Write this down: The Masdar Initiative

[Just take the 5 minutes to watch this...]

So, with each passing month it seems like another building is going for some kind of LEED certification here in town.  Sustainable design is here and even the SHBA are pushing ahead with their own Built Green initiative.  Downtown, the Saranac Hotel's emphasis on sustainable design is impressive.  If you haven't walked through it you're missing out.  We're doing some things well here in Spokane. 

Then we heard of the Masdar Initiative and the scale of Abu Dhabi's efforts to reinvent itself as the world leader in renewable and sustainable energy.  The city they're building - Masdar- will be all new and by 2016 will be home for roughly 50,000 people.  Masdar will have:

• Zero carbon emissions
• Zero waste
• Fossil fuel consumption will be zero
• All waste produced will be recycled
• No one will live further than 600ft from essential services

Oh, did you hear that Dodge is rolling out a completely redesigned Challenger?  It's friggen' sweet...

• Solar City to Rise in Persian Gulf; Why Not Arizona? - [NY Times]

Comments

[Bart Mihailovich]

WOW - I feel like I have seen the future. This just goes to show you what can be done if money is - first of all available, but second of all used properly. Just think that if all of the money that went into the war, if just 25% of it were used on funding projects of this sort, America could easily slash it's carbon emissions in half and clean it's land, water and air to levels that haven't been seen since the population was about 1/4 what it is now. Screw this I'm moving to Masdar

[Andy]

Thanks for the info on Masdar. The concept and vision of the city is something to definitely get excited about.

After hearing Barack's inspirational speech last night and reading about the future city of Masdar, I'm starting to believe the possibility for a better tomorrow is becoming a reality.