Written By Sherwood Martinelli
Feb. 21, 2008
One of the grave perils of Global Warming is rising of sea levels (by as much as 43 inches by 2100), the potential threat of lost infrastructure along almost every coastline of the world from those rising sea levels potentially catastrophic. Perhaps the Dutch have found a way to plan for that potential danger, while at the same time contributing to solving the problem (global warming) that could cause it...floating eco-homes.
The old adage has been that real estate was a good investment, because we were not making any more land. If you live in a major metropolitan area such as New York, Chicago or San Francisco, you know the truth of that statement; see the wisdom in the ever rising real estate prices even in a depressed housing market. Perhaps we can create more real estate, and build a healthier, greener world by adopting the Dutch technology of floating green communities.
The world's population is exploding, the population here in America estimated to grow to 500 million by 2050. To address the burdens and problems of that population boom, to make room for these new citizens, house builders and city planners must be willing to look for and explore new solutions. If one of those solutions comes with a whole array of green benefits for society, it is an idea that is ripe for wide spread develop. The Dutch amphibious communities seem to be just such and alternative solution.
Chris Zevenbergen of Dura Vermeer which developed the floating houses is looking for additional ways to make his company's floating homes more sustainable, and to further mitigate adverse impacts on the environment. Here in the New York area, the price tag of these floating living spaces could be considered affordable housing with their starting price of $310,000. More importantly, with ferry service to key metro work areas, how many cars could be kept off our roadways Monday through Friday? How many sustainable floating green communities could we build along the banks of the Hudson River? Imagine moving forward small floating river towns to compliment their land locked neighbors on the shore. More importantly, could we re-green large delta areas, restore flood plains by moving people off the land, out of the flood plains, and into a floating home?
Rather than building communities along the waters edge that fight against the forces of nature, losing almost every time, perhaps the solution can be found in floating homes that co-exist with, and on the river, rather than beside it?
No comments:
Post a Comment