Author Archives: John Bolduc

About John Bolduc

John is an Environmental Planner with the Cambridge Community Development Department, where he works on the City's climate change initiatives.

Dresden Moving on Climate Protection

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Dresden, a city of 220,000 in the eastern part of Germany, was the target of Allied firebombing in World War II that largely destroyed the city.  The wonderful skyline of towers built by the Saxon kings was restored and the downtown area is vibrant.   While the eastern part of Germany has suffered from emigration to other regions, Dresden has been growing modestly.

The City is bisected by the Elbe River and has a number of tributaries that flow into it.  In 2002, Dresden saw a major flood that inundated the city center, including the central railway station.  Over 1 billion Euros in damage was inflicted by the floods and some lives were lost.  The flooding was the result of the Elbe River overtopping its banks, rising groundwater, and the Weisseritz River defying its re-direction and flowing in its historic route.  The 2002 flood is at the front of City officials’ minds as they develop responses to climate change.

Dresden has a small climate protection office formed in 2010 and headed by Ina Helzig.  The office focuses on climate mitigation initiatives.  Dresden’s goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% below 2010 levels by 2030.   The City sees their climate and sustainability program as part of their economic development strategy.

Work on adaptation has been centered in a regional initiative called REGKLAM that is funded by the federal government.  The adaptation program is at the stage of assessing Dresden’s vulnerabilities in order to develop their strategy.  But they have already taken action to prevent a repeat of the 2002 flood.  The City’s strategy includes preventing additional development in floodplains, monitoring weather conditions, raising flood retention walls by about 1 meter, creating a system of temporary flood retention barriers to protect the city center, modifying the combined sewer system to store more water and reduce the frequency of sewage overflows to the Elbe, and lowering groundwater levels under key buildings.  An underground retention facility was constructed at a central pumping station to hold 35,000 cubic meters of storm flows.   The City has also installed additional gates in the combined sewer conduit system to shut down the pipes and use them for storage.  Dresden believes the improved system will help them minimize the flooding effects of climate change.

One other climate-related strategy that Dresden, and some other German cities, employs is to protect air flow channels coming down from of the surrounding mountains.  Most of the land within the city boundaries is open space.   There are valleys that slope down to the Elbe River that bring cooler air to the Elbe and into the city.  Land use changes and development that would reduce this effect are restricted.  While this wasn’t done as an adaptation measure, I think this strategy will help Dresden cope with rising temperatures.  This approach has not been taken in any American cities as far as I know.  But it would complement other efforts to reduce the urban heat island effect.

Freiburg’s Eco-Villages

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Rieselfeld Center

Two areas of Freiburg have been developed as eco-villages — Rieselfeld and Vauban.  The eco-villages showcase integrated planning based on principles of sustainability.

Rieselfeld, the larger of the two, was built on land that was formerly used for sewage disposal.  It lies toward the western outskirts of Freiburg.  There are about 4,500 apartments in buildings of 3 to 5 stories housing around about 10,000 people.  Most of the buildings are built to a “low energy” standard for heating requirements, which we are told is about 65 kwh/square meter (in Europe they use kilowatt-hours as a basic energy metric in the way we use BTUs).

Solar panels and green roofs appear throughout the development.  The ecumenical Maria Magdelena Church has a solar PV system on its roof.  The revenue from the feed-in tariffs and electricity savings is used to support solar energy projects in Ethiopia.

Virtually all the buildings in Reiselfeld are connected to the district heating plant located in the development.  The plant runs a co-generation system to produce electricity and heat and is fueled by wood pellets produced from a forest certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

Rieselfeld is adjacent to large areas of open space.  Also, open greenspaces have been incorporated in between buildings and arranged in a way to encourage interaction among residents.

In terms of car dependency, Rieselfeld appears to be typical of Germany, although that means there are still a lot of bicycles and walkers.  There are bicycle paths and bicycle friendly streets throughout.  A tram line comes into the development, making it easy to access the city center.

