ARC 188 A
7 December 2012
Sustainable Building Practices in Cincinnati Sustainable building favors the notion that cities are the solution to minimizing heating costs and carbon footprints. The shift towards sustainable urban development is due to the idea that the high density of the population allows for the most effective way to tackle unsustainability. Multi-unit apartment buildings were already more sustainable than single-family homes so this approach only improves upon the already efficient and ignores the least efficient communities, the suburbs. As urban development improves cities, the surrounding suburbs are left as remnants of a period where the American Dream was to have a yard, a car, and four walls to heat. For the existing single-family homes, it may be too costly of an undertaking to upgrade the current facilities because the homes were not designed to be sustainable and their location alone is far from efficient. Yet, there will always be people who prefer to live in the suburbs so instead of focusing on fixing the inefficient homes, create a community of new homes that sets the standard for future developments. First, a location must be chosen. A problem with suburbs is that they are already well developed and the easiest way to find space is to move farther away from Downtown Cincinnati, but that only creates more inefficiencies with transportation and commuting costs. A result of all the development that predates the planned community is waste. The Cincinnati Metropolitan Area is home to just under 300,000 people, and their waste has to end up somewhere. For most, the waste goes to the Rumpke Sanitary Landfill, twenty miles north of the city. The Rumpke Sanitary Landfill, known as Mount Rumpke, is the highest point in the county and the largest landfill in the state. Mount Rumpke abides by all regulations and