Chris Turner Blog

Welcome to the urban (sustainability) century
Half the world now lives in cities, and by midcentury 75 percent of us will be urbanites. To make those cities sustainable, look to the 2012 TED Prize and a fascinating new documentary called Urbanized.
Still no Pearl Harbor in the climate battle
The world is on course for climate catastrophe. Until the calamity is upon us, however, the 'war footing' argument for dramatic action won't find much support. Optimism is still the best tool for building a better world.
Another reason to be mad at the banks: They wreck complete streets
Nothing turns a lively street into a wasteland quite like a big bank on the corner. But unlike many financial woes, there's a quick, easy, sustainable fix for this one: Just turn the storefront into a coffee shop. Seriously.
Real green buildings aren't about the glamour
When it comes to reducing a building's carbon footprint to zero, it's often the most eyecatching details that get the most attention. But as an exemplary net-zero apartment building in Montreal demonstrates, it's not about the solar panels on the roo
The key to climate action? Getting the size just right
In the face of the global challenge of climate change, our responses too often involve doing Much Too Little or thinking Way Too Big. The real key is to start acting now, collectively, somewhere in between.
Do climate talks just get in the way of climate progress?
The world's most committed climate activists are descending on Durban for the next attempt to reach an international climate change treaty. So why did one of most successful green politicians of our time consider the process an obstacle to action?
In Hamburg, a derelict customs house becomes an oasis for creativity
Recycling is too often about virtue, not value. But when a hip design firm discovered some old barges on the river Elbe, they quickly learned that a derelict space can be upcycled into a transcendent satellite office.
When you make a product better, you're embracing sustainability
The German seafood wholesaler Deutsche See went looking for a better brand, but instead it found a more sustainable packing crate. Sustainability, it turns out, is often a synonym for quality.
At Unilever's Hamburg headquarters, sustainability is a side effect
On Hamburg's waterfront, world-class sustainable architecture has emerged not from lofty green goals but from practical questions like this one: How do you build an office so comfortable that employees want to linger together there?
If beating climate change is the goal, does motivation matter?
Worried about input costs, beer titan Molson Coors went green mainly to save green. If the end result — less waste — is to the planet's benefit, why should we care what motivated the company to change?

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