In contrast, Vauban is a little more “alternative” in feeling.  The buildings are set closer together and vegetation around and on the buildings seem more unkempt.  We also noticed a lot of children in the development.  The eco-village has about 5,500 residents.

Vauban is built on a former French military base.  When the Berlin Wall fell and it was clear the French would be leaving, citizens started thinking about the future of the area.  The citizens advocated for an affordable residential area.  We were told that citizens were much more involved in the planning of Vauban than in Rieselfeld.  Freiburg’s 1986 climate protection plan influenced the eco-friendly design. 

The plan for Vauban retained many of the large trees that were on the former military base and reused some of the buildings.

There are examples of buildings that meet Passivhaus standards (15 kwh/square meter).  Passivhaus is a private energy efficiency standard developed in Germany and used by some developers and followed by some cities.  The first multi-family building to meet Passivhaus standards in Germany is located in Vauban.

Geo-exchange heat pumps are commonly used.  All the buildings are connected to a neighborhood district heating plant, except the multi-family building that was the first to meet Passivhaus standards.  That building was intended to be connected to its own biogas plant that was to be fed by sewage from the building.  However, the biogas plant was not feasible.

Vauban Cogen

In Vauban, cars are less encouraged than in Rieselfeld.  No car parking is included at or adjacent to residences, except for visitor spaces.  Residents who own cars are obligated to purchase spaces in one of the common garages (we saw two).  The garages have large solar PV arrays.  A city tram line goes through the middle of Vauban.

Waste management practices are less conspicuous.   Recyclable and compostable materials are collected separately from trash.  We were told that there is a system whereby residents can pay lower rates for trash disposal for recycling and composting more and using worm farms.  Trash is commonly incinerated in Germany.

Across the street from Vauban is a small Plus Energy housing development, called the Freiburg Solar Settlement.  Architect Rolf Disch designed multifamily homes and small commercial buildings to produce more energy than they consume.  It’s the first and only such development in Germany, we were told.  The buildings are modular units that are mostly pre-fabricated and are finished on site with siding and details.  The roofs are completely covered with solar PV panels, which also form long eaves to provide shading in summer and allow sunlight to reach the south side windows in winter.

Plus Energyhouse

Rieselfeld and Vauban seem like large leaps for most Americans.  But for communities like Cambridge where multi-family residences are the norm, they seem possible.  But a key factor that enabled their development in Freiburg is that the City government has more land and public housing under its control.  So it is a lot easier for the projects to be planned and sited than in Cambridge.

Green Mobility in Freiburg

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The Altstadt

Cars are prominent in Freiburg, but there is a different relationship between people, bicycles, transit and cars compared to home.  Cars defer to pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit as they negotiate the city streets.  Bicyclists and pedestrians move around each other fluidly.  There is also a higher level of convenience in using non-automobile travel modes.

Freiburg has made the Altstadt – the old core of the city – a car-free zone.  Only residents who live within the zone and service vehicles can drive in.  Pedestrians, cyclists, and the tram are freer to move.   Fraziska Breyer of the City government told us that when the car-free zone was proposed, businesses were very concerned that shoppers would shun the center.  But the decision has instead made the old city a more attractive area for shoppers and visitors.  The streets are bustling with people and cyclists are everywhere.   To some degree there are too many cyclists in the old city.  On the main street of Kaiser Joseph Strasse, the city had to prohibit bicycle parking near the area where the tram lines intersect because they were blocking walkers.

