In the past couple of years, several documentary films have come out that are focused on the folly of fossil fuels (such as oil, gasoline, and natural gas), and new films have also been made to bring attention to the broader climate crisis. Most of these movies have been critically acclaimed.

Recent fuel films include:

Gasland (2009): about drilling for natural gas by “fracking” (hydraulic fracturing) (Gasland is currently airing on HBO and via HBO On Demand.)

Crude (2009): about the lawsuit on Chevron/Texaco’s contamination of an Amazon community in Ecuador

Fuel (2008): about biodiesel made from waste vegetable oil

A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash (2007)

Climate of Change (2010: Coming Soon): This film was created to present inspiring, uplifting stories of regular people around the world who have spearheaded a variety of local initiatives to combat climate change.

The Age of Stupid (2008)

Climate Refugees (2009)

The 11th Hour (2007)

If you’ve seen any of these films, let us know what you thought of them by posting a comment below.

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The Goldman Environmental Prize is the world’s largest award for grassroots environmentalists. This is the 21st year that the prize has been awarded. The winners are models of courage, and their stories are inspiring.

This year’s prize recipients are: Lynn Henning of Michigan (USA); Randall Arauz of Costa Rica; Humberto Rios Labrada of Cuba; Malgorzata Gorska of Poland; Thuli Brilliance Makama of Swaziland; and Tuy Sereivathana of Cambodia. Click on the links to read about—or watch a brief video about—each of this year’s recipients.

Last year’s recipient from the U.S. was Maria Gunnoe, who has fought to stop mountaintop-removal mining in West Virginia.

I’d like to let everyone know about these important new books, which were written by a few of my esteemed colleagues. Please click on the links below for more information about each tome:

Thriving Beyond Sustainability: Pathways to a Resilient Society, by Andres Edwards (New Society Publishers) — This book will be available in May (2010), but it can be pre-ordered now. Here’s an excerpt from the publisher’s description of the book: “Thriving Beyond Sustainability draws a collective map of individuals, organizations, and communities from around the world that are committed to building an alternative future—one that strives to restore ecological health; reinvent outmoded institutions; and rejuvenate our environmental, social, and economic systems. The projects and initiatives profiled are meeting the challenges of the day with optimism, hope, and results, leading the way in relocalization, green commerce, ecological design, environmental conservation, and social transformation.” Click here to read reviews of the book, the book’s Foreword (by Bill McKibben), Table of Contents, or an annotated bibliography.

Fundamentals of Integrated Design for Sustainable Building, by Marian Keeler and Bill Burke (John Wiley & Sons, 2009)— This book serves as an in-depth textbook for design students and a comprehensive reference for practitioners. It presents the history, issues, principles, technologies, process, and practice of sustainable building design, as well as case studies of model projects. In addition, it promotes active learning by providing design problems, research exercises, study questions, and discussion topics.

Several certification programs have emerged to rate the sustainability of mixed-use, neighborhood and community-scale developments—addressing a wider range of issues than previous rating systems for individual buildings have addressed. These broader-scale certification programs include: LEED for Neighborhood Development, One Planet Communities, and the Living Building Challenge. The programs’ requirements can be used as planning and design guidelines for any project, even if official third-party certification is not the goal.

1. LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED ND): LEED ND was developed as a collaboration between the U.S. Green Building Council, the Congress for the New Urbanism, and the Natural Resources Defense Council. LEED ND integrates the principles of smart growth, urbanism, and green building into neighborhood design. It aims to promote walkable, livable communities that reduce urban sprawl, decrease automobile dependence, provide housing close to jobs and services, and benefit environmental and public health. LEED ND credits are organized into the following categories: Smart Location and Linkage; Neighborhood Pattern and Design; Green Infrastructure and Buildings; Innovation and Design Process; and Regional issues.

LEED ND can be applied to developments of all sizes, and it can be applied to new developments or redevelopment projects. The first official, post-pilot version of the rating system was released at the end of 2009. A project can be recognized at any or all of the following stages, depending on where it is in the development process:

• Stage 1: Conditional approval of a LEED-ND plan, prior to entitlement. (This can help projects get support from the local government and community.)
• Stage 2: Pre-certification of a LEED-ND plan for fully-entitled projects. (This can help projects secure financing, expedited permitting, or tenants.)
• Stage 3: Certification of a project once construction has been completed.

