Architecture & Urban Planning

Fellow Story

Ditching Dirty Diesel

Diesel-powered vehicles are a significant source of pollution, impacting health and contributing to climate change. The Ditching Dirty Diesel Collaborative, a coalition of community, environmental advocacy and public health departments, is working together with the Pacific Institute to reduce the impact of this pollution on low-income communities in the San Francisco Bay Area.
April 17, 2013
Fellow Story

Lessons for Homeowners from Green Affordable Housing (Switzer Foundation Webinar Series)

Are you a homeowner, interested in finding ways to make your home or investment property more sustainable? Then listen to Beverly Craig (1994) discuss lessons learned from six years working on improving the water and energy performance of multifamily affordable housing with Homeowner's Rehab, a nonprofit that owns over 1,000 units of affordable housing in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
March 19, 2013
Fellow Story

Reflections from "Disasters and Environment" Conference of the National Council for Science and the Environment

Thanks to a Switzer Foundation Professional Development Grant, I had the opportunity in January to attend the 13th National Conference on Science, Policy and the Environment, titled “Disasters and Environment: Science, Preparedness and Resilience.” The conference brought together experts from many disciplines and sectors to delve into the complex challenges associated with preparing for, responding to, and recovering from natural disasters.
March 13, 2013
Fellow Story

Protecting Ourselves from Diesel Fumes

Los Angeles, California, is one of the biggest transportation in the world, but that has major health implications for residents. Exposure to diesel fumes has an impact on everyone, and Switzer Fellow Scott Fruin documents those effects, especially on children.
March 5, 2013
Fellow Story

Benefits of energy efficient design go beyond environmental and economic advantages

The process of designing and building our house made me aware, maybe more than anything, of how closely tied the comfort of a structure is to the same energy design elements that make it efficient.
February 27, 2013
Fellow Story

Plug-in Cargo Ships on West Coast of California

It is estimated that shipping produces 4 to 5% of global carbon dioxide emissions. In most cases, these ships are powered by diesel fuel. On today's report we learn about an innovative California technology aimed at reducing this pollution. 2007 Switzer Fellow Francisco Donez is an environmental engineer with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 9.
February 6, 2013
Fellow Story

Cohen on why declining transit system hurts all in Bay Area

Every day, San Franciscans pay the price of an underfunded transportation system. We have all experienced painfully overcrowded bus rides ... or, worse yet, the bus that never shows up. Now, Muni is reducing service during Christmas week, as it is faced with a $7 million deficit this fiscal year.
January 14, 2013
Fellow Story

Building Healthier Hospitals

We usually think of hospitals as a beacon of health, but they can have an impact on workers and patients.
October 23, 2012
Fellow Story

Scheuer on conflict between rail line and burial grounds

The issue of historic preservation is a key element in the controversial rail project because, as the route approaches the Honolulu terminus at Ala Moana Center, it passes through one of the largest concentrations of iwi in the state: Kakaako. This district, say the experts, was once an area of sand dunes, and the sandier soil is where Hawaiians preferred for burial sites because it wasn’t appropriate for other uses and it was easier to dig there.
October 5, 2012
Fellow Story

Paulson on air quality during 2011 Carmageddon

In study findings announced Sept. 28, UCLA researchers report that they measured air pollutants during last year's Carmageddon (July 15–17) and found that when 10 miles of the 405 closed, air quality near the shuttered portion improved within minutes, reaching levels 83 percent better than on comparable weekends. Because traffic dipped all over Southern California that weekend, air quality also improved 75 percent in parts of West Los Angeles and Santa Monica and an average of 25 percent regionally—from Ventura to Yucaipa, and Long Beach to Santa Clarita.
October 3, 2012