The tram (street car) system is excellent   The trams do not for the most part run on separate rights-of-way.  They run on rails in the street along with the cars and cyclists.  Throughout the city, trams have traffic signal priority; the lights change as the trams approach to allow the tram to move through intersections.  And the system makes it very easy to use the tram.  Tickets can be bought at electronic vending machines and there are multiple choices – single rides, all day passes, group passes, etc.  When you board the tram, there are no conductors or turnstiles to go through.  Riders are expected to punch the tickets themselves to mark the time their use started.  Conductors do spot checks and scofflaws can be fined.  When waiting for the tram, there are electronic information boards that give riders real time information on when the next tram will arrive.  There is also an extensive bus system, although I didn’t have the opportunity to ride a bus.  To top it all off, the public transportation system is 100% powered by renewable energy – 80% hydro and 20% solar, wind, and other renewables.

There is an extensive network of bicycle lanes, paths, and roads.  We were told there are 410 kilometers of these facilities.  In some areas whole street segments are marked to give bicycles priorities.  Cars can be on these bicycle roads, but they have to drive at similar speeds to cyclists and defer to them.

Traffic rules are enforced on cars and cyclists.  A 30 kilometer per hour speed limit applies in the city center.  It’s enforced by radar and photo.  Cyclists are expected to follow traffic rules too.  Frau Breyer said she once turned right at an intersection without stopping at a sign and was caught by the police.  She received a ticket.

Freiburg has a non-profit car sharing association.  It sounded like it has had a similar effect to Zipcar in Cambridge, providing an alternative for people who don’t want to own a car and eliminating the need for owning a second car.

Bike parking at the train station

Freiburg seems to take all modes of transit and weave them into a seamless system.  Our study group took a bicycle tour of the city’s sustainability highlights.  We rented bicycles at a shop housed in a building that also provided bicycle parking for a fee on two levels and car sharing below.  The building was located at the main train station, which was intersected by the tram system.  Buses and taxi stations were also located there.  The whole system was reliable, flexible, safe, and enjoyable.

The transportation mode shares reported by the city in 1999 – the City said the data is being updated – is 23% pedestrian, 27% bicycles, 18% transit, 6% ride sharing, and 26% single occupancy driving.  I’m not sure if that is all trips (I think that is so) or just commuting.

I wasn’t able to learn all the factors that enable Freiburg to have such a wonderful transportation system.  I’m sure there are reasons why it is easier to have such a great system in Freiburg, but it makes you want to replicate it at home.

Next:  Freiburg’s eco-villages – Reiselfeld and Vauban.

Freiburg – Greenest City in Europe?

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Kaiser Joseph Strasse, in Freiburg Center

I’m on a personal study tour of Germany and Holland to see what German and Dutch cities are doing about reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change.  The tour is organized by ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, an organization that the City of Cambridge has been a member of since 1999.  Our tour leader, Jade Jackson, is leading our group of 4 Canadians and 2 Americans through Freiburg and Dresden Germany, and then on to Bonn to attend the ICLEI Climate Resilient Communities conference.  We will end up in Rotterdam in The Netherlands.  I thought I would try to share what I see and learn along the way.  I hope you find it useful and interesting.

In Cambridge, we often look to Europe for examples of how to make the city more sustainable given that we are a dense urban community that in many ways is more similar to European cities than American.  On this tour, I’m looking to see how the cities here have implemented actions that we have thought about, and actions that we have not even considered yet, particularly in regard to adaptation.

Freiburg, of the Black Forest, is our first stop.  It might be the greenest city in Europe [or the world?].  Renewable energy is a big focus here.  But they also have a very admirable sustainable transportation system, waste management, and land use.

Freiburg’s old city center was largely destroyed in World War II.  About 80% of the city center was bombed toward the end of the war.  After the war, the city decided to keep the historic street pattern and re-build on the foundations of the destroyed buildings, reconstructing in the historic style.  Much larger new development surrounds the old city, but within the city boundaries there are large areas devoted to farms, vineyards, and protected forests; about half of the city is open space.  Today, Freiburg is a growing city of about 220,000 people with a major university and service base.

"Nuclear power, no thank you."