LEED ND pilot developments that have been constructed include: Solea Condominiums in Washington DC (Stage 3 Gold certified); Eliot Tower in Portland, OR (Stage 3 Silver certified); Excelsior and Grand in St. Louis Park, MN (Stage 3 Certified); Whistler Crossing in Riverdale (Chicago area), IL (Stage 3 Certified); and Celadon in Charlotte, NC (Stage 3 Certified). And a couple of notable LEED ND pilot projects that are well underway are: Dockside Green in Victoria, British Columbia (Stage 2 Platinum certified plan), and Tassafaronga Village in Oakland, CA (Stage 2 Gold certified plan).

2. One Planet Communities: This is an international program that is part of the One Planet Living program developed by BioRegional, a UK-based environmental organization. One Planet Communities have the ambitious goal of reducing their ecological footprint by at least 80%, which would make them some of the greenest neighborhood developments in the world. The One Planet Living program is based on 10 principles in the following categories: zero carbon, zero waste, sustainable transport, local and sustainable materials, local and sustainable food, sustainable water, natural habitats and wildlife, culture and heritage, equity and fair trade, and health and happiness.  The first North American project to be endorsed by One Planet Communities is the 200-acre Sonoma Mountain Village in Rohnert Park, California. Sonoma Mountain Village is also registered as a LEED ND project. (I will be writing a separate blog post specifically about this community in the near future.)

3. Living Building Challenge: Like One Planet Communities, this is an international program that has developed deep-green standards that go beyond LEED requirements. This certification system can be applied to projects of any scale: from an individual building to a neighborhood or community design project.

In addition to these certification programs, many organizations are working to advance the sustainability of neighborhoods and communities in a variety of ways. Two active organizations that are focused primarily on planning, design, and development include: Partnership for Sustainable Communities (for whom I recently did some research and writing) and Urban Re:Vision. A number of local, grassroots initiatives for community sustainability, resiliency, and energy independence—such as Transition initiatives—are also gaining steam around the country and the world. Update (added 4/21/10): For a searchable database of “ecovillages” around the U.S. and the world, see the Global Ecovillage Network website.

Click here to download a more comprehensive listing of organizations and websites focused on sustainable communities (4-page, 80 KB PDF file – updated June 2010). The listing includes national, California-based, and San Francisco Bay Area resources.

For other good info on sustainable communities, smart growth, and green neighborhood design and development, check out Kaid Benfield’s NRDC blog.

In a later post, I’ll be covering larger-scale, municipal-level sustainable planning initiatives for entire cities and regions. Stay tuned.

The Lambi Fund of Haiti has an established track record of implementing successful programs for sustainable development and agriculture, community economic development, and economic justice in Haiti. Their local empowerment initiatives have helped to improve food security, water safety, resource conservation, and community self-sufficiency, particularly in rural areas. The Lambi Fund will be actively engaged in forward-thinking initiatives like these to help Haitian communities recover economically after this terrible earthquake. Please check out their website for details about their efforts.

In addition, a number of groups from around the world will be involved in rebuilding housing and other buildings in Haiti after the earthquake. Many of them will strive to build more sustainable, disaster-resistant structures. Click below to learn about the efforts of these important organizations:

• Architecture for Humanity
• PermaCorps for Haiti
  (also see this article from WorldChanging.com)
• Habitat for Humanity
• Global Green USA
• U.S. Green Building Council

For the more immediate relief needs of emergency/transitional shelter, a couple of options include: World Shelters and ShelterBox. Please consider supporting the work of one or more of these organizations by donating or volunteering for their projects.

Update (4/5/10): Also see this new commentary on Rebuilding in Haiti, by Allison Arieff on The New York Times website; and a description of several Haiti redevelopment programs suggested by Sustainable Land Development International.

The recently certified Salmon Creek Falls Environmental Center is the first LEED Platinum certified K-12 public school in California, and it is also the first building in Sonoma County to achieve LEED Platinum certification. (The first commercial/non-residential building, that is. I believe that a private residence in Healdsburg was actually the first project to achieve LEED Platinum in Sonoma County.) To the best of my knowledge, the Salmon Creek Falls Environmental Center is the first Platinum rated non-residential building in the entire North Bay region of the Bay Area (Sonoma, Napa, and Marin counties). The Center is located on the site of the Harmony Union Schools (Harmony Elementary and Salmon Creek Middle School) in Occidental, CA, a town in the redwoods to the west of Santa Rosa. The building serves the school district as well as the surrounding community. It includes an auditorium, cafeteria and kitchen, and meeting rooms; and it has many green features, including a vegetated, flower-covered “living roof.”

