhood at EcoVillage at Ithaca and the Aurora Pocket Neighborhood (APN) project in downtown Ithaca. TREE will include 25 new homes and 15 apartments and the Aurora Pocket Neighborhood will add 3 new homes to the community. Construction for both communities is expected to be completed by September 2013.  

The Aurora Pocket Neighborhood includes many green features. Photo credit: New Earth Living.

These two residential developments will help meet Tompkins County's 2050 goal of an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions today-using existing and emerging technologies and practices. The homes in the TREE and APN neighborhoods are designed to be 80 percent more efficient than current residential buildings in the U.S.  

Tompkins County, in partnership with EcoVillage, was awarded a federal grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in April 2011 to demonstrate how innovative, on-the-ground approaches can be used to create neighborhoods that enhance residents' quality of life while using fewer resources. The EPA grant focuses on documenting EcoVillage's innovative, successful methods of green building, mixed land-use planning, and community development, and applying those methods to more mainstream developments in a variety of settings. 

"The EPA Climate Showcase Communities project grew out of an unexpected collaboration between folks in the community who were already doing this work," noted County Commissioner of Planning and Community Sustainability Ed Marx. "This federal grant provides us with the opportunity to elevate this work and communicate it to a broader audience. Our project is the only one focused on new residential development among the 50 EPA climate showcase communities nationwide," he explained.

A recent analysis showed that the ecological footprint of residents in the two existing neighborhoods at EcoVillage at Ithaca is 70% less than the U.S. average. The TREE neighborhood aims to decrease this footprint even more, while preserving a high quality of life for residents. TREE will employ state-of-the-art "Passivhaus" design, which originated in Germany and is considered the greenest building standard in the world. There are about 25,000 Passivhaus certified homes in Europe, but only 13 homes in the U.S. have achieved Passivhaus certification. The TREE community will triple the U.S. figure by constructing 25 new homes which qualify for Passivhaus certification. Estimated home prices range from $85,000 for studio apartments to $250,000 for a four-bedroom home.

The Aurora Pocket Neighborhood is a project of New Earth Living LLC, and a collaboration between builder Sue Cosentini and designer Rob Morache. The mission of New Earth Living is to create a new model for living that fosters social connections, affordability, and a minimal ecological footprint. The APN site is at the corner of North Aurora and Marshall Streets in Ithaca, in an existing neighborhood. Homes will be arranged around a common courtyard with many raised vegetable beds and fruit and nut trees. This central courtyard will serve as a gathering place for residents and provide opportunities for social connection and home gardening.

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by Dominic Frongillo, TCCPI Steering Committee Member

ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability has over 1,220 local government members from 70 countries, representing more than 569,885,000 constituents. Founded in 1990, ICLEI provides support, training, and collaboration for tracking metrics and implementing sustainable development practices to members. Local ICLEI members include the City of Ithaca, Town of Ithaca, Town of Dryden, and Tompkins County.

I had the opportunity to travel to the 2012 ICLEI World Congress from June 14-17 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil in the lead up to Rio+20, with support from ICLEI and TCCPI. 

Dominic Frongllio addressed the ICLEI World Congress in June.

Held every three years, the World Congress is the largest global convening of ICLEI membership. This year, the conference immediately preceded the Rio+20 U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development, held on the 20th anniversary of the first Rio Summit and a disappointment for many observers.

In the absence of true leadership on sustainable development from national governments, cities and other subnational actors are driving the world's transition towards sustainability. Local governments are more agile and responsive than nation-states, and are actively engaging citizens to raise awareness about climate change and sustainability. Across the world, cities are shifting their strategies for pursing sustainability from top-down approaches to multi-sector collaborative approaches.

The ICLEI World Congress was inspiring and hopeful. Over 1,600 participants from 900 local governments in 64 countries were in attendance. Presentations and conversations were lively and covered a refreshing range of emerging topics. Over 250 speakers provided case studies and research on topics ranging from green economy, resource-efficiency, smart infrastructure, climate mitigation, resilience, and community vitality.

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