The climate crisis is forcing us to wake up to our impact upon the natural world – our environment. This shift in our awareness is about modern society beginning to understand the inherent connection between all things – the complex, living web of life that binds us all together.
Real estate contributes to the ongoing climate crisis on a number of levels. The main focus has been on the energy consumption of buildings rather than the context in which they are built. While the real estate world has been attempting to provide workable solutions such as green building methods and LEED-certified buildings, what is urgently needed is the creation of an entirely new asset-class that takes into account the whole network of the built-environment: physical buildings, transportation, amenities and lifestyle. It is through holistic approaches such as this, that we will be able to address the climate crisis at a more fundamental level.
How will we accomplish this?
Up till now, most of the attention has been on the individual parts –i.e. the buildings, rather than the whole system in which we live. In order to create a more human-centric, environmentally-sound built environment, we need to seriously consider the rebuilding of the automobile-centric world.
A major inspiration for this new version of the built environment is the historic European city center. For centuries, these historic European city centers and their magnificent piazzas have remained a powerful draw for people from around the world. According to David Owen’s best-selling book “Green Metropolis”, New York City and ancient European city centers use about one – third of the energy per capita as compared to the American-style suburban model.
The Arcetri Piazza offers a revolutionary solution that allows us to have an improved lifestyle in a cost-effective way with minimum environmental impact. The Arcetri Piazza offers a superior quality of life with up to a 70% reduction of energy use per capita. This resolves the conflict between lifestyle and energy consumption while making it possible for everyone to buy-into a more holistic, environmentally sound future.
To successfully combat climate change will require many solutions. The most successful
methods realign WITH nature instead of trying to use our human will and intelligence
to dominate. One example of working hand-in-hand with nature is the practice of planting trees on a massive scale, a practical strategy for trapping CO2 from the atmosphere.
Each of these Arcetri Piazzas will serve as a new town square around which, over time, a neighborhood identity and a new way of living will naturally develop. These changes will play an important part in resolving our climate crisis.
Living, working and enjoying life in a compact, walkable environment is a dynamic,
economically viable solution.
Walking more often through your day, working close to home, doing things you love with people that you enjoy and who care about you add-up to a far better lifestyle which is more restful and energizing, while dramatically reducing per capita emissions and defeating the argument that the earth can only be saved by rationing the quality of life.
The Arcetri Piazza is designed to support the essential human need to be together.