Here is my listing of all North Bay building projects that have achieved LEED certification to date. And here’s a longer listing of green building projects (of all sorts, not only LEED projects) that I’m aware of in the North Bay.

And a quick update on the stats for LEED Platinum projects worldwide: According to my latest calculations (as of December 2009), 46 states and 12 countries (including the U.S.) now have at least one LEED Platinum certified building. China and Great Britain are the latest countries to join the ranks of those with a LEED Platinum rated project. Within the United States, California—with more than 50 Platinum certified projects so far—is home to more Platinum projects than any other state.

If you’ll be in the San Francisco Bay Area during the first week of October, consider attending one or both of these entertaining and edifying events, which will be taking place in San Francisco and in West Marin County respectively:

West Coast Green, San Francisco
Expo + conference on green innovation for the built environment
Fort Mason Center
October 1-3, 2009 (Thursday – Saturday)
www.westcoastgreen.com

3rd Annual Point Reyes Green Homes Tour, Pt. Reyes Station
Organized by the Community Land Trust Association of West Marin (CLAM)
October 4, 2009 (Sunday)
www.clam-ptreyes.org

If you’d like to recommend other green events that will be happening in the Bay Area this fall, feel free to mention them in the Comments section.

This is an addendum to the previous post for those of you who live in (or near) Marin or Sonoma County, California.

We are fortunate to have a plethora of amazing farms and sustainable agriculture resources in this area. One very cool new addition to our local scene is the “Seed Bank” store, located in a historic bank building at a major intersection in downtown Petaluma (Washington and Petaluma Blvd.). The store sells more than 1,200 varieties of non-GMO Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

Our area is also home to many farmers markets, as well as wonderful organizations such as:
Marin Organic :: MALT (Marin Agricultural Land Trust) :: Grown in Marin :: Petaluma Bounty :: Sonoma County Farm Trails :: Occidental Arts and Ecology Center

You might also want to check out the Hidden Bounty of Marin, a recently produced 1/2-hour film about the farms and farmers of beautiful West Marin; it shows the rich variety of agricultural enterprises in this region—from dairy, produce, and oyster farming to cattle, hog, and sheep ranching.

There are many great family farms in this area. Wild Blue Farm, Toluma Farms (goat dairy), and Straus Family Creamery are some of my favorites, as they’re the farms that I’m most familiar with.

And lastly, here’s my list of links to other sustainability-related resources in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. If you have other favorite local organizations or resources to recommend, please share them in the Comments section below. Thanks!

Building on what Super Size Me and Fast Food Nation did to expose the health problems associated with eating fast food, a veritable cornucopia of new documentary films have recently come out, bringing attention to a broader array of issues related to factory farms and feedlots and to the benefits of sustainable farming and ranching. These films include:

• Food, Inc.
• Fresh
• King Corn
• Homegrown
• The Greenhorns
• We Are What We Eat
• The Future of Food

Update (8/13/09): A dozen other important food-focused films have just been highlighted by Serious Eats.

And on Showtime TV, Season 1 of This American Life had a great segment on factory-farmed genetically modified pigs. (The show can be rented through NetFlix, etc. I highly recommend watching both seasons.)

A fresh crop of books have recently been published on these topics, as well, including:

• Righteous Porkchop: Finding a Life and Good Food Beyond Factory Farms, by Nicolette Hahn Niman
• Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, by Barbara Kingsolver, Steven L. Hopp, and Camille Kingsolver
• In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, by Michael Pollan (author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and The Botany of Desire)
• Update (Feb. ‘10): Michael Pollan has a brand new book out: Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual

For additional information on sustainable agriculture and good, real food, check out resources such as: Organic Consumers Association, The Land Institute, Roots of Change, Slow Food USA or Slow Food International, Fields of Plenty, Animal Welfare Approved, and Certified Humane.

Please support small, organic farms and your local farmers markets; consider joining a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm or growing some organic produce in your yard or a community garden; and if you eat meat or dairy products, choose products (e.g., Niman Ranch) that come from humanely raised, non-hormone-boosted animals. To sign the Declaration for Healthy Food and Agriculture (from Roots for Change), click here.

On a related note: Today (August 5) is Wendell Berry’s 75th birthday! Wendell Berry is a prolific writer and poet, a life-long Kentucky farmer, and an advocate of sustainable agriculture.