by Bruce Bowman
We are in the midst of climate change, and we need to do what we can to stop it or slow it down. While we do this we also need to learn how to adapt and live with worsening climate change effects. That adaptation may be on a smaller level based on the climate resiliency of the region we live in. Living in a more climate resilient place, like Glastonbury, means we still need to be mindful of our actions, and not contribute unnecessarily to climate change. We do not yet know how truly resilient Glastonbury will be in the future. The Town of Glastonbury recognizes the need for conservation and sustainability and is currently a SustainableCT Climate Change Leader. We need to continue to be proactive.
Sustainable architecture is a way to adapt our homes and towns to a more resilient way of life. This is a general term that refers to buildings that designed to limit human impact on the environment. It is an environmentally friendly approach to modern-day building that encompasses all aspects of the planning and construction process, including the choice of building materials; the design and implementation of heating, cooling, plumbing, waste, and ventilation systems; and the integration of the built environment into the natural landscape. Building materials can have widely ranging carbon footprints depending on the fossil fuel use in their generation. Concrete has an exceptionally large carbon footprint — at least 8% of global emissions caused by humans come from the cement industry alone.
Building rooftops can have design elements such as optimal roof orientation and roof pitch to maximize energy generation for rooftop solar capacity. Solar canopies can generate significant power and minimize heat gain from large asphalt parking lots. High levels of insulation and energy efficient windows are part of sustainable architecture. Thought is given to diminishing fossil fuel use with the use of heat pumps and providing access to EV charging stations.
The process of making changes for a sustainable Glastonbury community will involve our residents, builders, Planning and Zoning Commission, Town Council, Town manager and the rest of the Boards and Commissions to make it happen. While not focused on sustainability, the Town of Glastonbury held a Community Workshop at 6:00 pm on Wednesday, November 16, 2022, to discuss the development of Design Guidelines for the Town Center area. Once developed, the Design Guidelines will regulate future development in the Town Center area – the area that encompasses Main Street, Hebron Avenue, New London Turnpike, and numerous roadways. Results of this effort are not yet available.
Glastonbury partnered with FHI Studio to facilitate this workshop and all community members were invited and encouraged to attend. The workshop included a brief presentation to familiarize attendees with project objectives, followed by an interactive open forum discussion. Attendees came prepared to share what they like/dislike about the Glastonbury Town Center and what regulations/requirements they feel the Town should maintain control over as it pertains to future development – e.g., architecture, aesthetics, building standards, and other elements that influence the overall “look and feel” of the Town Center. Residents are also encouraged to complete the online survey that FHI has created, which can be accessed at www.surveymonkey.com/r/TownCenter. Concerned Glastonbury residents that would like all new architecturally generated plans for development in town would be based on sustainable architectural principles should make their voices heard with letters to the editor in the Citizen and during open comment at Town Council Meetings and at TP&Z meetings.
Another area to focus on with architectural sustainability in enhancing our quality of life includes walkability and transportation. Items to include in this area are enhancing bicycling and pedestrian malls, limiting the impact of cars and the need to drive from point A to point B rather than having central parking and walking from one shop to another.
While the Architectural and Site Design Review Committee (ASDRC) works on the aesthetic of how our Town Village Center looks like and feels like, we should take a close look at all the components of sustainable architecture and be sure to utilized those tools to accomplish the goal of creating our Town Village Center. All plantings of trees, shrub plants and grasses moving forward should only consist of native plantings for reasons of sustainability, and all space given to lawns should be minimized or eliminated.
TALK Environment Team seeks to promote conversations about the environment and climate change in our community. We encourage community writings for this column. If you have a related topic which you are passionate about, please send your ideas and suggestions for future articles to: prez@truthactionlk. All articles are archived on the TALK website https://talk-action.org.