We met with Franziska Breyer, of the City’s environment agency, who presented the history and overview of the city’s sustainability efforts.  Freiburg’s green movement began with anti-nuclear protests in 1973, when new nuclear plants were proposed just across the border in France and nuclear waste storage was proposed nearby in Germany.  Those protests led to people thinking that they could not just be against nuclear power, but need to be for something.    I visited Freiburg 30 years ago as I was involved myself during college in anti-nuclear protest at home and wanted to see what the fuss was about here.  Ironically, as we arrived in Freiburg last weekend, there were again anti-nuclear protests taking place as the Conservative government reconsidered its nuclear policy in the wake of Fukushima and reversed course, deciding to plan to phase out nuclear energy by 2022.  So I imagine the protests were part celebratory.

The alternatives Freiburg has come up with encompass energy efficient construction, solar energy, district energy, wind energy, biomass, a well-integrated, multi-modal transportation system, and waste reduction practices.  I’m sure we didn’t hear about everything.

Freiburg has set a goal in 2007 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% below 1992 levels by 2030.  As of 2009, the city has achieved an 18.6% reduction.  The municipal government has a climate protection budget of 1.2 million Euros, which is largely funded by annual payments from utilities for use of public space for infrastructure. The budget does not include additional funds set aside for energy efficiency subsidies provided to residents (21 million Euros since 2003), investment in public facilities and infrastructure, transportation, and other services.

Frau Breyer talked about the sustainability concept that the city’s efforts are based on.  While it is common to think of sustainability in terms of balancing the 3 “E’s” – ecology, economy, and equity, she said in Freiburg they see sustainability as fundamentally based on ecology and that this is not negotiable.   Without a sound ecology, there cannot be a viable economy and equitable society.  The economy and social welfare flow from this sound ecological base.

The city is working to grow its green economy.  The green city initiatives are seen as a factor in attracting green businesses to locate in Freiburg.  There are about 1,500 green businesses employing about 10,000 people.  Of those ten thousand, about 1,500 people are employed in the solar energy sector.

The energy strategy is based on energy saving, efficient generation, and renewable energy.  About 10% of the electricity is supplied by nuclear in Freiburg.  About half is produced by co-generation units that also provide heat through district heating systems.  In addition to larger co-gen units, there are about 90 small CHP units around the city.

Badenova Sports Stadium roofs covered with Solar PV

Solar energy is very visible around Freiburg.  Currently 12.3 MW of solar capacity is in place, producing over 10 million kilowatt-hours annually.  For context, the City of Cambridge consumes about 40 million kwh of total electricity annually,which is a small percentage of total use in Cambridge.  Cambridge has close to 1 MW of solar PV in place.  In Freiburg, solar thermal panels cover about 15,000 square meters.  Solar PV has been ramped up by very generous feed-in tariffs created by the federal government, which pays owners for the electricity production.  The federal government is now moving to phase out the feed-in tariffs as they believe they have served their function of creating a solar industry.  We were told that while the feed-in tariffs have been successful in expanding the use of solar PV, the price of solar PV has not really decreased, which was one of the goals of the policy.  And while solar panels are a common sight in Freiburg, they are installed on a minority of buildings.

There are 5 medium sized wind turbines installed on the hills around the city.  They produce 14 million kwh every year, more than produced by all the solar PV panels.

Bugginger StrasseHi-Rise, first to meet Passivhaus energy standards

We were told that increasing efficiency in existing buildings remains a challenge.   The City has invested 21 million Euros since 2003, which has leveraged an additional 23 million Euros.  Generally the funds have been used toward efficiency improvements when buildings are undergoing major renovations.  This investment has reached about 3 to 4% of the building stock.

The Vice Mayor said they see the future trend being toward more short-distance district heating, noting the high cost of installing infrastructure, and more micro-CHP.

There is more to admire in Freiburg’s energy practices, including their eco-villages with buildings meeting Passivhaus standards and Plus Energy houses.

Upcoming: Sustainable Transportation and Freiburg’s eco-villages – Vauban and Rieselfeld.