510
small wind turbines, and green roofs from design review under existing zoning
codes, and developers and businesses that install green roofs in the central city can
achieve a floor area ratio (FAR) bonus for doing so.
The city’s Water Bureau offers residents free water efficiency devices. Customized
Energy Saver Kits covering both energy and water use can be obtained from the
Energy Trust of Oregon. Between 2009 and 2012, the city’s Office of Planning and
Sustainability partnered with local neighborhood organizations on the “Solarize
Portland!” campaign that installed solar panels and weatherization on nearly one
thousand urban residences.
Along with successfully creating policies and implementing programs in the
areas of food systems, water, and energy separately, the City of Portland has several
initiatives that work at the integration of the FEW nexus. In particular, its Green
Building Policy promotes energy efficiency through green roofs that reduce energy
usage on a facility level relating to heating and cooling and at the meso-level through
water recapture that reduces water treatment energy needs. Food is integrated into
the two-way energy–water nexus of green roofs on a facility level by planting foodproducing landscapes such as community and market gardens on the tops of buildings, which may also be used as functional recreational space.
Along with its garbage collection and recycling service, the City also runs a
composting service that collects residential and commercial food scraps and sends
them to Oregon composting facilities. The finished compost is then sold to landscaping companies and made available to residents. Further strengthening of the
FEW nexus could be achieved by creating connections between the municipal
composting program and EcoRoof policies to expand the use of food-producing
EcoRoofs.
Another promising FEW nexus initiative is the fruit of a private-public partnership between Lucid Energy, the City of Portland, and private investors. The fullscale project aims to produce sustainable energy from the City’s gravity-fed
municipal water pipes—a constant and previously untapped source of microhydropower that avoids the damaging environmental impacts of large-scale river
dams, including their negative effects on agricultural floodplain cultivation.
According to the producer, four 42-in. turbines produce about 1100-Mwh of electricity each year, approximately enough to power 150 homes. Utilization of new
technologies such as this is dependent on compatible topography and the availability of initial installation capital and other factors, but those installed in Portland are
projected to result in net energy savings over the project lifetime.
18.5.2 Detroit, MI, USA
Due to its industrial past and history of extreme depopulation and disinvestment,
Detroit can be characterized as a Rust Belt or Legacy city. Its population decline
extends from its peak of over 1.8 million in the 1950s to an estimated 672,795 in 2015.
Detroit’s housing vacancy rate, combined with the age of its water infrastructure and
C. Harris et al.
small wind turbines, and green roofs from design review under existing zoning
codes, and developers and businesses that install green roofs in the central city can
achieve a floor area ratio (FAR) bonus for doing so.
The city’s Water Bureau offers residents free water efficiency devices. Customized
Energy Saver Kits covering both energy and water use can be obtained from the
Energy Trust of Oregon. Between 2009 and 2012, the city’s Office of Planning and
Sustainability partnered with local neighborhood organizations on the “Solarize
Portland!” campaign that installed solar panels and weatherization on nearly one
thousand urban residences.
Along with successfully creating policies and implementing programs in the
areas of food systems, water, and energy separately, the City of Portland has several
initiatives that work at the integration of the FEW nexus. In particular, its Green
Building Policy promotes energy efficiency through green roofs that reduce energy
usage on a facility level relating to heating and cooling and at the meso-level through
water recapture that reduces water treatment energy needs. Food is integrated into
the two-way energy–water nexus of green roofs on a facility level by planting foodproducing landscapes such as community and market gardens on the tops of buildings, which may also be used as functional recreational space.
Along with its garbage collection and recycling service, the City also runs a
composting service that collects residential and commercial food scraps and sends
them to Oregon composting facilities. The finished compost is then sold to landscaping companies and made available to residents. Further strengthening of the
FEW nexus could be achieved by creating connections between the municipal
composting program and EcoRoof policies to expand the use of food-producing
EcoRoofs.
Another promising FEW nexus initiative is the fruit of a private-public partnership between Lucid Energy, the City of Portland, and private investors. The fullscale project aims to produce sustainable energy from the City’s gravity-fed
municipal water pipes—a constant and previously untapped source of microhydropower that avoids the damaging environmental impacts of large-scale river
dams, including their negative effects on agricultural floodplain cultivation.
According to the producer, four 42-in. turbines produce about 1100-Mwh of electricity each year, approximately enough to power 150 homes. Utilization of new
technologies such as this is dependent on compatible topography and the availability of initial installation capital and other factors, but those installed in Portland are
projected to result in net energy savings over the project lifetime.
18.5.2 Detroit, MI, USA
Due to its industrial past and history of extreme depopulation and disinvestment,
Detroit can be characterized as a Rust Belt or Legacy city. Its population decline
extends from its peak of over 1.8 million in the 1950s to an estimated 672,795 in 2015.
Detroit’s housing vacancy rate, combined with the age of its water infrastructure and
C. Harris et al.