agenda 21

Portland municipal building showcases LEED-Certified design, goes 3X over budget, wounds and kills birds

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The new $11.5 Million office building by the sewage plant. Note the green grass on the overpriced roof. Image: Skylab Architecture

The new $11.5 Million office building by the sewage plant. Note the green grass on the overpriced roof. Image: Skylab Architecture

When a building that was budgeted to cost $3.2 million winds up costing $11.5 million, something is likely to hit the fan. But in this case, the unhappy noise is local and migratory birds smacking into its environmentally-hip, LEED-Certified wall of windows. Continue reading →

Invasive species threatens San Francisco parking spaces

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No shoes, no shirt, no parking.

No shoes, no shirt, no parking.

They look innocent enough;  tiny little fenced-in decks outside Italian cafes, yogurt shops, and falafel parlors, where San Franciscans  sip  fair trade espressos and chai lattes while they inhale the heady aroma of Mini, Fiat 500 and Vespa exhausts and watch Priuses glide by on battery power, silent as golf carts.

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